Leap Frog - Letter Factory Reviews

• Great for Primary Classrooms too!

  
  By AOM63D4VL32WM on 2005-01-02
  This is one of the best learning DVD's I have seen. It will be a great watch for the Pre-k to first grade classrooms. The DVD teaches the letter names. Most importantly, it teaches the letter sounds in a creative way. Viewers see the letters, hear the letter names, they see a picture/video that represents the sound each letter makes, and the viewer hears a catchy tune to match the letter sound. For instance, the letter C is shown in a cold environment with ice hanging from it. The letter comes to life by shivering and stating that it is /c/ /c/ /c/.... old. Then the characters in the story sing the catchy Leapfrog song; "The C says/c/, the C says /c/, every letter makes a sound. The C says /c/. This DVD/VHS is marketed towards parents to use with their PreK to First grader, but all teachers need to know about this video and share it with their class. It would be a great review or introduction to letter sounds. Teachers could also use the catchy phrases and visual representation of the letter sounds in their lessons by creating activities or visuals based on the video. Students will see the sounds letters make, hear the sounds, and sing the sounds. This video combined with strong phonics based classroom instruction will help reach a variety of learning styles and lead your students on the path to becoming strong readers.
  
  

• The best there is! You HAVE to get this!

  
  By A1Z54EM24Y40LL on 2004-12-10
  I just can't believe how well done this DVD is for little ones. My little guy, age 3, learned his letters and sounds very quickly after watching this DVD. Then, 3 weeks later after not watching it for about that long, he's still talking about what sounds each letter makes. It's very well done, makes it very easy for children to understand, plus it's very enjoyable to watch. After about 34 times of hearing, "The R says errrr" with that tune attached gets a little redundant, but not to little ones. You have to get this for every preschooler you know. It's really that good!
  
  

• Fantastic DVD!

  
  By A3UV7L5ND3EH8T on 2006-01-28
  My son was diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified when he was 3. PDD-NOS is on the Autism spectrum, and children with this diagnosis often have developmental delays.
  
  My son had a speech delay and other developmental delays. His speech is great now...no one can detect that he has this diagnosis. However, the delays have, understandably, affected his learning in some areas.
  
  While his spatial skills have been way above average--as has his grasp of science (such as planets and their attributes)--he has resisted reading. He gets tired and frustrated.
  
  Well, trying many approaches for helping him, I thought I'd take a chance and get Letter Factory from Amazon.com, especially since the reviews were so good.
  
  I am so THRILLED that I did! I thought for SURE he'd suspect that I was "getting him to learn" (make no mistake, PDD-NOS doesn't mean a low IQ!), but surprisingly, he's been watching Letter Factory on a consistent basis for WEEKS now! I'll even hear him singing the catchy songs to himself as he goes about his business.
  
  In the DVD, Tad (Leap's younger brother) joins Professor Quigley to all the different rooms where new letters learn their sounds. For example, when they enter the A room, there's a silly purpose monster that scares the little A's into saying "ahhhh!" In the K room, the little K's are practicing their karate kicks as they learn how to make the "kay" sound.
  
  What's especially great about the Letter Factory is that it combines the visuals of the letters with the sound that the letter makes in a very catchy tune. For example, as the F's are flying, they sing "the F says 'eff', the F says 'eff'...every letter makes a sound, the F says 'eff'". This method helps both audio and visual learners to grasp the sounds...not to mention those that are more musically inclined.
  
  I see my son applying what he's learned (very quickly, I might add!) to books. He'll now pick up books from the library ON HIS OWN, and attempt to sound out the words. Combined with the DVD's Talking Words Factory I and Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory, I KNOW The Letter Factory has contributed to his progress in a BIG way.
  
  Highly recommended!
  
  

• PHONICS TAUGHT INCORRECTLY

  
  By A3MKJHNLYGMU1G on 2007-02-09
  I bought this based on the rave reviews and I wish I had not shown it to my daughter. The sound of the letter L is not "ull." The R does not say "er," the j does not say "juh."(Do you say ullollipop? Erabbit? Juh-ar?) Teaching these extra sounds can lead to problems and frustration when learning to read. Now I have to undo the damage.
  
