To read and write, children must understand how individual letter sounds blend together to make words.
The act of rhyming directs a child's attention to the similarities in words (hat sounds like cat). Because sensitivity to rhyme comes quite naturally, it is an excellent entry into phonological awareness, or the ability to distinguish individual sounds in words.
To learn to read, a child must understand the letter-sound relationship and distinguish individual sounds, or phonemes, within words. Crucial to reading, phonics skills help children sound out new words (If I can read "pot," then I can read "hot" and "spot").
Infants and toddlers learn vocabulary by memory. Later, children use word structure and context to help understand the meaning of a word. They identify synonyms and antonyms. They use prefixes, suffixes and base words to build their own vocabulary.
“Just before Christmas, my 4-year-old had learned to recite the alphabet and to spell his name. Of course, he couldn't identify any other letters of the alphabet, or the sounds they made. For Christmas, we got him two LeapFrog DVDs and a LeapPad with several books. Within three weeks, he could identify all of the letters, knows what sound each makes, and is reading and spelling simple three- and four-letter words. Kudos LeapFrog!”
Ransom V
Discover how to form letters into words. In this engaging video, Leap, Lily and Tad journey to the Talking Word Factory, where the Word Whammer, Sticky-Ick-O-Rama and other amazing machines take letters and make them into words.
Humorous songs and an out-of-control word machine add to the fun.
LeapFrog videos inspire learning with a mix of education and humor.
Available from Warner Bros. Home Video.
Appropriate for Ages 12 Months to 3 Years
Practice matching skills and exercise the imagination. Inquisitive toddlers discover how to pair the front halves of farm animals with the back halves—forming five complete critters—or mix up the magnetic-backed pieces to create lots of imaginary animals.
