Rock ‘N Learn! : Phonics DVD's 1 &2 (Review & giveaway)

I am home schooling my Kindergartner and my Pre-school aged children this year. It can be a challenge home schooling when 3 of the kids are ages 5 and under. I was very thankful to review for Rock 'N Learn! I really like the DVD's that they sent me. Teaching phonics, sounds of letters, spelling, etc. can be a challenge ~ and a big job! Rock 'N Learn has put together great DVD's that teaches these concepts so great! I was very impressed with these videos.

Rock 'N Learn starts off with teaching the vowels: a,e,i, o, u and sometimes y. Learning the vowels, consonants, and other parts of speech are taught in the Rock 'N Learn DVD's by fun, and catchy worded songs. My kids had a great time dancing and singing along to the songs. (All the while they are learning). The video also has sounding out words, and with this, the video shows the letter, the word, the mouth movements, and a picture. I really like how Rock 'N Learn put this together. Kids get a visual of the letter, picture and word (for the visual learner)
and they can watch how the mouth forms the word, which can help kids work on their pronunciation. Some kids really learn well by watching the mouth move with the words/sounds/letters. Check out this video clip of my kids watching the Rock N' Learn video:


I know that these videos will be very helpful with teaching phonics, and introducing reading to my kids. I think these videos are very educational and very helpful. I recommend these videos!
Rock 'N Learn Phonics (volume 1) has short sounds, consonants, blends & diagraphs, word families, silent e, and read-along stories. The DVD is approximately 70 minutes long. You can also visit free-phonics-worksheets.com for printable resources to go with the phonics programs from Rock N' Learn, as well.
Rock 'N Learn Phonics (volume 2) has long vowels, vowel combinations, syllables, ending sounds, silent consonants, and read-along stories.

The Rock 'N Learn videos are so great for a resource to teach your kids the basics to letters, sounds, and reading readiness. The DVD's have catchy songs and my kids love them.

Check out Rock 'N Learn's Facebook page.

***ENTER TO WIN***
This contest is open to bloggers and non-bloggers of the United States & Canada, and the contest is open until midnight October 23rd, 2010. To enter, go to the Rock 'n Learn website and check out what they have to offer. Comment here about what you found out and sounded interesting to you.

**For extra chances you can: blog this contest, add my button to your site, subscribe to my blog, twitter and/or become a fan on facebook, and/or visit everyday and add another friendly comment about something you found helpful for teaching phonics/reading to your kids. Lots of chances to win! Don't forget to put the extra comments for the "extra" work. Good luck!**

This review was provided from Rock 'N Learn. They have provided me with 2 Phonics DVD's to review and information to share with my readers. I am sponsored to offer a giveaway for my readers through this review (same 2 DVD's for one winner). I was given the product for my personal opinion and option to share with my readers. I was not compensated for my time or written review.

Zhu Zhu Flo dance and the Zhu-niverse 2010 Tour!!

The Zhu Zhu pets are quite entertaining, and they are a great little pet for kids. You don't have to "care" for your Zhu Zhu pet as you would a live pet, so they make great little pets for your kids if you don't want the responsibility and work that a live pet can bring.
Zhu Zhu pets cam out with a new line of friends called the KUNG ZHU. Our family loves the Kung Zhu's! These are warriors: ninjas and special forces. These Zhu Zhu's have shields, armor and special vehicles. To kick off the new Kun Zhu pets, the Zhu Zhu's are visiting 20 cities this summer and fall with the Zhu-niverse Tour, and welcomes all fans to come live for a day like the Zhu’s. Our family had a great time checking out the Zhu-niverse Tour at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN on June 5th, 2010. I think that visiting the Tour is a great way to introduce your children to the Zhu Zhu's and get in on all the fun!
I think the set up at the Mall of America was great...it was a rainy day, the Zhu-niverse was indoors, and people were everywhere! There were a few other events at the Mall of America that day, so it was great for even more people to check out the Zhu-niverse! There was a life size hamster habitat trail and wheel. My kids loved that!
There were four large tables of Zhu Zhu pets, accessories and habitats for kids to play with. The sets included the original Zhu Zhu sets as well as the new Kung Zhu pets/habitats/accessories.
Geoffrey, the Toys R Us giraffe, was there to greet all the children. Toys R Us is one of the main stores that sell the Zhu Zhu pets. My kids had a great time saying, "Hi" to Geoffrey and giving him a hug.
The Zhu-niverse had so much activity available for the kids! The staff and volunteers led kids in games, like pick the correct Zhu Zhu pet, land on the Zhu Zhu's birth mark, and more. There were prizes awarded like stickers, postcards, and tie string bags.

