Meet the Phonics - 3 DVD Boxed Set (Meet the Letter Sounds, Meet the Digraphs & Meet the Blends)

I just got this in the mail today and as we sat and watched the first DVD my seven year old said "This is better than learning! Thanks, Mom."I got this DVD set because my seven year old has been having problems with reading and sounding words out. I don't think they bother teaching kids phonics anymore, just expect them to read words by sight, which is so stupid. How are you supposed to figure out new words if you don't learn what sounds the letters make?I was afraid this would be too juvenile for my seven year old, but she really likes it and is entertained. She's already coping the letter sounds. It's funny, she doesn't even realize she's learning! The DVD is great, with bright interesting cartoons characters. Right now we're viewing the first DVD that covers single letter sounds. They go through each letter, and include both hard and soft sounds, like soft and hard G sound.My only criticism is I feel some of the words they use as examples may be too abstract or confusing for young kids. For example, they use "idea" as one of the word examples for the letter i, and "perfect" for the letter p. And for the letter s, they use the word "close". I think having the letter sound at the end of the word might be confusing to some kids.But I give it 4 stars because overall, it keeps my kid's attention, and covers every single possible letter sound. I feel it was worth the money. We're going to watch the other two DVDs, and I'll update my review after that.ETA - We've finished watching the other two DVDs that cover blends and digraphs and I'm changing my rating from four stars to five. My daughter loves all three DVDs, and has asked me to buy her more "phonic cartoons". I watch the cartoons with my daughter and I've even learned a few things myself! I think it rates five stars because of it's thoroughness. There is NO WAY I would have thought of every possible letter combination the videos have. They go over every possible two letter combination that exists in the English language. In addition, the cartoon breaks down each part of a word so the child SEES how to sound a word out.Before my daughter watched these shows she was having a hard time recognizing phonics and was just guessing at words. Now, just a week later after watching these shows she is sounding out words she didn't know before! Before her reading was so poor I was at the point of requesting an IEP and now I don't think she'll need it.Definitely worth the money!!

I initially bought these to help my husband who had a massive left sided stroke. They are a great help to him but also our 3 year old granddaughter has learned so much from them also. I highly recommend them for young children.

Very helpful to help children with school homework.

It's actually really good set of videos. My 2.5 yo twins verbally follows & danced to the first video that introduces the alphabet using phonics.I just wished that when they introduced an object pertinent to the phonics (eg elephant), that they would show the word 'elephant.' Kind of do site words & phonics together, so the kids can associatively learn the material right there & then, rather than have to figure it out later.In addition to, towards the end of the 1st video it got really advanced with related phonics theories on videos 2 & 3, that even I got a little lost as to figuring out what it is that they were trying to introduce.I grew up memorizing site words, with a whole lot of trial & error, & that was easy for me, & that's how I learned to read. So phonics is brand new to me.At any rate, it's still a pretty good video set. I wished I had bought this series when my twins were 18 months, when they first mastered the alphabet. They would have mastered the phonics aspects of the alphabet by now.Highly recommend this video set!

As a retired K-1 teacher I appreciate these DVDs of phonics . I ordered them along with the Sight Words for a 2 1/2 year old granddaughter who is ready to read. When she started picking out the letters in her Dad’s books and told him she was reading I knew it was time. They watch these together and call them Sight Word movies .My children were raised without TV and are voracious readers. They are now raising their children the same.

Excellent learning tool!!! I have a 4.5 year old and an 18 month old and they both love watching these. we actually have all of the preschool prep company DVDs and I would recommend them to every parents. the repetition helps your child to learn the material quickly and the fun characters keep their attention and make it entertaining and enjoyable for children. even I don't mind watching it with my kids. However,if you're the type of person that gets annoyed by repetition, you probably wouldn't like watching/listening to it. although, if I'm not in the mood to listen, or need to get something done, I can step out of the room and my kids don't even notice I'm gone. I can set the kids up in a room, go and do my dishes and know that my children are entertained, not getting into trouble, and most importantly learning!

I bought these for my 3 year old twin girls. We watch them a few times a week and I've noticed that they are sounding out their letters and understanding how to form words. My girls already knew the alphabet and the sounds of each letter, but there is a section on word building that helps them understand how to read a word. The animation is good--I personally would not have used a slot machine as the graphic for the word building sections--that seems odd to me, but oh well.These videos are also good for the parent's as a review of phonic rules. I like these more than the Leap Frog because although the Leap Frog are more entertaining--I think they learn more from the Preschool Prep DVDs. I use both in teaching my girls though.