I posted a few weeks ago about how Ella had just borrowed the Leap Frog Letter Factory video from Aunt Amy and how she LOVED it. I am here to proclaim the wonders of this video. It's been six weeks and she's probably seen the video 25 times and SHE KNOWS ALL OF HER LETTERS. AND the sounds they make. Pre-video, she could reliably identify "o" and "e" (her letter, as she so affectionately calls it). And, she had NO interest in learning letters. We had talking magnet letters, foam bath toy letters, letter flashcards and she never cared about them at all. We never pushed them on her because she's two so it doesn't really matter if she knows letters. However, it was always in the back of my mind that her friend Lexi has known all the letters for a year! I knew Ella was capable, I just wondered when she'd show enough interest to learn. Well, in stepped Tad, Lilly, and Leap (frogs in the video) and voila...interest galore. Now it hasn't been the video alone that taught her the letters (though I'd give it about 70% of the credit) but it got her interested so that now, she'll sit with me and "read" letters forever.
One of the cutest things about her new found skill is the residue from the video. For instance, she had trouble saying "t" without calling it "tapping t" (it tap dances in the video). And if you ask her what sound "O" makes she'll make a two-pitch "O" sound that sounds like a tarzan yell because that's what O does in the video. She shivers when ever she makes a "C-c-c" sound and says "wuh-wuh-wuh" while bobbing her head like a the Dj/rapper "W" in the video. She's also taken to saying "Okie dokie artichokie" like the frog in the video. It's all just so cute!
To encourage her new learning, we got out our old laptop too and deemed it "Ella's" and she's been requesting words she wants to type, we tell her the letters, she finds them on the keyboard, types them and then gets so excited!! She's typed all of our names and for some reason, always wants to type "tummy" and gets very upset that there's no "E" in it (because it's her letter and I agree, it sounds like it should have one).
So, all this to say, this is my first real experience with an educational video actually educating my child and even better, opening the door for me to teach her. I'm thrilled.
Word factory taught Christopher how letters go together to form words.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing.
I'm pretty excited for the rest of the series.
Okay, so after I read this post, we went out earlier this week and got the video. Zachariah has seen it once and already is spouting off some of the letters!! I am amazed! So glad you posted about it! He loves it!
ReplyDeleteI have the Word Factory on my list to get him for his birthday next month.
I can't believe how much of a sponge these kids are!
There's also a [free] game called Baby Smash where they can type in a letter on the keyboard and it comes up and the computer voice tells you the letter. Not as sophisticated as Tad and the Letter Factory, but he's learning where the letters are on the keyboard too!