Customer Reviews

LeapFrog Sing-Along Read-Along

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was very excited to get this. I have a 3.5 and 1.5 year old. I plugged it in a pushed play. The kids were fascinated by it at first, then bored with it after about 5 segments.

I watched it with them and did not appreciate some of the ideas that the video was passing on. Value #1 I didn't agree with is being scared of the dark and monsters in the dark. To make the a sound, the video was having the characters scream when a light was turned off. I am fortunate that my kids are not afraid of the dark, never have been, and I am reluctant to show them something that indicates that they should be afraid of the dark. #2 for the i sound, it emphasized the word "ick' and said ick is the what you say when you don't like dinner. Again, we don't use this kind of language around dinner. #3 One of the characters took away another's toys, then the first character got mad and took them all back. I prefer to emphasize sharing and asking, rather than taking.

I didn't make it through all 12 segments, so cannot give a complete overview of all of it. After 5 segments, me and the kids had had enough.

I bought this item at a local discount store (for much less than the list price of $19.99 I have to say!), and am very happy with it. I am familiar with Leapfrog products and was expecting a high quality product, but in my view this beats the other DVDs Leapfrog has produced (though this product has a different function and does not directly compare with Letter Factory, etc- it's complementary).

The pack contains a DVD with 12 music video clips and 12 corresponding booklets. The idea is that the child picks up the songs and words and after s/he gets used to the tunes etc tries to read the booklets without the music DVD.

The stories are well planned and unfold in a specific order that progressively builds knowledge (e.g. short o, i, function of a, e, i etc.). The story content is clear and uncomplicated, with nice, big and crisp bold Arial subtitles for the song texts; the animated characters and graphics are funky, colorful and interesting but not too technicolor and visually 'loud'; the music is upbeat, in various music styles (ranging from rock to jazzy blues) and encourages singing, but it is not overwhelming and enables the child to focus on the written and spoken words.

Absolutely recommended. Will not regret!

This DVD is the best of both worlds, it totally entertains my children while actually educating them. The DVD is broken into 12 segments (each with it's own book to follow along). Each segment has a cute little skit and introduces a vowel sound in a fun way. The songs are very catchy (with out being annoying) and the skits are short enough to keep their attention. Both my 4 year old and 2 year old are completely mesmerized when it's on. My 4 year old likes to follow along with the books and is starting to sound out words....what more can a mom ask for?

Our children (ages 3 and 4) love watching and singing along with this DVD. But even better, the cute stories have really motivated my 4 year old to read the books on her own. In a very short time we have seen a significant improvement in her reading thanks to this set. The little skits in between the songs/books on the DVD do a great job teaching vowel sounds. I highly recommend this set for any pre or beginning reader. It is a great educational product that the kids actually enjoy.

This video is good for learning the phonics sound of a letter but I don't like the examples that it is using. One segment shows that a toy is taken away and one character gets mad. Another segment shows your kids that dark place is scary.

My 3 year old and my 1 year old are never afraid of the dark and can play hide and seek with us and they can hide in a dark bedroom. After watching this video, my daughter is trying to copy the character and tells me that she is afraid when it is dark. I stopped showing this video to her right away. She can now play hide and seek with us again.

Get another videos for reading and phonics.

My child got this for Christmas and I was looking forward to her using it but I put it away for a while because she was not quite 3 yet. We got it out today for the first time and the first thing she said when she saw it was "are we going to watch scary monsters today?" The characters do look like monsters and they teach the short a sound by showing the charaters screaming "aaaa" in the dark each time another one of them walks up. It might not be a big deal for some but I don't want to give her something to be afraid of.

I was a little hesitant to make this purchase, but I found it about half off at a local discount store and decided to give it a try. As described, it includes 12 short phonics based (with a FEW sight words(is, the, on, and, in, the, etc.))readers. There are 2 books for each vowel sound, an introductory book that introduces the characters, and a cumulative book wraps up the set. They're a good quality paper, stitched bindings. I see some reviewers are watching the dvd and then tackling the books, and whatever works is great. We are reading the books first, and then as a reward, she's "unlocked" (as her brothers do on Wii Fit) the corresponding video. Each of the 12 are listed on the menu, so we play only the ones she's "unlocked". She loves the music and dances around the living room. I agree it would be difficult to sit down to read with the books and dvd together. If it helps anyone, we're about halfway through the yellow (kindergarten) Hooked on Phonics book, and this is right on target - sight words from cards we're using, and she can sound out all of the words, but the video afterward adds an extra motivator.

After reading the reviews I decided to try this product. I'm glad I did because my son loves it! I don't have a problem with the values - I don't think the stories are meaningful enough to teach anything. You could probably use anything you don't like as a teachable moment (i.e. Was that nice to do? What could he have done instead?) I would look through them first and if you don't like any of the books I think you can exclude them without taking too much away from the program. It's generally a good idea to preview any kids material first just in case!
I think these books are equivalent to the Bob beginning reading books. They use simple words kids can sound out and a few common site words. The videos are short and entertaining enough. My son has asked to watch them every day and has been able to read most of the first book. I highly recommend it!

I think this is a very good product for kids in the mode of learning how to read, meaning kids that are ready to read or are old enough to be reading and having a little trouble. It is meant to help parents help their children learn to read, not teach the children to read in itself. No one program is going to teach most children how to read, it is going to be a combination of readiness, desire, adult help, resources such as Hooked on Phonics, Leap Frog, Sesame Street, PBS, etc. As a level headed educator and parent I find it insane that we are using what ever we can to teach babies how to read. At 2 and 3 years old childrens eye/brain coordination is not very developed. I believe it is fine for kids to learn to read by just picking it up on their own but must we continue to push reading onto babies. Babies like to be read to and when they want to learn to read they will show you they are wanting to do so.

For some of the Leap Frog products I have seen people complain about the graphics. Come on, these things are geard toward little children who could care less about graphics. One person made a comment about another Leap Frog product that beyond a 19 inch TV the graphics are all over the place. Duh, put it on a smaller TV. Why do you have your kid sittiing infront of a really large high tech tv anyway? You will never get them away from it. It's like going from a Benz to a Sentra. Put yourself in a Benz, you may never want to drive your Sentra again.

I would recogmend this program to anyone as part of your program but not the one and only thing to have. I haven't seen anything out there that meets all needs for all children. I don't feel even Hooked on Phonics could be your stand alone program.

I am speaking from a homeschooler's point of view and from a professional teacher as well.

My 4 year old loves to watch the DVD and it helps him learn how to blend letters into words. The books are wonderful because most of the words are simple words that he can sound out and there are not too many words per page. It is a great way to work on reading skills.