  

• Great marketing!! Great idea!!

  
  By on 2003-12-10
  This was a great idea from Leapfrog! I love their products, but my son who is five is more interested in characters he can watch on t.v. He is home sick today, so we went to get a couple of movies and got this one (The Letter Factory) the day of it's release. I knew my three year old daughter would love it, but I was surprised just how much my son enjoyed it! He quickly started singing with it, and really seems interested in what the characters are doing and saying. This encourages me since we just bought the Leapster for Christmas. I know having a video with Leap, Lilly and Tad will help encourage him to play with the other Leapfrog products that we have.

  They are now on the second movie (The Word Factory) and are really enjoying that as well! This was well worth the money.
  
  

• not a hit in our house
  By A38M04WIIDJM0G on 2005-08-04
  My 2-year-old twins will watch this, but they never ask for it and seem bored by it. I would recommend Richard Scarry's Best Ever ABC video over this one (we have that one and they love it, sing along with it and ask to watch it over and over).
  
  
• No More Arguing Over Which Movie To Watch!
  By A99XDTY6B9482 on 2005-04-02
  I have never felt strong enough to actually take the time to write a review. I am a certified k-6 teacher who has told everyone I know about this amazing movie and now I am telling you...This was the first (out of 4) Leap Frog Movie that my children watched. My 3 1/2 year old and 2 years 2 month old boys are allowed to watch 1 movie a day. Each Day they agreed, in excitement, to watched this movie. Under a week my 3 1/2 year old knew his letter sounds. He could sing the letter sound song almost as fast as he could sing the alphabet. After a week, he amazed us when he sat down on the ground and wrote out the entire alphabet like a 4th grader. Had NO idea he could write like this! Shortly thereafter, the 2 year old knew all his letter sounds and letter recognition.
  
  Talking Words Factory: I was so impressed that I bought them the Talking Words Factory that 2nd week. I wasn't surprised that my 3 1/2 year old began to spell, writing, and sounding out 3 letter words. He told me all about how the vowels were all sticky and their job was to stick letters together to make words. He went around singing the vowel song.
  
  My kids loved the videos so much that for 10 months...My son's (who used to play with Thomas the Trains and puppies) were obsessed with letters and words. They made their own letter and word factory machines out of their toys and tubs, drew each letter cartoon character, and sang the letter and vowel songs, and the older one wrote, yes wrote, many of his own homemade books. I knew there might be a problem with this obsession when all his arts and crafts from pre-preschool came home with letters all over them in place of eyes, noses, etc!
  
  Talking Word Factory 2: It doesn't stop there...They got the Talking Word Factory 2 and Math Circus when they came out this Christmas. In a couple of days, the now 4 year old, was telling me all about sh, ch, th, and other blends. He told me how the silent e at the end of the word made the other vowel say its name (long vowel sound). He went on to tell me also how "when 2 vowels go walking the first one does the talking." And he wrote and read new complex words such as, boat, home, dime, wait, etc. This really increased his ability to read many, many new words - 8 letter words too!
  
  Math Circus: They loved it too! Though it is fast moving for beginners, it is entertaining and has an easy concept. Adding and subtracting now comes pretty easy for my 4 year old. I gave him a math work sheet for addition and subtraction just for kicks. Wouldn't you know it, he did all of them with no problem. He was so interested in adding that he started asking about problems such as 3 + 3 + 3. Which helped him learn the concept of multiplication 3 x 3, 3 x 4, etc. But, we told him that he had plenty of time to learn that later!
  
  The only negative comments that I have to say about these Leap Frog videos: Nothing, Oh, except that I wish my children weren't so obsessed with letters! They eat, breath, and sleep letters. Sometimes I just wish they would play with the trains, cars, and other toys. They will have their entire school life to learn about letters and reading! I just hope that when the time comes for school that they won't have grown board of it!
  
