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Alphabet activities: Videos and websites that teach ABCs
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Preschool Prep Series DVDs, Leap Frog - Letter Factory and Starfall reinforce early reading skills.
Most parents and experts agree that screen time for children should be limited in order to allow kids to explore imaginative play and healthy physical activity. If children have been allotted screen time, it is important that caregivers and educators carefully select quality audiovisual materials to make the most of that limited time. Replacing SpongeBob SquarePants with educational programming isn't about turning children into baby geniuses or substituting technology for parental interaction. Wise screen-time choices are about selecting resources that reinforce what you are already teaching your child at home.
The Alphabet activities series has brought you dozens of hands-on activities that you can do to teach your child early reading skills. Today we will look at three audiovisual programs that can help reinforce those lessons.
Preschool Prep Company
The Preschool Prep Series helps children with upper and lowercase letter recognition, sight words, numbers, shapes and colors in both English and Spanish.
Meet the Letters helps kids remember their letters through repetition and connecting letter shapes to memorable graphics such as C-shaped clouds and T-shaped trees. A 2004 study of 50 babies and toddlers showed that 90% of the study participants had mastered both upper and lowercase letters after a few weeks of watching the program.
The series is labeled as appropriate for ages 15 months to 6 years and is especially suited for very young children who do not require a storyline for entertainment. The vivid colors, varying intonation and interesting graphics will hold a young child's attention while she soaks up the information.
Leap Frog - Letter Factory
Letter Factory features the popular Leap Frog characters Tad, Leap and Lily who are helping their father give an alphabet presentation. The plot will keep older children interested and the alphabet song that is repeated throughout the video will help kids remember the sound that each letter makes. Upper and lowercase letters are addressed. There is a sequel to Letter Factory called Talking Words Factory, which helps children understand how letters blend together to make words.
Starfall
Starfall is a popular free website that has high-quality games and exercises that help kids with phonics. The website is very child-friendly and easy to navigate. Even small children will have enough hand-eye coordination to play because of thoughtful modifications such as the mouse button not having to be held down when dragging items. As a free site, Starfall is second to none.
For lessons on individual letters, alphabet crafts and product reviews, see Alphabet activity articles.
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