Customer Reviews

Learn to Read With Phonics [VHS]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"Learn to Read with Phonics" is actually a series of five 75 minute videos, all of which are included in the purchase price listed. The 75 minutes are subdivided into five 15 minute lessons. After each, the child/parent can choose to turn off the tape or go on to the next lesson. The series covers phonics, sight words and counting. At four years old, my child knew her letters and their sounds, but not how to put them together. After the third video, she could sound words like "banana." I found the quality of the set and costumes to be rather amateur. However, don't be put off by this! The content is excellent. My child was mesmerized by the tapes and learned a great deal. I highly recommend them.

This is an excellent video for teaching phonic sounds and for teaching writing. This video will talk directly to the children and will hold their interest. Children quickly learn to write the alphabet and the basics of phonics for a good foundation for reading.

While I nearly fell asleep after 10 minutes, I can testify that at least one 7 year old that I know has been watching these over and over and has shown some improvement in letter recognition, reading and 'writing'. The tapes seem to be very good. There are 5 tapes X 5 lessons X 15 minutes each. The 'witness' above runs through a whole tape at a time without losing interest. Wow! Definitely worth the money.

I liked this video because it teaches kids upper case, lower case, the sounds of each letter, how to group letters together and how to write each letter (something Leapfrog does not do). Don't get me wrong, I swear by Leapfrog, Letter Factory taught my son his alphabets, and now Words Factory is teaching him to group letters together. However, I like having more than one video of the same type (ie. spelling) to prevent my son from getting bored, and this video suits us just fine. It's broken up into 15 minute sessions (with the option of stopping the tape or allowing it to continue to play). The teacher holds up a letter at a time, sounds it out with the help of her students and then teaches the boys and girls how to write it correctly (that's what I like best), then the class sings a little song about the letter. It's not Leapfrog, but for the money IT'S GREAT!

This is my second set... we wore out the first! Love it! And the seller was very prompt! Thanks!

UPDATE Nov 2010: I ran into this old review I made three years ago and wanted to let you know how my daughter has progressed since. At seven and a half years old, and in the second grade, my daughter's September reading assessment said she was reading at the level of a typical student in the final month of fifth grade. She just picked up the first Harry Potter book (not my suggestion, but I own them all, and when she asked permission I gave it) and read the first five chapters in one evening, declaring it the best book ever.

Her teacher is amazed and tells me it's a joyful challenge to find plenty of interesting work for my daughter, as she finishes her work long before the rest of the class. I figure she's got a natural talent for reading, but I do give Mrs. Phipps and Snoothy the credit for teaching her the basics through this video set. Please don't let the fact that the video is dated (and, to an adult's sophisticated eye, cheesy) keep you from giving your child a chance to learn early to love to read. It might not do for older kids, but for preschoolers, it's great!
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My daughter (4yo) and her cousin (5yo) first "met" Mrs. Phipps and Snoothy when my mother bought a used copy of Learn to Read volume 1 at a yard sale. After seeing just a few minutes of it, my mother almost threw it away, thinking it seemed too boring and unsophisticated for a modern child. To her surprise, both my daughter (then 3) and her cousin (then 4) absolutely LOVED the video! Whenever they visited grandma they begged to watch the video, and often, when the video finished, they rewound it and started it again. And they would sing the alphabet song from the video over and over too (it's a catchy tune; unfortunately so, as I often find myself unable to get it out of my head).

My niece learned to read within just a few months, before her fifth birthday, due in part to Mrs. Phipps, and now, in kindergarten, she reads 3rd-grade-level "chapter books" (I'm not exaggerating). She reads to her cousin whenever they're together, which has sparked a strong desire to learn to read in my daughter. But my daughter seems to think she should be able to learn it in an afternoon, and if I sit down with her to teach her, even if I try to make it into a game, she gets bored within minutes. I didn't worry about it, knowing she already has the desire to read; there's still plenty of time for her to develop the patience and attention span to learn the mechanics of reading. I figured I'd look into Hooked on Phonics when she enters kindergarten next year.

A few weeks ago, my daughter found volume 4 in this series during our weekly visit to the local library. She wanted to bring it home: "It's like Grandma's movie! It's Mrs. Phipps!" So we've started borrowing the whole series. We brought home volumes 4 and then 3 and 5, while waiting for volume 2 to become available. I worried about her watching them out of order, but she especially loves the later videos where the children act out stories while Mrs. Phipps reads the words as they're highlighted on the screen. These later volumes are still beyond her full grasp but her growing ability to read an occasional word, even though she can't read them all, encourages her desire to learn.

Now four, my daughter can write the alphabet, upper and lower cases, and though she hasn't quite mastered reading, she can sound out simple words (non-blend/short vowel) and knows a few more by sight. I figure she'll be reading within a few months if not weeks (it's an exciting time to watch your child right on the cusp of literacy). The beauty is: I haven't pushed her at all, but she CHOOSES on her OWN to play the Learn to Read videos along with her Dora, Maisy, and other tapes.

I got online today to order the whole set of videos for my daughter so we don't have to rely on their being available at the library (when she outgrows them, we'll donate them to the library). Don't shortchange your child by letting an 80s-style hairdo or a cheesy character costume turn you off of these videos. They may not be suited for every child's learning style, but for some kids at least, they work!

