As pretty much every parent can tell you, whenever you are teaching something to a kid, let’s of five or six years of age, you need pass on the knowledge to them in a fun and engaging way… or else, you will be in a for a hell of a ride and what’s worse, your kid probably won’t learn anything from that.

Of course, this is nothing new and people have been trying to come up with fun and creative educational toys for children. While some of them unfortunately failed and were forever forgotten, others managed to make a name for themselves because their toys or programs actually work.

Even though it may be sort of hard to believe at the moment, one of the brands which stood the test of time is Rock ‘N Learn, and so here is a look at the first two phonics volumes as well as the Sight Words DVD, some of their most highly-regarded works.

Can you Really Learn Language from Music?

Before taking a look at the Rock ‘N Learn volumes themselves, I’d first like to reassure you that even though it may seem like some kind of useless gimmick, learning through music is actually very effective, especially when it comes to children. Why? Well, we tend to remember two types of events: those that pleased us and those that harmed us.

We don’t really remember much of the boring or tedious moments of our lives, which is precisely what traditional education is like. It is safe to say that in general, music is a pleasant experience (especially rock n’ roll), and it is just logical that your children are going to learn better if the knowledge is given to them in a fun, pleasurable and engaging way. Now the question that needs to be answered is whether or not the Rock ‘N Learn programs make good use of that concept and have something to teach.

Rock ‘N Learn Phonics Volume 1

The first phonics volume focuses on teaching children about short vowels, consonants, blends and diphrags, different word families, special consonant sounds, plurals and the silent e. How exactly are these concepts going to be taught?

Well, when you put in the DVD you are immediately presented with some fun and cool characters which sort of serve as the hosts of the learning course. The main teaching method is quite simple: the concepts are explained in a simple way by the characters and are then integrated into a sing-along song for your kids. As a matter of fact, if your kid is autonomous enough then her or she can learn from the DVDs on his or her own.

In any case, the kids are first going to be taught the short vowels and consonants, after which the sounds they have learned will be used to construct phrases. Incrementally, your kids are going to learn how to string sentences together, and after a little while the first phonics volume will give them enough knowledge to read very simple short stories for kids.

It should be noted that the second volume builds upon what is learned in the first one and will increase your children’s reading language skills even further.

Click here to visit Rock ‘N Learn Phonics Volume 1 Amazon webpage

Rock ‘N Learn Phonics Volume 2

The second volume of the phonics series covers long vowels, vowel combinations, syllables, ending sounds, r-controlled vowels, diphthongs, rule breakers, common sight words as well as silent consonants.

As with the previous volume, the lessons consist mainly of sing-along songs, ingeniously tailored to be catchy, fun for kids and most importantly, educative. In total, the second volume covers somewhere between 250 and 300 words, with there being numerous examples for every single concept taught.

What exactly will your child be able to do after finishing the second volume? Well, those two volumes actually teach all the basics required to read any kind of book.

Of course, you can’t expect your six year-old to take up Dostoyevsky after watching this DVD, but their reading skills are going to be far above the average, at least for their age. In addition to that they will actually know all they need to read more complex books… perhaps even novels.

Click here to visit Rock ‘N Learn Phonics Volume 2 Amazon webpage

Rock ‘N Learn Sight Words

Sight words are often confusing for kids, mainly because there are no real rules to follow or tricks that will allow you to recognize them instantly; sight words need to be memorized in order to be learned, and it doesn’t help that they are the most common words used in the English language.

And so, what better way to memorize them than through the power of rock n’ roll? The Rock ‘N Learn Sight Words DVD covers over 60 different sight words, each one of them taught in context so that their meaning is also learned.

In addition, there is also a bonus section in the DVD dedicated to helping kids learn word shapes and various other spelling skills that will come in handy one day.

All in all, while this DVD certainly won’t make or break your child’s ability to read and speak, it will be nice for them to already get acquainted with at least 60 sight words… words that they are going to be using for the rest of their lives. I look at the Sight Words DVD more as a complementary program to what has been taught in the phonics volumes.

Click here to visit Rock ‘N Learn Sight Words Amazon webpage

Rock N’ Learn – Are they to be Trusted?

While it may true that the only way to know if their programs really work is to try them for yourself, it is also true that the word of those who have used them is worth quite a bit. If you take the time to look around and check out customer reviews of those who have bought the above-mentioned DVDs, you’ll see that a grand majority of them only have positive things to say about it (heck, simply have a look at the reviews on Amazon).

Also, the concept of learning by music is quite sound (pun not intended) and there really is no reason to believe that the DVDs deliver anything less than what they promise.

All in all, they are definitely worth buying (especially considering their low prices) if you are looking to educate your children on how to read properly.
 
 
 

Educational games have been around for a long time and despite how uncool they are considered to be, most of us are guilty of having played, and even enjoyed some of them, at least the famous ones such as Scrabble or Monopoly.

Like most of us can remember though, after a little bit the games became really boring for us kids, and looking back at it now, I see that it was due to one reason: the game wasn’t good at making us spend our energy… of which we had a lot.

However, as I was looking over the educational toys which have been put on the market for our kids today, I came across Bananagrams, and it seems to me that it actually presents a solution to the afore-mentioned flaw.

How Bananagrams Works

The game is very fun and simple. Here’re Bananagrams rules. The basic goal consists of creating your own crosswords using the 144 available tiles, with the number of possible players ranging from 2 to 8 and the recommended age being 7 and up. The game first starts by placing all the 144 tiles face down on the table. Subsequently, the blocks are distributed depending on the amount of players present, with a certain amount left on the table, referred to as the “bunch”.