  Other Leap Frog learning tools that reinforce what they learned on the videos:
  
  LF Fridge Phonics Magnets - Love it. It sings each letters song when you put the letter in the hole.
  
  LF Word Whammer Fridge Phonics Set - LF just came out with this. I know that they will love. I bought it for the next birthday! It is like the Fridge Phonics, but you can spell 3 letter words.
  
  LF Letter Factory Board Game - Love it too! It is interactive and the board game talks and sings!
  
  LF Sing Along Letters Flash Cards & CD - Songs from the DVDs. Not that you don't hear the songs sang enough from your children!
  Wish they would make computer CD's too!
  
  LF Leap Pad - Fun but they got board with the same books over & over. $14 a book!
  
  There are many others, but I had to draw the line somewhere!
  
  If you check all the other reviews, I am not alone. Only two out of 121 people gave this movie less than 5 stars! It is about time someone made a movie that parents and children both agree on! Thank you Leap Frog!
  
  
  
• After 2 wks my 2.5 yo knows his letters and their sounds!!!!
  By A3X3VQV4S5MWJ on 2005-01-06
  I've bought everything.. DVD's, books, games anything to help my son learn his letters. The thing I like about this DVD that's different from the other learning DVD's is that it's set up to look like a real cartoon, not just jumping to A IS FOR APPLE, B IS FOR BUTTERFLY etc. I was skeptical about buying it since none of the other DVD's have worked, nor have the hundreds of alphabet books we own, so I just went ahead and bought the letter factory, talking words factory and word factory 2 along with math circus (wich is nowhere NEAR as good as the other 3). After 1 week of watching this video once a day he learned alot of the alphabet and the letter sounds. As of now, 2wks after purchasing it, he knows all but 4 letters by sight. I also bought the letter factory game to go along with the DVD and to give him time away from TV while still learning his alphabet and the letter sounds. The game is great because it's basic enough for a 2yo to play it but it also has 2 levels for more advance play. On level one you have to find the card color and on level 2 you have to find the actual letter. I HIGHLY recommend this movie AND the letter factory game to go along with it (Kohls.com has an exclusive game tin that I like better than the cardboard box).
  
  
• Condones Lying
  By A2MEQW54O8ZYUO on 2008-02-22
  More important than learning letters, kids need to learn morals.
  
  The older brother blatantly lies to the younger brother. (He tells him he's lost his voice when he hasn't.) When the younger brother notices what happened, it just gets shrugged off. (The older brother accidentally speaks.) It's never discussed.
  
  It may seem trivial to some, but I really wish they discussed the lie rather than shrugging it off. "Well it all worked out in the end so it doesn't matter" seemed to be the message.
  
  
• Incorrect sounds
  By A23R0MNWBHZMPM on 2008-05-27
  It was distressing to hear the video tell the viewer things like "L says 'UL'". Though the video was fun and engaging, its whole purpose is to teach letter sounds, so mistakes are inexcusable. L doesn't say "UL" and R doesn't say "er".
  
  
• Fun but incomplete.
  By on 2004-03-19
  I have a two and a three year old who love this video and ask for it all of the time. I love how it teaches letter recognition and associates the sounds with the pictures. However, I have a big problem with the fact that it only teaches one sound for each letter. Of course there are many letters that have more than one sound. I am afraid this will cause problems later when my kids are learning to read.
  
  
• Really works!! Great gift idea!!
  By A2Z60PVKWFO3SW on 2005-11-21
  Everyone thought my 28 month old was a genius - he knew all of his letters, AND the sounds they made!! Once I had him with me when I stopped by my daughter's kindergarten class, and he waltzed in there and started naming the letters in words around the room and the kids just stared at him like he was an alien. That was pretty funny.
  
  Anyway, I really credit all that to this DVD, because other than a few readings of "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom", I didn't have the time or desire to push academics or pull out flash cards.
  
