Product Details

• Directors: CVP Communications
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Baby Bumblebee
• VHS Release Date: July 7, 1999
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000JT77
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,466 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Video > Special Interests > Parenting & Childcare > Infants & Toddlers
  #7 in	Video > Special Interests > Literature & Poetry
  #14 in	Video > Kids & Family > Independently Distributed

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It's tough to imagine that the average tot wouldn't get adequate exposure to the objects presented in Bee Smart Baby: Vocabulary Builder, Vol. 1 to master their recognition and rough pronunciation by around 18 months, but parents in a hurry to hear their little ones jabber on about the things oft encountered in the first year or so of life will be grateful for this half-hour video. The concept is, as it should be, simple. First objects are shown in a variety of settings--a toy train going around a track, then a real one chugging along; a series of noses, some on grown-up faces and others belonging to kids; a large spoon stirring a bowl of pasta followed by a baby spoon against a blank background. Then a gentle-voiced narrator states the item's name twice, once at its introduction and again when it's time to move on. At first it seems we're in for nothing more than a laundry list of animals, body parts, and utensils, but then a pattern emerges: a series of four already-shown objects skitter by again, and they're repeated in order. This simple structure will appeal to caregivers who devour child-development studies--the benefits of repetition in early learning will be well known to them--and the makers of this video seem tuned in to the likelihood that it's the well-educated who are most apt to be watching along. To sweeten the deal for such grown-ups, they've set this video to the music of Mozart, which has been shown to constructively stimulate young children. --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description

From the Producer! The Bee Smart Baby Vocabulary Builder video series is the only video product available to aid in early language acquisition. Baby BumbleBee will be introducing additional videos in the fall of 1999.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of its Class in infant stimulation - not just for vocab, December 21, 2000

By	"americanexpatworkingmom" (Gordonsville, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This video is simply fabulous - but inappropriately marketed. This is a first class infant stimulation video in the same class as the best of the Baby Einstein Companies products. My toddler- now 1 year old LOVES this video. The main value is not vocabulary - I would think that most toddlers would learn all the words presented between 18 mos. and 2 years old, anyway. By watching this video, infants & toddlers learn to associate the 'real thing' with other representations of the object (like kids playing with or using the object, and toy-versions of the object). There is a language skills benefit that the infant / toddler learns to associate the word spelled out on the screen with various representations of the object with the spoken word. Besides all of this, it is highly engaging for a number of reasons.

Like many similar (infant stimulation / development) products, the sound track is classical music, mostly Mozart. The voice on the tape is a woman's, and she says a word (like train, teddy bear, ball, dog, nose, etc.) in a non-monotonous way (this is a big problem with other videos of this type). Then we see a series of shots of kids of all ages using or interacting with the object, a live-action video shot of the object, a still-shot of the object, and a toy-versions of the object. Some of the greatest features of this video are that it includes animals like dogs & cows that my daughter - like most toddlers - loves to watch. Also, it is well known that infants / toddlers like to see faces, especially other babies. There are numerous shots of kids of all ethnic backgrounds and ages - shot in very engaging ways including close-ups, and doing things (like bouncing a ball - for "ball," or eating with a spoon - for "spoon"). The production quality of this video is superb, and you don't get the sense that the producers cut corners by inserting cheap computer-generated animation (which I have found are not good at keeping babies' attention).

We have a rather complete library of infant stimulation / development videos, including all of the 'So Smart' Series, Baby Einstein Company's videos, the BabyScape videos, and a Baby Genius' video - all of which I have reviewed on this site. I consider this video, "Bee Smart Baby," and Baby Einstein Company's "Baby Van Gogh" - the 'best of its class.'

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helped my autistic son with his vocabulary., October 24, 1999

By	lesli mitchell (atlanta, ga) - See all my reviews

My son is diagnosed with autism and did not begin to use functional language until he was two and a half years old. We tried everything to get him to speak more and to speak clearly. Then my mother-in-law found Bee Smart Baby. Although it's targeted for younger children, it was perfect for my son. The objects used to build vocabulary are those that my son was familiar with and enjoyed learning about--trains, cars, planes, body parts. Within a few days of watching the video he could say every word on it! We realized then how much our son was a visual learner and we'd recommend this video to any parents who have a child with language delays. Now, just a few months later, our son's vocabulary is over 100 words and growing every day. Thank you, Bee Smart Baby! Looking forward to your new volumes!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Video!, September 21, 2000

By	Kristen C. (Plainfield, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

My son, 21 months old, LOVES these videos! He has really picked up a lot of words from them and amazes me each and every day. He calls them the "buzz" videos and is always asking me to play one. He'll refer to something by name, shocking me, and then I realize it was a word from the tape. These tapes are well worth the money and keep your child's interest. At 21 months my son likes volumes 1-3 of this series, but volumes 4&5 are a little advanced for him (three syllable words).