Customer Reviews

Rock 'N Learn: Alphabet Exercise

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

 

 

My son does like to watch this video (although not his favorite from this company), but I thought the exercise part of the video would actually be a little more strenuous and help on rainy and cold days that we have to stay indoors. The actor in the video is hardly in shape and puts little effort into the moves. The video itself is a good idea as far as exercising while learning letters, but the actors voice is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ANNOYING!!! I have a very high tolerance, and Barney doesn't even bother me one bit if that tells you anything, but I really can't stand listening to this video. This company does make several other alphabet videos and I should have chosen another one. I just thought an exercise video for kids was a great idea, although there isn't much real exercise involved. They could have made this an AWESOME video! We LOVE the Rock N Learn collection and have close to 7 or 8 videos. I stand by this company and will definately continue to buy their videos.

Well this is my first review. i dont write reviews because to me everything is either ok or not worth my time. well this Rock N Learn series is way better than ok and well worth my time. i run a business from home and dad of 2 with my oldest just turned 2 years old Nov 17th and so my wife and i bought Colors, Shapes, & Counting, Letter Sounds, Alphabet Exercise, and Alphabet Circus for her to watch while i work. too my suprise she loves them. everytime 1 is done she picks the next 1 to watch. she knows her colors, shapes, can count to 20, knows her abc's, can read 2 small books she has and will try to sound out words she doesnt already know. ok some of you might think thats not a big deal it can be done yes but the big deal is she has only been watching these dvds for 3 days! her grandma just ordered some more Rock N Learn dvds for her for Christmas so i cant wait to see how she reacts to them and how my review with them will be. this series is truely awesome! to an adult it may look cheap made and things like that but if it holds them there with out blinking and they learn that makes it 110% besides if you are an adult and want to complain about how you cant watch it because of how it looks hmmmm something is wrong lol. its a childrens educational movie not Days Of Our Lives so got over it. for the learning experience for the kids and the price you cant beat it. this series is good enough i would of paid $50 a dvd. seriously i would have. if you are thinking about trying it, just do it you wont regret it i promise!

This is the best in the series...The children love to move around and follow AL....Great teaching tool for learning ABC'S. It is a lot of fun!!

My little boy had a blast with this. I haven't really found anything that offers this much interaction and I am really happy to have this because my little boy, whom loves to get up and move with this. My daughter is 7 and knows her ABC's but she gets right up and does this with Conner and well there is usually a lot of giggling and you can tell they are having tons of fun. Not all little kids and well most of them don't want to just sit there and learn. But, when you put something that is interacting and they can get up and move it is shocking how much little ones can learn. Plus, Alphabet Al is great with little kids and really has a very fun and nice attitude that really is great for little ones as well.

I didn't know if the kids would like this at first. Alphabet Al is kind of odd, but once one of the kids liked it, the others did too. The 2 yr old asks to watch "exercise" whenever it's her turn to choose a movie. She stands in front of the tv and follows along. I think it is also helping with letter recognition.

I am very impressed by the entire collection of Rock 'N Learn DVD's. Alphabet exercise is very child oriented and inviting. It allows the children to interact with the show and physically gets them active.

I reccomend that the first few times you watch it you participate so they understand that it's ok to interact. After that you will see just putting the DVD in will have them busy all on their own.

I run a daycare and the children rant and rave that they want this video.

Great purchase and look forward to completing the series!!!

Designed for children from three- to five-years-old, Rock `N Learn's unique exercise program integrates early literacy skills with physical activity. A funny gentleman named Alphabet Al guides children through 35 minutes of gentle physical activity while clad in a blue tux: complete with cummerbund, bow tie, top hat and gloves. Al introduces children to each of the capital and lower case letters in turn, providing an active movement that begins with the specific letter. L for example is lift, P is pick and T is twist. The letters appear onscreen along with the action word and related vocabulary words that begin with the letter throughout the segment.

As the letters change, the colourful, digitally generated background that Al and his exercise mat appear against shift and the music changes as well. At times Al switches off with children performing the movement, or is accompanied by computer-animated characters. A pause is provided while each new letter is introduced, allowing for a relaxed pace that will accommodate most children. Some of the letter segments encourage children to form the shapes of the letter with their bodies, an excellent reinforcement for kinesthetic learners.

