I recently had the chance to review a program to teach babies as young as 3 months to read. It looked very well done so since I have a 2 year old daughter who is already speaking in full sentences I thought this would be perfect for her. I like to introduce the Monki See Baby DVD Collection.
I firmly believe exposing children to language as early as possible is a good thing. Monki See is a DVD based reading program that incorporates live action and animation. A series of flashcards and picture books that accompany the DVD’s. My family does not allow a large amount of tech time, however, these 30 minute DVD’s are perfect for introducing "videos to learn" to your children. It is suggested you watch with your child and watch at least once each day. While I am not a fan of pushing your child to read or watch videos all day, I do think this program is very well done.
My daughter and I watched whenever the mood struck us which was about 3-4 times a week. Mainly we read the book and used the DVD’s video flashcard option. She loves this program and begs to watch her monkey friends. She knew many body parts already but now knows all the ones on the DVD and can readily identify the pictures shown. Can she read the words on the pages of the book or on the video flashcard yet? No but that’s ok because I know she will soon.
We watched this on our television but if I put it into our laptop and pointed to the words as we watch she would know those also. My son, who is 15 now, could identify Disney movies by the title on the VHS tape without ever seeing the cover. Is this reading? Maybe, but I believe that words are associated with things that give them meaning and thus a child learns other words have meaning too. Words to a child at this age, to me, are no different than pictures which makes it easier to grasp their meaning. Later they learn to break down unfamiliar words to find out the meaning.
What I love about Monki See is that they don’t try and tell you this is some magic program that will teach your child to read early. What they do offer is a great alternative to reading to your child when that is not an option. As homeschoolers we all know how hard it is to keep the littles engaged during school time. Monki See has found a way to do just that, and in a way that extends the learning long after the DVD is over. With lovable puppets, upbeat music, and, original poetry that builds child's language and vocabulary skills you can be sure your baby is having fun and learning at the same time.
I do want to point out two things that did bother me and it has to do with the actual DVD content. In a particular scene there is an alligator who is "naughty" and dumps toys all over and another "naughty" animal dumps his cereal onto an animal friend. As a mother I would like to see more positive actions portrayed. I had one scene freak me out as I have a fear of my child getting entangled and choking. It pertains to the word neck and it portrays a young girl wrapping a very long scarf around her neck rather tightly. If my daughter (she is 2) were to imitate this there could be devastating results. I skipped through this part after I saw it the first time. Just a heads up because if I don't mention it and it causes issue I would be remiss.
(Edited 5/24/2011)
About the creator, “Krista Guerrero is the creator of MonkiSee. She used this system to teach her two youngest children to read. Krista Guerrero is a home schooling mother of six delightful children. A natural born teacher, Krista has been involved in childhood education since her first daughter was born over 12 years ago. Krista, her husband and her full house of children all live in Orlando,Florida where she home schools and spends her spare time making new and exciting materials to present to her children.” To read more about Krista and the story behind Monki See, including the monkey inspiration, go to About Us.
Intellectual Baby, LLC
5401 South Kirkman Road Suite 310 Orlando, FL 32819 Toll Free: 1-877-505-5079 1-407-574-2886
email: info@intellbaby.com
Cost:
Books $9.95 each
DVD’s $19.95
Flashcards $16.95
Memoflix Video Flashcards $19.95
Memoflix Mobile Apps for your phone $9.00
Reading Kit (includes all products and free shipping) $ 139.95
Free Flashcard offer
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Mandy
Disclaimer: We received Baby’s First Words DVD and Know Your Monkey book for free in exchange for our honest opinion. No other compensation was received.
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