UPDATE Nov 2010: I ran into this old review I made three years ago and wanted to let you know how my daughter has progressed since. At seven and a half years old, and in the second grade, my daughter's September reading assessment said she was reading at the level of a typical student in the final month of fifth grade. She just picked up the first Harry Potter book (not my suggestion, but I own them all, and when she asked permission I gave it) and read the first five chapters in one evening, declaring it the best book ever.

Her teacher is amazed and tells me it's a joyful challenge to find plenty of interesting work for my daughter, as she finishes her work long before the rest of the class. I figure she's got a natural talent for reading, but I do give Mrs. Phipps and Snoothy the credit for teaching her the basics through this video set. Please don't let the fact that the video is dated (and, to an adult's sophisticated eye, cheesy) keep you from giving your child a chance to learn early to love to read. It might not do for older kids, but for preschoolers, it's great!
_______

My daughter (4yo) and her cousin (5yo) first "met" Mrs. Phipps and Snoothy when my mother bought a used copy of Learn to Read volume 1 at a yard sale. After seeing just a few minutes of it, my mother almost threw it away, thinking it seemed too boring and unsophisticated for a modern child. To her surprise, both my daughter (then 3) and her cousin (then 4) absolutely LOVED the video! Whenever they visited grandma they begged to watch the video, and often, when the video finished, they rewound it and started it again. And they would sing the alphabet song from the video over and over too (it's a catchy tune; unfortunately so, as I often find myself unable to get it out of my head).

My niece learned to read within just a few months, before her fifth birthday, due in part to Mrs. Phipps, and now, in kindergarten, she reads 3rd-grade-level "chapter books" (I'm not exaggerating). She reads to her cousin whenever they're together, which has sparked a strong desire to learn to read in my daughter. But my daughter seems to think she should be able to learn it in an afternoon, and if I sit down with her to teach her, even if I try to make it into a game, she gets bored within minutes. I didn't worry about it, knowing she already has the desire to read; there's still plenty of time for her to develop the patience and attention span to learn the mechanics of reading. I figured I'd look into Hooked on Phonics when she enters kindergarten next year.

A few weeks ago, my daughter found volume 4 in this series during our weekly visit to the local library. She wanted to bring it home: "It's like Grandma's movie! It's Mrs. Phipps!" So we've started borrowing the whole series. We brought home volumes 4 and then 3 and 5, while waiting for volume 2 to become available. I worried about her watching them out of order, but she especially loves the later videos where the children act out stories while Mrs. Phipps reads the words as they're highlighted on the screen. These later volumes are still beyond her full grasp but her growing ability to read an occasional word, even though she can't read them all, encourages her desire to learn.

Now four, my daughter can write the alphabet, upper and lower cases, and though she hasn't quite mastered reading, she can sound out simple words (non-blend/short vowel) and knows a few more by sight. I figure she'll be reading within a few months if not weeks (it's an exciting time to watch your child right on the cusp of literacy). The beauty is: I haven't pushed her at all, but she CHOOSES on her OWN to play the Learn to Read videos along with her Dora, Maisy, and other tapes.

I got online today to order the whole set of videos for my daughter so we don't have to rely on their being available at the library (when she outgrows them, we'll donate them to the library). Don't shortchange your child by letting an 80s-style hairdo or a cheesy character costume turn you off of these videos. They may not be suited for every child's learning style, but for some kids at least, they work!

Skip these and buy Sound it out Land or Leap Frog phonics videos instead. The Learn to Read with Phonics videos look like they were filmed with a camcorder and are simply a teacher writing on a dry erase board while explaining the rules of phonics. They throw in a character "Snoothy" in a lame nod to fun and entertainment. But all they thought of for Snoothy to do is make squeeks in the background while the teacher is giving the phonics lesson. Very cheesy,unimaginative and boring. My 4 year old lost interest in 5 minutes.

I purchased this video when my now 9 year old son was only 4 and he had a lot of interest in learning phonics and reading. It was too boring for him to sit through more than about 3 minutes. I have since had 2 more children-same results when I put the video in. It is very poor quality-I could certainly have made a better production myself and I have absolutely no knowledge of video production. It is a COMPLETE waste of money. I do second the other reviewer's choice-especially the Leap Frog videos-and especially the Leap Frog Talking Word Factory. Not only are those videos well thought out, they taught my youngest (who started watching them when he was just under 2 years old-he's now 3 years and 3 months)ALL of his letters AND all of the sounds to go with them. He has learned to spell and sound out words. They are captivating, entertaining and yet they do have enough repetition to teach every letter, sound and word construction. Big thumbs up, and I'm anxiously awaiting more quality educational and entertaining videos from Leap Frog-hopefully there will BE more!!

When I reviewed this tape after buying it, I knew right away it would not work out for my kindergarten class. I tried it anyway, and I was right. I've never had the kids say "BORING!" about anything before this. It is incredibly boring, very amateurish, not the least bit multicultural, and a waste of money! My favorites so far... the Leap Frog videos and the Rock N Learn videos.