Rock 'N Learn: Phonics & Reading

This movie is an incredible value. Most Rock N Learn movies cost at least double this price. The DVD case says that this movie is 104 minutes long and as far as I can tell it contains a lot of clips from those other pricier versions. The main reason I think that this is cheaper is that it is for HOME USE ONLY whereas most other Rock N Learn Videos give permission to show them in a classroom setting too.I bought this movie for my 2 year old daughter who LOVES the Rock N Learn Series (she even enjoys titles like this that are made for kids older than her). We started with the Rock N Learn movie "Colors, Shapes and Counting" when she was about 1.5 and she has learned so much so fast! Though she is not ready to sit and watch this movie straight through (there are some concepts that are over her head) we put it on and let her watch the parts she likes. I am confident that a large majority of the chapters in this DVD will be watched a lot, if not now I am sure she will be interested in them as she progresses.Contrary to what the cover makes it look like, there are NOT many live people in the movie. It is traditional Rock N Learn style (see their website for video clips of other movies). I would describe it as "flash animation" style. There are some sections that have a real mouth or real person (adult) in the corner showing you how to pronounce the word or sound (I love this feature). Some sections are songs, some are reading words along with a beat, some are quiz type games (cool for older kids, but we skip most of these for our 2 year old), some sections are read-along stories (brief animations or illustrations with follow along words at the bottom- they usually give you a chance to read it on your own and then they highlight the words as they read them). Each chapter/section is separate from the others and only last a few minutes at the most. So you could just focus on a few clips at a time to introduce and/or solidify a particular concept.I am not sure if all of the chapters are clips from other movies, but I know that there are at least a handful of clips that are also on some of the other Rock N Learn movies we own (for instance there are some duplicate clips on the "Letter Sounds" movie, and though I don't own the "Phonics" movies I would guess that they also contain duplicates of some of these clips). Anyway, I've listed the chapter titles in this DVD below so that you can compare with other Rock N Learn videos that you might own.Includes:VowelsCommon Sounds of Each LetterName That LetterC-V-C Words (consonant-vowel-consonant)Special Sounds of C G Q XPutting it All TogetherDouble Consonants (plural s ending s)Let's Read "The Cats"Let's Read "Fun in the Pen"Let's Read "Bill, the Big Pig"Ending Consonant BlendsBeginning Consonant BlendsTriple Consonant BlendsConsonant Diagraphs & TrigraphsSilent eLet's Read "Pat and Nat at Camp"Let's Read "Pam and Jill Shop"Let's Read "Bill and Max Go for a Swim"Marko Loves to ReadRead and Sing "The Three Little Pigs"Read and Sing "Jack and the Beanstalk"Read and Sing "The Ugly Duckling"Read and Sing "The Little Red Hen"Marko's ComedyI was surprised he packaging was not a traditional DVD case (it looks like it on the outside, but inside it holds the DVD in a removable envelope rather than a traditional DVD clasp). It doesn't really matter to me, but it is worth noting.I think this movie is an awesome addition to any home with children who are learning to read. It is very thorough. Plus, adding music definitely makes reading and learning more fun. I think this movie would work well with either a phonics based reading method or a sight words reading method (as there are a lot of words they read and show at the same time). Just pick the clips that support the method you prefer. Have fun!

We love this DVD! The songs really capture my son's attention. He's 6 years old and autistic. The thing we love the most is the segments with the mouth saying the letter sounds and words. What a great way to mix speech with phonics! Love it! Even my 3 year old enjoys watching this DVD. Every morning he asks for his words movie and I pop in either this or Meet the Sight Words. Between the two, both of my boys are beginning their adventures in reading and they're doing great!

This is by far the best where I can learn phonics DVD they have. I have four children and now it's the last ones turn to use it. Am I experience I'd just leave it on the loop in my toddler's room ( using a wall mounted TV / DVD player). This is my opinion get the conversations started and I just love it.

This is the cheating CD about Phonics. This company who made this CD should be ashamed.Please do not fall in this trap.

It was a bit too long for my kids to get through it...they got bored with it, but good content was presented.

My son turned 2 and a half yesterday, and he has known his letter sounds for over 6 months now, but has never quite understood how to put them together (which is reasonable, since he is only 2). I bought this video a little over a month ago, and he watches it in the car, when we take rides to run errands, etc. He enjoys it, and he repeats things like "Daddy, the vowels are A,E,I,O,U, and sometime Y". I thought it was very cute, but he has always had a good memory, so I never thought much of it. However, 2 days ago we pulled out a set of word-to-picture matching puzzles, which we haven't used in quite some time, and unexpectedly, he started sounding out the letters in sequence and telling us what each word was. We were shocked! There were about 30 words in the set, and he got nearly 20 of them, before getting distracted and moving onto something new. We went back the next day, and he did it again. Through this video, he seems to understand the concept of reading. I definitely think this video was key to getting him over that hurdle. He had a good foundation, with already knowing the letter sounds, but this video helped him put it all together. Obviously, I am quite pleased with the results of this $8 purchase! :-)

We started our son with the Rock n Learn videos at 18 months. At that time he was able to say his letters and starting his ABCs. But once we popped in this video after doing his fun time, it was pure magic. He learned soooo much with these videos. The folks at his daycare said they were amazed at how advanced he was. We could not say it was just genetics. We reeeealy wanted to, but we just couldn't lie like that. It was these videos. He can say his ABCs in English and Spanish. He can say his colors, in English and Spanish. He knows is vowels, consonants, and can pronounce every type of combination (i.e. ch, st, cl, etc).With this all being said, one get your kids going early and two, get Rock n Learn. We are getting the Rock n Learn Phonics 1 and 2 next. As far as my son, we moved him to another school (Montesory schools, they are supposed to be awesome), and they are even impressed with his vocabulary and his abilities. WE AIN'T BRAGGIN'(LOL), we are just saying that Rock n Learn works.

3yr old daughter was starting to read before the DVD, but upon watching it a few times, she lept forward. She is talking to us more about how words sound and what they sound like in the beginning/end of words. It gets children more in the mode of reading and stimulates them to learn.Well worth the price in my opinion. Just wish there are more of these to buy.