  For some reason, kids really respond to this DVD. I have recommended it to several friends - some with toddlers, and another with a kindergartener who was having trouble with letter recognition. All of them made significant progress towards mastery of letters and sounds.
  
  Personally I can't really figure it out - the video is almost annoying, with its high pitched cutsie voices, bland graphics, big-eyed frogs, and silly songs. But kids, particularly toddlers, don't see it that way.
  
  BTW, all of the Leap Frog videos are good - Math Factory, Word Factory, and Complex Word Factory. Putting in these videos is a guilt free way to grab 30 minutes to fold laundry or get dinner on the table.
  
  
  
  
• Wuh-Wuh-WOW!!!!!
  By A3J3TI38YOX3JT on 2004-01-17
  I have two little boys, age 4 1/2 and 18 months, who have been recieving Leapfrog toys from my mother-in-law since they were infants, and they always seem to be the toys that get the most play time. So when my husband saw the "Letter Factory" and "Word Factory" DVD's and suggested that maybe Santa should bring them to us for Christmas, I figured they might be worth trying. I was totally unprepared for the effect these DVD's have had, and continue to have on my sons, especially the 4 year old. We have been trying here and there over the last year to get him interested in the alphabet, but he was always too busy with other things to really get into it. We stuck this DVD into the player on Christmas day and have played it at least once a day since, and both of my boys are glued for the entire 30 minutes every time it is on.
  Here is the reason I am so impressed, and therefore writing this review: My four year old walked up to me just now, looked at my shirt and informed me of every letter printed on it, AND what the letter sounds like, AND a list of words that start with the letter mentioned, without difficulty. There were 15 different letters.
  WOW.
  This is all a result of the Word Factory and Letter Factory DVD's, and we have had them for less than a month.
  The creators behind this DVD set are brilliant to say the least. They somehow seem to know just what goes on inside preschoolers heads. The characters and songs are cute without being "cutesy" and they somehow manage to repeat each letter or word and its sound several times without being redundant. The main adult character, Professor Quigley, teaches the three siblings, Leap, Lily and Tad, by helping them complete a project. The kids learn by working alongside the professor, as opposed to being talked down to or simply lectured to. And because of that they feel like they are really accomplishing something. All of this is done in such a subtle way that I had to sit down and watch it all the way through to figure out exactly why it is so effective. Simply put, when my 4 year old watches this, he sees that the kids are the ones accomplishing the goal and reaping the benefits and not just watching the grown-ups do everything fun and exciting. Once again, whoever created these DVD's knows how to get (and keep) the attention of preschoolers, which is a pretty tough thing to do.
  Obviously, my 18 month old is too young to grasp the structure and objective of these DVD's, but he is just as entranced with them as my oldest, which says alot for a toddler just begining to speak is first coherent words. I am looking forward to seeing how quickly he starts putting the concepts together the way my 4 year old has.
  My only dissapointment with these DVD's is that they didn't come out a year ago! Way to go, Leapfrog!!! I hope to see more educational DVD's in the near future.
  
  
• 2 yr old son loves the Letter Factory!
  By A1ZN4AD8FYQGB4 on 2008-08-09
  Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1OFQMI15T1J40 Here is proof the letter factory works...my 2 yr old son absolutely loves it! He sings it all the time and now will start spelling out words he sees on signs, magazines, store signs etc... He wants to watch this video almost daily...its a great dvd, you wont be disappointed! Great value too...
  
  
• Excellent product
  By on 2003-12-16
  Several months ago, my 4 yr old daughter began asking me to teach her how to read. As we all know, letter and sound recognition are the building blocks to learning how to read. I spent the last 4 months, rather unsuccessfully, teaching her the sounds that letters make. I bought The Letter Factory on Dec 10. After watching this DVD 3 times, she now knows 95% of all the letter sounds. I am not kidding. This was well worth the money.
  
