LeapFrog: Letter Factory (Kids Pack)

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!This is the most fun and creative DVD for teaching Letter recognition and sound.I bought this when my daughter was 18-month old. She doesn't like letters no matter how I present it -- magnetic letters, flash card etc. She loves numbers and can count from 1 to 10 but not consistently correct. She sometimes skip a number. She also cannot recognize numbers yet but she loves it. So what I did, I purchased Numberland and Letter Factory at the same time.I figure if I let her watch Numberland, she'll love it because it's about numbers and get use to the Leapfrog format and sure enough she got addicted to that. Recognize Numbers 1 to 10 in less than a week and was able to count consistently correct from 1 to 10. In the same note, when I presented Letter Factory in the same week, she was hooked to learning letters.In 2 weeks, she was able to recognize about 50% of the alphabet. This is amazing development from a child who has zero interest on letters. I will pick up a letter and she screams excitedly what letter it is. There are few occassions that she was sleeping then she screamed E F G then when I checked her, she was sleeping... LOL. Having this DVD for a month now, she can recognize letters from A to Z. When we read at night, she points to the capital letters in the book and name it to me. Same goes with numbers. She is starting to say the sound of the letters too.I rented at the local library some DVDs about alphabets (after the success of Letter Factory in our house) such as Brainy Baby, Meet the Letters, Babyscape etc etc -- they are also good but not great like Letter Factory. I let my child watch those to present the letters in different way. All the DVDs I named above have very similar presentation -- showing the letters, saying what letter it is and what sound(s) they make. Letter Factory on the otherhand is very creative in their presentation. The song is very catchy. One of those that sticks to your head. The way they teach the sound of the letter is very creative and funny for kids too like for example for letter "A". Tad (the main character) went to the training room of Letter A then Professor Quigley (the one helping Tad learn the letters) put on a monster suit and said "Booga Booga Booga" to scare the Letter A and all the letter "A" along with Tad screamed "AHHHH" in fear. My daughter loves to scream with the letter A when they make their sound "AHHHH". Now, 19-month she thinks sound of letter A is funny.What makes this DVD superior among others is the creative presentation -- not the typical fashion.Rating this a perfect 5 for all the reasons I named above but most importantly for delivering a proven result to my daughter.This DVD helped her and continue to do so.

I have a 3 year old son. he was good with his alphabet recognition and names since a very long time and i was wanting him to learn phonics and then eventually start reading, as he is crazily attracted to books.I had a concern that he very picky about what interests him and i certainly did not want phonics to be something he does'nt like learning. So it was important for me to make acorrect choice of DVD which entertains him thorougly while making him learn.Leap frog letter factory gave him the perfect first introduction to phonics. It clicked with him so well that he wants to watch it over and over again. To my surprise he has already started sounding letters specilly the ones he like.Tedd and prof uigley actually visit the various letter rooms to learn the sounds. In these rooms the letters (from letter factory)are learning their own sounds. During each room visit, the letter sound is taught, prof quigley gives a few words starting from that sound, he also writes the letter on a slate (this helps children know how the letter is written and helps when they eventually learn writing), also the catchy jingle after every letter. The letters and sounds are repeated after every 4 new letters are taught. while in particular letter room, many words starting with that particular letter are deliberately used to give children a discreet sense of what the letter sounds like.The best part about this DVD is that they have made the most perfect pronunciation / sounds of letters, along with associting them with mnay real life situations, where you hear those sounds. hence it becomes very easy for the child to associate the sound with something, rather than learning it as a stand sound of the letter. vowels which are particularly dificult to remember (soundwise) even for adults have been so beautifully sounded in the dvd, associating them with different things.for example the sound of a (as pronounced in apple) is taught as a response when someone scares you. It is funny for children to see tedd getting scared with the 'ae' sound and they instantly register it.similarly the sound of O is taught through a jungle theme, tarzan sound.Children can easily differentiate between sounds through these associations.To begin with you might find the DVD going fast from one letter to another but I think the sped is perfect for children, as if too much time is invetsed on each letter, children may loose interest. After watching it a few times you will find the speed appropriate.It is for me the bets way to teach phonics at home.