Review: LeapFrog's Letter Factory DVD

After overhearing a preschool teacher that I worked with recommend the Letter Factory DVD to a parent, I figured it had to be good.  After my first son, Brett, was born I started feeling all this pressure for him to constantly be educated in everything he did or saw.  When his second birthday was approaching, I remembered The Letter Factory and figured I would give it a shot and buy it for him not expecting him to get much out of it since he was still pretty young.  I was wrong.  It was the best $10 I have ever spent. 

Leap Frog's Letter Factory DVD is an incredible educational tool for parents to use to help their children between the ages of 2 and 5 learn each of the 26 letters of the alphabet.  Kids are also taught the phonetic pronunciation of each letter.  Children are educated and engaged for an entire 35 minutes (long enough for you to take a shower, cook dinner, or just enjoy the peace and quiet in another room).  

The DVD centers on Tad who visits the letter factory with his family.  He visits each of the letters of the alphabet in their own classrooms where they are learning their own sounds.  Tad pants with the H's in a hot room, karate kicks with the K's, and pops popcorn with the P's.  What really makes this DVD so effective is that it combines the visuals of the actual letters with their phonetic sounds to make a catchy (and actually not annoying) little tune: 

"The B says buh, the B says buh,

Every letter makes a sound, the B says buh."

After about 4 weeks of watching this video, I was absolutely blown away by the effectiveness of it.    I could not believe how quickly Brett was identifying different letters and the sounds after only a short time.  He was pointing out and naming different letters that were in his surrounding environment (building signs, grocery stores, and books). 

So many of my friends and family were amazed with how he knew all of the letters and sounds.  They were actually giving me kudos and all I did was pop in the DVD and park his butt on the couch for 35 minutes.  I had to come clean and give Leap Frog all the credit for his success. 

If I had to give this product a "con" it would be because of the fact that it requires children to be sitting in front of the television for more than a half hour.  If you absolutely do not want your child watching TV, then this is not the product for you.  Personally, I think it is worth it since children are really learning something and enjoying themselves in a relatively short amount of time. 

Recognizing their letters and sounds gives children a great foundation for learning how to read.  You can purchase the wonderful Letter Factory DVD at Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Amazon.