  
• Way to go Leap Frog!!
  By on 2003-12-17
  This is a dvd that I don't mind playing over and over for my 3 and 4 year old. They love it! The dvd has great little songs that are so catchy that my kids sing them all day long. We have bought a ton of leap frog products and always have been so happy with the results. I hope they make more videos.
  
  
• Last Resort
  By ANM52MEHG497T on 2004-04-05
  I have tried everything to get my energetic four-year-old started reading. He knew letters, but I couldn't find anything to get him beyond that. He loves playing with his leap pad, and he also loves watching movies, so I picked up this video and he was telling us what sounds the letters made almost immediately. It's true that they only teach one sound per letter, but I feel this is less confusing. Even with one sound per letter, they can still assemble simple words by sounding them out. Both of my boys watch this video over and over, as well as the Talking Words Factory video, and now not only is the four-year-old starting to put sounds together to make words, but the two-year-old is learning the letter sounds. The animation and the sonds keep the kids engaged, and each letter has a special trick to help the kids remember their sound. I find the older one pantomiming each function while he tries to connect sounds. We've tried other videos and have been less successful. I'd recommend this video even if your child does not know the alphabet yet, because it teaches the names of the letters along with the sounds.
  
  
• Unbelievable!
  By A2PPWS57WE51JQ on 2004-04-10
  I can't recommend this video enough! My 25 month old now knows all of his letters and the sounds they make. The video uses innovative ways to get kids to learn the sounds. For example in the C room the letters are kept c-c-c-cold so that the c's can learn the sound they make. The L's l-l-l-lick l-l-l-lollipops to learn their sound!

  The video only teaches one sound for each letter, but we've paired this with the fridge phonics by leap frog which lists both sounds that some letters make. My son really enjoys having the tactile letters to play with now that he knows what they are. And when we are reading to him he asks us what the letters and words say and is making the connection that the letters on the page make the words we read to him. This is a fantastic and entertaining learning tool.
  
  

• Clever system
  By A2ETXGF2ZUV3G4 on 2004-05-13
  This video is the cleverest, most entertaining way of teaching phonics I have seen yet. Although I'm not a great fan of the Leap Frog graphics, they do have a catchy way of making you remember all the sounds. I think my three year eight month old son pretty much memorized all the sounds after watching the video just three or four times. We followed up with the Word Factory, so now he understands the concept of letters combining phonetically to make words.

  It's not one of his favorite videos, but I think that he already learned the lessons to be learned, so it was money well spent.
  
  

• Best video we own
  By A3RS20TVZMC9IA on 2004-08-03
  I bought this video for my 21 month old son after reading the reviews. He is a late talker and I thought this might help. I can't say enough about this video and now reccommend it to everyone I know. After just two weeks he can already name and make the sounds for almost all the letters in the alphabet and I have noticed a tremendous improvement in his language development. The video is truely brilliant and so enjoyable that he now asks to watch it everyday. Even better is it coordinates so well with the leap frog refrigerator magnet set- one of his favorite toys. I wish I could give this more than five stars. Can't wait to go buy the word factory video and any others they may come out with!
  
  
• Attention Kindegarten parents
  By A17ZKE033AJ9A1 on 2004-09-21
  My child just started Kindegarten and needs to learn how to write his name and he needs to recognize the sounds of each letter in the alphabet. The other reviews on this product were from parents of much younger children. My son is 5 and he really enjoys this tape. It is a fun way to learn! This tape is not just for toddlers.
  
  
• WE LOVE THIS DVD!
  By A21ZDDZ442SOA3 on 2004-10-24
  I have a 3 year old and a 1.5 year old. Both love this video! I was worried they would not watch it because it is not the usual characters they like, but they ask for it all the time. I also love it because my 3 year old knows all of his letter sounds and my 1.5 year old is repeating them as well. Finally a video that teaches all letters and sounds in one show!! A MUST HAVE!
  
