Ms. Lewis, I mean that in the nicest, most complimentary way possible. Truly.

For some of our bloggers, Phonics 4 Babies has been a way to encourage their pre-verbal toddlers. For some of our bloggers, it’s been a means of reinforcing what their children are working to master. But even more, Phonics 4 Babies has been a pleasant walk down memory lane. As one mother put it: “…it really reminds me of the shows I watched on PBS back in the day…And I’m just thrilled with the retro-ness of it all. It’s nice to see that some things don’t change. Like sassy sock puppets. It seems they still completely rock a two-year-old’s world.”

A few of the children who watched aren’t speaking much yet - certainly not as much as their parents would like:

• “[My daughter] is still lacking in the area of speech. She can say a handful of words but only if you ask her to. She won’t take the initiative to ask for something specifically.“
• “Sometimes I still worry he’ll be a gangly teenager pointing and grunting at the fridge instead of saying, Hey ma, we’re outta milk.” (The pithily hilarious title of her review post - “Unlingual”.)

Another “is still more comfortable expressing herself in her baby signs.”

The bloggers had a great deal of praise for the DVD, its creators, and Mallory Lewis herself:

• “It was developed in association with prominent clinical advisors from UCLA, speech pathologists and child educators.“
• “Role playing is an intricate part of how these lessons are communicated as characters play out every day life for babies and children. And they do so in a fun and caring way.“
• “The DVD makes fun use of music, puppets, animation and real children. Lewis is an excellent performer, too.“

And for the most part, both parents and children loved it. One little girl is routinely “indicating please and thank you through her baby signs since she’s been exposed to this video.” Her mother adds that: “She does seem to show more of an interest in the alphabet…she previously was mainly interested in identifying whole words and not learning the concept of reading through identifying letters and the corresponding phonics.” Another blogger enthused: “When I first showed this video to [my daughter], she was totally mesmerized. I have to admit that I really enjoyed it, too. The upbeat songs just makes you want to sing along!”

However, one blogger made a point regarding one of the games in the video - Can You See It?: “It shows three items on the screen, and Lewis asks kids to find each item as she names it. This is a good game, but many times the three items have nothing to do with one another - there’s no theme. (One time, the game displays a coat, a mother and a fish.) Other times, though, the items do have a common theme, such as they all start with the same letter.” It seems like it might be easier for toddlers to identify related items.

Another mother was dismayed by the “warning”, intended to be humorous, at the beginning of the video: “One truly annoying - and initially scary for [my daughter] - part of the video is this siren thing at the very beginning that wails loudly as an announcer gives a disclaimer that the producers are not responsible for babies who will not stop talking, that by watching the video the child may grow up to graduate first in their class, or find the cure for the common cold, or be President…they won’t let you fast-forward through it, so you have to put up with it every doggone time you view the video.” Loud enough to scare the kids and a little too goofy for the parents.

But for the kids who were a bit older - around 18 months to two years - this video is spot-on. A final blogger recommended: “If your toddler is already verbal and well on his or her way to speaking well and has expressed an interest in learning letter sounds, it’s definitely worth a watch.”

To purchase your own copy of Phonics 4 Babies, click here!