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Let’s face it. For many of us, just getting our kids fed, groomed, and off to school in a timely manner is a big enough challenge. (Don’t forget to pack the snacks, help plan the class party or finish that special project that’s due tomorrow!) And these days, youngsters are expected to academically perform at a much younger age than in generations past.

Thankfully, Preschool Prep Company’s newest endeavor, Meet the Sight Words, can help with the reading portion. Sight words are “words that don’t follow basic decoding strategies: sounding out “mat” makes sense - m-a-t, but how do you sound out “you”? In “Meet the Sight Words 1″ sixteen sight words are introduced by turning the word into an action. The word is repeated multiple times, and the word morphs into a more traditional black and white version.

“Meet the Sight Words program”, enthuses one reviewer, “makes learning common pre-K and Kindergarten level sight words easier and more fun by animating the words and reinforcing their pronunciation through repetition. A LOT of repetition, which might drive you a little crazy, but if my two and a half year old is any indication, kids don’t mind the repetition of the word because they are watching fun animation at the same time.”

Some parents really appreciated the gentle, quiet style of the award-winning video.“What I like about this particular DVD is that it’s not too loud or boisterous,” a blogger writes. “The goal is simple: familiarize kids with sight words.”

We know what you’re wondering… How is THIS video different from the sea of other videos out there? One blogger explains: “the thing I most appreciate about the DVD - something I haven’t seen other educational DVDs do - is that it shows the words in a variety of colors, sizes, and positions on the screen. It’s not just a slide show of a static word moving across the TV; it’s trying to help kids recognize a pattern of letters in a dynamic environment. After all, not every book a child reads is going to be in the same font. Not every presentation of the letter ‘a’ is going to look the same.”

Some of our reviewers thought their wee ones weren’t yet ready for the 40-minute program. Several mentioned that they intend to re-introduce the DVD in the future. “I’m definitely going to throw on theMeet the Sight Words again but I think I’ll wait for a month or so. The series is recommended for ages 15 months to six years so, at not yet three, (my son)’s still at the young end of the age range,” reveals one reviewer. Another blogger also refers to this aspect:“My two year old did repeat the words with the narrator and seemed entertained but like most two year olds she checked out after 15 minutes.”

Quite a few bloggers throughout this campaign mentioned the “adorable animations.” One reviewer’s two older sons also found the animations amusing. Kaitlyn calls Meet the Sight Words ‘the word movie,’ and she LOVES it. Even her older brothers who are 11 and 9 admit that it’s cute and that they find some of the animation clever, which is pretty high praise coming from them.”

But the million-dollar question remains - is this a product that can help children on their journey to literacy? Two of our reviewers enthusiastically share their experiences. “My four-year-old really got into it, asking to watch it again as soon as it was over. Later in the day, she found one of the sight words and asked me, “Is this the word play?” I couldn’t have been more thrilled,” states one blogger, while another admits to a rocky start but a strong finish. The latter notes, “The first time I put on the DVD, as much as I tried to cheer lead, Graham was not engaged at all. The second time, after bribing him to stay put with some popcorn, he actually sat through nearly half an hour of it and was engrossed enough that I was able to slip into the bathroom. ‘What are you watching?’ I asked him upon my return. ‘It’s and mommy,’ he cried in reply. ‘Look mommy, its and.’ ‘And’ is a start.”

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 at 5:00 am and is filed under Kids, Pre-school, Toddler. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.