Once this stage has passed, any player may say “split”, at which point the players need to flip over their tiles and start creating their own words as fast as possible, connecting the tiles horizontally and vertically. There are no turns as everyone tries to get it done at the same time.

Once a player runs out of tiles, he or she says “peel”, at which point they are entitled to take a tile from the remaining ones face down on the table. When this happens, every other player must also take a random tile from the bunch.

If a player is stuck with a hard letter or one which he or she doesn’t know how to use in the present situation, then they may put it back in the bunch in exchange for three random letters. When this happens the player must declare it by saying “dump”, and it should be noted that this has no direct effect on other players.

And so, you keep on playing the game that way until there are no more tiles left in the bunch. The first player to use all their tiles to form words wins and shouts “Bananas!”. At this point, if the other players choose to, they may inspect the winner’s words for spelling mistakes and to make sure they didn’t use proper nouns, which are not allowed for obvious reasons. If a mistake has been spotted, then the player is declared a “rotten banana”, he or she returns all the tiles into the bunch, and is eliminated from the round as the remaining players keep on playing.

Why Bananagrams Works

Remember how I mentioned earlier that what killed classic educational games was the lack of excitement and opportunity to spend energy they were providing? Well, as you can see, in this case the players are literally in a race of wits against each other, and as you probably know, a race of the mind can be just as exhausting as a physical one.

They are going to be scrambling every minute, trying to put together any words they know, probably learning some new ones in the process. Also, the more players there are, the faster a game ends (with 2 players it can take about 25-30 minutes, but with 4 players it takes about 10-12 min.).

All in all, I see this game as being fun, competitive, intense and educational, which is pretty much what any parent in their right mind would want for their kids, regardless if you just intend on using it to pass the time or actually help your child develop.

I should also mention that I’ve looked into the reviews of those who have actually tried this product, and it seems that there is a general consensus in regards to the game being challenging, fun and educational for kids, not to mention that it presents a great opportunity for the parent to bond with their child.

If this looks like the kind of game your child will enjoy and benefit from, then I suggest that you head on over to the link below the post , read for yourself what those who have tried it have to say, and perhaps even place an order yourself.

Click here to visit Bananagrams MindWare website

 

The Benefits of Educational Games

Education has been subject to many changes and improvements over the past century, and it is only somewhat recently that high profile scientific studies were conducted in order to find out how a human being learns best.

After countless studies, researches and experiments, it was finally found that humans, and children especially, learn much better when the knowledge is passed on to them in the form of a game, or at least if it is entertaining.

As the news propagated around the world many people tried to make up their own educational games, but in the end only a select few, trustworthy companies remained, one of which is MindWare. To this very day, MindWare specializes in making educational toys for children of all ages; their aim is to blend fun with education to help children develop and understand a number of basic skills and concepts.

An Overview of Q-Bitz

Among the games released by MindWare is Q-Bitz, a basic puzzle game for children of ages 8 and up. The Q-Bitz packages includes 120 challenge cards, four sets of 16 cubes, and four wooden trays. Each of the challenge cards contains a drawing that can be replicated using the 16 cubes, each side of which is painted with a certain design.

The goal is for the players to draw a card, and then compete as to who can replicate the shape on the challenge card the fastest. When a player wins, he or she collects the card, and then the next one is drawn, until none are left. Naturally, the winner is the player with the most challenge cards in the end.

What Q-Bitz Teaches

So what exactly makes Q-Bitz an educational game? Well, when a child is required to look at a representation of a structure and then figure out a way to replicate it with his or her own materials, a number of things happen. First of all, their visual dexterity is being trained as they need to spot the necessary pieces and put them together fast enough to outcompete the other player.

It also contributes to developing their perceptual skills, and they learn to keep calm, cool and concentrated while working under pressure. While it won’t necessarily teach your child how to calculate fractions or how to read novels, it will help them develop in other, equally-important ways.

Q-Bitz Pros

• The wooden trays and wooden cubes are extremely sturdy and are unlikely to ever break.
• The set is quite small and compact, allowing you to use it practically anywhere you can find a flat surface.
• While the game is fast to learn, it takes a long time to master and has a tremendous replay value.
• A game can last a really long time as there are more than 120 challenge cards to play with.

Q-Bitz Cons

• The paint tends to chip off a little from the cubes.
• The challenge cards are quite thin and need be handled with care.

What the People Say

Out of all the people who tried the product, 31 gave a review on Amazon. Out of all of them, 20 gave 5 stars, and 11 gave 4 stars, with nobody giving less than that.

Generally, who had complaints mentioned that they were very small and mostly had to do with the paint chipping off the cubes. Apart from that though, everyone had nothing but praises for Q-Bitz, describing it as a fun and enthralling game which actually contributes to a child’s development, contrary to the trash seen on television.

The Final Verdict

All in all, if you are looking for a game that will pass the time for you and your children while keeping their brains active without dumbing them down, then Q-Bitz definitely fits the bill. The game is simple, it sucks you in, and it contributes to the development of the child’s visual and motor skills.

We have looked around for some time, compared prices, and came to the conclusion that the best place to purchase the puzzle set is from the MindWare Q-Bitz Amazon product page, where it is being sold at a 35% discount for only $16.16.
 

Click here to visit MindWare Q-Bitz Amazon webpage

Click here to visit Q-Bitz Mindware webpage