  
• Must Have Video!
  By A2LIUUPU20K84W on 2005-05-04
  My daughter is 4 years old, with a delay in speech due to surgery. She knows all the upper case letters to see them. This is an excellent video. I love the way it is put together. Kids don't watch just anything! My daughter requests to watch this one. Tad and the other characters keep it interesting. Its made with bright colors. Its made in such a way that kids want to watch it and will easily pick up the letter sounds. It has catchy songs that get stuck in your head. EXCELLENT! MUST HAVE!
  
  
• Highly recommended!
  By ANLWA3RM58IOC on 2005-09-12
  I first bought this DVD based on a strongly positive recommendation from a trusted friend/pediatrician with a child slightly older than mine. We have only shown our 18 month old daughter this DVD twice and are already appreciating benefits. The first viewing she was only mildly interested. By the end of the second she was mimicking the letters and phonix songs. I can't wait to see how quickly she learns with this. Complements the Leap Frog letter toys very nicely.
  
  
• Bored toddler here
  By AQNDWV4YMTBZF on 2006-02-03
  Admitedly, my 29 month old daughter is a ball of energy, but she absolutely loves anything to do with the alphabet, so I thought she'd love this dvd. She was so bored with it that she kept coming over to me during the show and requesting other videos that she has. She just did not get into this. I think maybe because it's cartoon format. Cartoons don't hold her interest unless they are interactive (asking the audience questions, etc.) Otherwise, she prefers live people, puppets, etc. But there was no opportunity for her to interact with this cartoon, so it didn't hold her attention. Maybe she'll like it more when she gets older. I have to admit though, I was a little disappointed and thought it was kind of boring too.
  
  
• Annoying, but kids love it
  By A2LXGMBKA1FHV on 2006-03-27
  I purchased this DVD for my 3 year old son. At first he was very bored with it (or at least acted like it) and I was surprised when HE asked to watch it again. Next time around he seemed more interested in it. I haven't noticed any progress yet, but we've only seen it a couple of times.
  The characters are fun (kickin' K's and such) but the MUSIC is VERY annoying. The same song over and over again. 26 times is bit much to bear!
  
  
• AWESOME
  By A2IQM3OLJ6209H on 2006-05-21
  My 2 year old loves this video. It has tought him all of his sound and letters. After about 1 1/2 week of watching this he knew about half of his letters. We just keep watching and he just keeps learning things. I was told to move on to the leap frog word video now.
  
  
• Pleased mother of ABC spouting toddler!
  By A3P62937P3ZW4M on 2006-08-06
  My son LOVED this- it's catchy and entertaining. Within a couple of entirely voluntary viewings he had everything down and the phonics too rather than a jarbled and meaningless ABCDEFG recitation. It's too cute hearing him say "B" says bah! A definite great buy.
  
  And highly recommended is the Math Circus as well when they get around 2 1/2 -3 years old.
  
  
• This is a Winner Your Child Will Watch
  By on 2004-01-12
  I've never been this exciting about a children's video. This one is truely a gem. The video teaches your child the letter sounds in a fun, captivating way. The video really isolates the letter sounds so your child learns the sound and not just a word associated with the sound. Not only that, but your child will learn to say the letter sounds with CONFIDENCE. It is truly amazing and the learning is SO easy. Leapfrog definitely has a winnner here! On a personal note, since watching the video (more than once of course), my 4 1/2 year daughter learned all her letter sounds and coupled with the Talking Words Factory is now sounding out words. Hope Leapfrog comes out with more videos (i.e. long vowels, blends etc) - I'll be the first in line to buy them!
  
  
• Awesome video
  By A2R2EAG3NEFBLA on 2004-02-19
  My 2 year old loves this video. He was mesmorized the first time he saw it and insisted on watching it 3 times in a row. He already knew all of his letters, but didn't know the sounds yet. This video does a great job of teaching the sounds. Along with the catchy songs, each letter does something that helps them remember the sound. I can't wait to check out Leapfrog Talking Word Factory next.
  
  

• Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory
• Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word Caper
• Leap Frog - Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory
• Leap Frog - Math Circus
• LeapFrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set