Developed in conjunction with a certified fitness trainer, a variety of balanced exercises are included: stretches, light cardio, upper body, lower body, and isometric exercises are all present. A natural intermission is provided at N for nap, providing a break that can be used to divide the workout into two segments, or just a pause before resuming with letters O through Z.

Following the 35 minutes of movement an animated guide to printing the letters and numbers is quickly presented. Encouraging children to follow the onscreen movements with their finger in the air (air-writing) is absolutely the best method for imprinting proper letter formation in young learners, so I was thrilled to see this included. The printing segments bring the discs total run time to 44 minutes.

The delivery of the exercises is fairly standard for children's programming. Big goofy smiles, wide eyes, bright flashing colours, and squeaky voices are all par for the course. Al's voice speaks in a clear rhythm, complete with rhymes as he introduces each letter, the accompanying movement and additional vocabulary words. The accompanying music varies in style though it sounds synthetically generated throughout. It serves mainly to reinforce the tempo of Al's speech and the pace of the physical movements, never forming what one would consider a proper song.

Fully chaptered, viewers can move between segments while watching, or through the excellent navigational menu. Each of the letters is available to select on the menu to go straight to its segment. A "Play All" option, and buttons for the numeral printing and alphabet printing segments are also provided. The ease of menu selection makes it easy for parents and teachers to reinforce any difficult letters, and to easily focus on specific skills.

It wasn't long before my daughter started offering unprompted feedback. "This guy is so funny mommy!" she exclaimed when he introduced the letter A. "Oh, this is so fun!" was her response to the letter B, when she got to bicycle on the floor with her legs in the air. Because we use an Orton-Gillingham approach to phonics which emphasizes letter sounds over letter names, she's still unfamiliar with some of the letter names, and isn't entirely confident with the others.

Though my oldest is outside of the recommended age range, the reinforcement provided by this DVD is just what she needs. We're able to kill three birds with one stone - provide an outlet for physical activity, reinforce letter names, and help her learn proper printing technique. With my three-year-old starting to count and learn the ABC song I have great hopes that this fun-filled disc will help her along in her journey towards or recognition. Educators working with young children should certainly put Alphabet Exercise on their short list of products to look into further.

My 3yr old is totally engrossed with this video. She interacts and sings along as if nothing else in the world matters when this video is on

I bought this DVD after falling in love with it's sister Rock n Learn Phonics I&II, despite the one review. I understand that they are trying to reach kinesthetic learners here, which is great since most toddlers and small children are kinesthetic learners to start out with, and very few have the patience or attention span to do seat work. All my kids (ages 8,7,4, 20 mo.)liked it and participated in the majority of it. The moves are not strenuous (it is perfect for my physically disabled 4yo), but its enough to keep your kid moving(for 44 minutes), which is a great thing these days with video games and the dangers of playing outside keeping most kids inside. The reviewer above me said that the exercise was too easy, given that it is for a small child audience I feel that its appropriate. I mean you wouldn't expect your 4 year old to follow Jane Fonda? The video goes through the alphabet 2 times and then a third time showing kids how to write each letter.

Pros:

*exercise and alphabet introduction in one

*reaches kinesthetic learners (most kids are till grade 3)

*easy, slow paced movements, not strenuous exercise, good for kids with disabilities (lots of arm movement)and kids without

*introduces letters with stretching and warm up, ends with a cool down

*shows other kids doing movements at different intervals

*Introduces capital and lowercase letters at he same time

Cons:

*guy can be annoying, but I can't stand Barney and this guy didn't bother me.

*not the most attention grabbing video

This DVD is awful! Do not waste your money. Whoever created it doesn't know much about children. I have two kids and babysit two kids. Their ages range from 18 mos.to 5 years old. None of the kids liked it. They would not watch it past the letter C! The music is bad, the exercises are mostly silly & useless and the guy in it is strange & creepy. His voice is actually very annoying. There's nothing fun or catchy about this DVD.