Rock ‘N Learn {Giveaway} – CLOSED
November 30, 2013 by
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.
As I spend more time with moms with children of my son’s age, I’m realizing that pre-school is really the norm around here. Its definitely not something we can afford right now, especially with grad school just around the corner, so I’ve been brainstorming ways and ideas to pack my toddler’s childhood with things he needs to learn to be ready for kindergarten. I’ve really started to focus on what he’s watching during quiet-time. Instead of good ol’ PBS, I’m trying to chock him full of educational videos that hit the alphabet and reading head on. Valerie and I must have been having the same thoughts, because she also reviewed a Rock N Learn DVD last week, and you can read her review HERE.
Rock N Learn is exactly what I had in mind and their Letter Sounds DVD is just the perfect thing for “Rocket”! It grabs his attention from the start and dives right in to the alphabet, and the set up is very conducive to learning. The DVD started out with pictures of the letter, an object that starts with a letter, and a mouth in the top corner that is saying the letter and word aloud so you’re able to see the correct placement.
When my son was in Early Intervention and had speech therapists come to the house weekly, they focused a lot on getting him to put his mouth in the correct shape, as in sucking on straws to make a correct “W” and licking peanut butter off the room of your mouth to make an “L”.  Being able to see the shapes of the mouth is right in line with what we’re working on at home.
Rock N Learn is a treasure trove of educational DVDs. They cover almost 40 different topics, with an age span of preschool to 10 and up.
Our DVD is meant for ages 4-7, but my 3 year old was hooked, and even the baby sat through the majority of it. 62 min. is a little long for squirmy bodies, but not a problem for older children. There was enough variety, but still a lot of repetition, to convince me that this is an excellent way to teach. The music was peppy, the characters were friendly, and the examples were funny. After a “game show” format in the middle of the DVD, letters start combining to making words, nice and slow and simple.
It goes even further and introduces simple sentences. The progression makes it easy to stop the DVD and rewind in order to review the basics if it gets too advanced.
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These would make great gifts for kids, their parents, and teachers! Use the coupon code JQ7711 for 25% off on your order at www.rocknlearn.com.
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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
Marshall Publishing Trucks DVDs {Review}
February 19, 2013 by 2 Comments
Disclosure: This could be a sponsored post or contain affiliate links (which means I earn a percentage of the sale), but all opinions are strictly my own.
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He fought it. It wasn’t Blue’s Clues, so he was skeptical of it being anything good, but within 5 seconds, he was hooked. Line and sinker. “Rocket” was completely entranced by a DVD of all sorts of trucks doing fantastic things. This DVD, appropriately called “Lots and Lots of Trucks” has since become the favorite movie of choice around here, thank you Marshall Publishing!
The moment you turn on one of these DVD’s, you are greeted with catchy music that instantly captures the attention of any toddler. They are quick paced, spending only a few seconds on each frame. Each DVD is just as friendly and happy as the last!
The first DVD we watched was Lots and Lots of Trucks, and just like the title says, it was filled with lots and lots and LOTS of trucks! What an extensive amount of never-repeating footage of trucks doing all sorts of things, in a huge variety of different locations. It is such a buffet of visuals, and very entrancing!
And just as I thought no video would replace the awesomeness of the Trucks DVD, “Lots and Lots of Fire Trucks” was just as fantastic. These movies have just the right amount of dialogue–not too much talking to bore little kids. We really liked the friendly fireman on the fire trucks DVD. There is sure an extensive collection of footage! These clips were not filmed in a single day. They span thousands of miles and easily over a hundred different vehicles doing all sorts of things. There are great sound affects and fun slide transitions from video clip to video clip. I tell you, these are so entertaining!
Last, we enjoyed some Lots and Lots of Monster trucks. Pretty exciting stuff! Very impressive monsters. The Monster Truck Classics DVD is probably suited for ages 3 or 4+, as there is more dialogue throughout, and not the same catchy tunes in the background as the other DVDs. The feature includes history about how monster trucks came to be and interviews with the truck drivers/builders. It is evident that it was filmed within the last 25 years, but the title is “classics”, after all, which make them timeless! My boy was still enthralled, even with the host commentators narrating the show instead of catchy songs in the background. Most of the action takes place in superdomes and stadiums across North America and Australia. The mud run races were pretty great, and I must say I’ve never seen something quite like it! Near the end is a visit to see the world’s biggest truck at the time, and the car show at the end was fun. It concludes with some impressive drag racing, for a total of appox. 3 hours among the three programs.
The real cherry on top was the two CDs included in this set of videos. My boy squealed in delight when it turned it on in the car after he had watched the videos inside. He clapped to the music of “Lots and lots of fire trucks”, and I am just SO relieved to be listening to something other than animal songs! Great sound, the words are clear, and the voices are fun to sing along with.
So what do I think? I think you have a little boy who is at all into trucks, fire trucks, monster cars, jets, planes, trains, or moving things in general, these are terrific DVDs for your child’s collection. They are eye-candy for a busy little mind who love to watch things that go! And a two-DVD set for $19.95 is pretty dandy. Especially because these are not available in stores. These would make great birthday gifts!
And I just got a sweet tip to keep checking their website for new arrivals this summer – Lots of Roaring Rockets and Alphabet and Counting Songs! How fun!
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*This posting was sponsored by Marshall Publishing, but all opinions are strictly my own