The live hamster habitat was such a blast! The kids had a great time pretending they were Zhu Zhu pets. Check out this cute video my oldest son took of the younger kids:

Here is a picture of Madelyn near the end of the habitat, next to Mr. Squiggles.
The kids had a great time playing the Zhu Zhu pets game on the Nintendo DSi gaming station.
It was great that there were several gaming systems so several children can play at the same time. The kids all loved the game...traveling with their Zhu Zhu pets.
Even my husband and our 17 month old had a great time playing the game.
Cole was so excited to play with the Zhu Zhu pets. He was just amazed at how they moved around. I like the little police car that is in front of him.
This is a very colorful set up for the Zhu Zhu pets!
There was a station set up where kids could play, "Which Zhu are YOU?" With answering questions about what they like, activities they enjoy, etc. the computer matches up the child to a Zhu Zhu pet they are most like based on their answers. After it picks the Zhu Zhu you are most like, the computer will take your picture and fit it in the body of a Zhu Zhu pet. With a plastic card, you have a special number and instruction to go online and view/order your photos.
Kung Zhu Training Grounds were a big hit for my kids. I think they spend most of the time training for Kung Zhu wars. The Training grounds started off with a race through the matted tunnel

....you can see Cole's legs in this photo.
Then the kids run through another tunnel and climb up on a stool to reach the monkey bars.

They quickly reach across to go through the monkey bars (Madelyn is getting some help from bigger brother).
Almost to the finish line, the kids need to run through the fierce ninjas and special forces (large mats that were standing upright).
At the end of the race, the kids got to hit the big cymbal for a big "DONG." Cole loved hitting the mallet on the cymbal. Once they hit the bell, they got a sticker for their achievement.
Here is a couple pictures of the Kung Zhu Zhu pets, home, and accessories. The kids really like the new additions.
Be sure to check out the Zhu-niverse if they are coming near you!~
Upcoming events for the rest of the summer for the Zhu-niverse Tour!
Belleville National Strawberry Festival, Detroit, MI (Belleville, MI)
Friday - Sunday, June 18-20
Summerfest, Milwaukee, WI
Saturday - Monday, June 26-28
Naperville Ribfest, Chicago, IL (Naperville, IL)
Thursday - Sunday, July 1-4
Taste of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
Saturday - Sunday, July 10-11
New England Sand Sculpting Festival, Boston, MA (Revere, MA)
Friday - Sunday, July 16-18
QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning, Trenton, NJ (Readington, NJ)
Friday - Sunday, July 23-25
Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Friday - Sunday, July 30-August 1
Also, at the Zhu-niverse you could get up on the platform and dance to the new Zhu Zhu Flo song. I had a party gathering before attending the Zhu-niverse and we tried the song out. I think the song is a bit easier for older kids (like ages 5 and up). The kids we had at the party were under 6. So, it was harder for them, but they still had a blast. We had some Pizza Hut pizza to kick off the Zhu Zhu flo party, and then got to work learning the dance. Here are some photos and a video from learning the Zhu Zhu flo.

The Zhu Zhu flo is on a DVD and we had instructions, video with music, and a fun Zhu Zhu pet video after the song.
The kids had fun dancing to the music and learning it, however I don't think they were too anxious to learn a new song.
My daughter loves the Zhu Zhu flo song, and really gets into the dance. Sometimes she makes up her own little dance, too. If we had wanted to, our group could have performed the Zhu Zhu flo dance at the Zhu-niverse tour, but I think the kids were just not quite ready for that yet.

It is a fun dance to learn, and I think it is fun that the Zhu Zhu's have their own dance song.

Thanks to Mom Select and Zhu Zhu pets I was able to host a Zhu Zhu flo party. I was sent a gift card to pizza hut to purchase snacks for our party. I was given information on the Zhu-niverse Tour from Mom Select, and given information to share with my readers. I was not compensated for my time or written review. The Zhu-niverse Tour is a free event and open to the public.

Brainy Baby videos ROCK!! (DVD reviews)

Kids love watching other children on videos and, I love watching my kids light up when they see other children on the videos! We received two Brainy Baby DVD's to review and I cannot rave enough about these videos. Seriously, these are some of the best videos I have seen for children's educational viewing and enjoyment.
I received the Shapes & Colors: Rainbow & Cirlces & Squares - Oh My! and the ABC's: Introducing the Alphabet DVD's. These videos are geared toward the age group of 1-4 and that is the ages of my youngest. All three of my kids just light up when watching these interactive lessons. Here is a glimpse into the videos I reviewed:

Shapes & Colors: Rainbow & Cirlces & Squares - Oh My!
The songs are incredibly lively and fun as kids sing and dance to the shapes and colors being introduced in this video. My kids love to say the shape name and the color before it is revealed. In this video there are eightbasic shapes and 4 advanced shapes, plus over twelve colors. The kids in the videos use many different objects to keep the theme of the shapes being introduced, for instance a circular floaty is used as they say, "Circle." This video is 45 minutes long and has other activities, including: Sing-a-long songs, baby bloopers, sneak peeks, fun learning activities and more! Shapes & Colors engage the viewer's cognitive skills and spatial reasoning, as well as colors and shapes. **Excellent DVD, two thumbs up!!**

ABC's: Introducing the Alphabet
Another excellent video from Brainy Baby...ABC's! I love the music and singing in these videos. In this video the alphabet, upper and lower case letters are introduced. Kids are taught multiple letter sounds and new vocabulary words. I love how this video uses pictures alongside the alphabet letters so that the viewers can retain them. These videos are brightly colored and packed with children showing the letters. This video is 45 minutes as well, and has some of the same special features (just relating to the Alphabet). **Excellent video, two thumbs up!!**

Brainy Baby has been a leader in the development of preschool videos for more than a decade. Their products are designed to help establish a
foundation of educational basics for our children. The award-winning
series was created by educators and parents, so we can trust that their products
can have a positive impact on even the youngest minds.

The Brainy Baby Company just announced the results of a study conducted at the University of Texas, Austin, which found that infants/toddlers under the age of two can learn from DVDs designed to teach young children shapes. The peer reviewed study was conducted using Brainy Baby’s Shapes & Colors DVD and will be published fall 2010 in The Journal of Children and Media, (JOCAM).

This study was conducted specifically to experimentally manipulate commercially available video content and to assess the ability of a toddler to learn from a video. It also represents one of the first studies to examine the transfer of learning from video to another 2D symbolic medium such as a book.
Using excerpts from Brainy Baby’s® Shapes & Colors DVD, two leading research scientists in the field of children’s media studies, Dr. Elizabeth Vandewater (RTI International) and Dr. Rachel Barr (Georgetown University) exposed two groups of children to a series of shapes commonly familiar to the young participants. In addition, the children in the experimental group were exposed to a novel shape, a crescent, using the identical teaching style used in commercially available Brainy Baby DVDs.
The results showed that toddlers between 18 and 24 months, in the experimental group, were 22 times more successful identifying the crescent shape in a book after being exposed to the crescent in the DVD. The test also confirmed that after exposure to the DVD, the crescent could be recognized in other traditional 2-dimensional media.
“All Brainy Baby DVDs were developed using a methodology widely accepted by educators and the special needs community. We use this same methodology in all of our DVDs, which rely on verbal cues and real-life relatable objects to teach children to preschool concepts,” said Dennis Fedoruk, president and CEO of The Brainy Baby Co. “We have always been confident that our DVDs have solid educational value. We’re ecstatic to share the results of the study, which in our opinion, support the many parent testimonials that we have received for the past 15 years and Brainy Baby’s learning potential.”
The University of Texas study concluded that content, and in particular the repetitive style in which the content is presented (such as those demonstrated in the Brainy Baby® Shapes & Colors DVD) is a critical factor to consider when examining the ability for toddlers to learn from television.
“We believe that this is a landmark study and the emerging message is that content matters when teaching young children,” added Fedoruk.
The Brainy Baby Co. has always been a strong advocate for using early learning DVDs in balance and moderation as you would with any teaching tool. The Brainy Baby DVDs are designed for parents to interact with their child by reviewing and discussing the content and to augment the lesson though the use of complementary flashcards, books, music CDs and educational toys.
“We hope that parents will feel confident that their children are benefiting when they watch a Brainy Baby DVD together,” said Fedoruk. “While the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children under age two not view television at all, we believe that in light of this study, the AAP should recognize the importance of content and the effectiveness of well-crafted, educational DVDs - even for children younger than age two. The AAP should at least consider amending their current policy to include the acceptance of educational DVDs.”

About The Brainy Baby Company
For 15 years, The Brainy Baby Company has been a pioneer and leader in DVDs, Books, Games and Toys for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers. Globally, Brainy Baby products are sold in more than 60 Countries. The award-winning line of videos, CDs, books, games, and toys introduce educational subjects such as letters, shapes, animals, art and music. Brainy Baby® videos feature multi-ethnic children, original music, nursery rhymes and instrumental classics. In fact, Brainy Baby DVDs have won over 75 awards including Dr. Toy’s Top 100 Best Children’s Product, the Dove Foundation’s Seal of Approval, Parenting Magazine’s Top Videos of the Year, and more. For more information about The Brainy Baby Company, visit BrainyBaby.com


This review was made possible from BrainyBaby.com. I was sent two DVD's for review purposes and I was not compensated for my review. I was also sent information to share with my readers.