Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Overview: The Tiny Tutor series is excellent - but you have to understand what its best used for. Here is my opinion as both a speech therapist and a single mother of a young boy: Tiny Tutor is not about teaching your child how to comprehend words or do basic math. It is not about phonetics or addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. There are other DVD sets that are much more suitable for those tasks. To be fair, how many kids are doing this at 2-3 years of age? What I do appreciate is that it is very age-specific and appropriate for the target age its intended for - which is 9 months and older. It's important to know this before you buy. These are my thoughts about Tiny Tutor: 1) Learning with Observation & Repetition: The Tiny Tutor set teaches kids the two most important tenets of learning: observation and repetition. In today's educational product market, there are too many products that try to use fancy technology or gimmicks to speed up the learning process. Rote-learning products are the time-tested ways to teach anything to anyone, especially young children. Think back to when you were a child - how did you learn your ABC's or how to multiply? Most likely it was with the ABC song that you sang hundreds of times and with flash cards/multiplication tables (I still sing the ABC song in my head when I need to look up something alphabetically). This is my take on why the Tiny Tutor DVDs work: adults learn new things by association (i.e. learning spanish after speaking english). But infants and toddlers don't have any frame of reference, so the only way they learn is by watching and imitating. In addition to being the primary learning technique, committing things to memory serves critical function - it allows the brain to focus on more complicated tasks. Studies have shown chess players who memorize more chess positions (no different than numbers and letters) have significantly higher rankings then those who do not and have to think through each move. This applies to children as well: I have observed that children who read phonetically have slower word-per-minute speeds compared to kids who read by whole-word recognition. Babies aren't born with spectacular memories. They are developed with practice - like any other skill or muscle. While I disapprove of "Tiger Mom" methods, I completely agree (with Amy Chua) that teaching children to work through boredom is ultimately the foundation to success. I am "walking the talk" by starting early with my son. 2) Presentation: Video: The visuals are fantastic for babies & toddlers. They scroll across the screen very slowly and are simple, clear images of various animals, objects, and shapes. There is a good mix of color and movement but the graphics are not overwhelming. (NOTE: slow and steady is a GOOD thing!) This is important as studies have shown rapid screen flickering (found in most popular cartoons) can be detrimental to the attention spans of young children. As a mom I am very selective about what television programs I expose my son to; the content must be educational and the delivery must be acceptable. This DVD set passes both of my criteria. Audio: The music is as promised: professionally composed. However since it is targeted towards young children, some adults may find it redundant and slightly annoying. I personally like it. The voice sounds crisp. I would have liked to hear a little more vocal variety but my son seems to understand and repeat the words with no issues. While monotonous, the pronunciations are consistent, which is very important for a child to absorb the words. (NOTE: It's important to point out that kids generally have short attention spans. When my son gets bored of the videos, I allow him to go do something else while it plays in the background. I'll discuss the results later in this review.) 3) Proper Usage: On the back of the box, the blurb says to use the DVDs like a "visual picture book"; as a tool to encourage discussions between parents and children. I could not agree more. As a full-time working mom, (I feel guilty admitting) sometimes I'm too tired to create a learning "syllabus" for my kids. This is where the DVDs help. The programs are great for content and repetition. The subject matter is basic enough (letters, numbers, shapes and colors), and is presented in a logical and sequential order. Where the parent steps in (IMO) is to provide context and questions about what's happening on the screen. I'll ask "what color is that?" or "what shape is that?", just to see if my son is retaining the material, or I'll ask a more critical question like "what shapes are a house made out of?" He's still pretty young, but I try to stretch his mind. As much as I would love to, the unfortunate truth is I can't always sit down with my little one and interact with him (I am a single mom with a full-time job). But when I need a distraction while doing the dishes or pulling the laundry out of the dryer, I'm much happier knowing he is watching something educational making him a little bit smarter. 4) Results: When my son was 13 months old, a good friend (who raved) about these DVDs recommended them, so I bought the set off of Amazon. Initially I didn't think much of the DVDs, but he seemed to show a mild interest in them. He would look up at the TV, play with his toys, and take a peek here and there. For some reason he seemed to really like the "Shapes" DVD so we kept that in the player. The big surprise came about 2 weeks later, when he was playing with his shapes box in the living room. When I sat down next to him he grabbed a block and yelled "STAR!" I was blown away as he waved the star block with a big smile on his face. When I picked up the square, he also named it correctly. Excited, I grabbed the triangle and asked him what it was. He also called it a square - but hey 2 out of 3 isn't bad, right? Now he is 2 months older, knows the numbers 1 though 6, can point out the colors red and blue, and knows what a star and square are (he seems to really like 'S' words?). For some reason he still can't identify the letters accurately on his own, but will speak along with the letters video until about the letter M. I won't give the DVDs all the credit for teaching my little guy new words (I am of course a proud mother), but without question they have helped him to learn. SUMMARY: Pros: - Highly effective in teaching young children how to observe and repeat. - Well designed to keep a child's attention without over stimulating them. - Comprehensive for basics, with equal time given to letters, numbers, shapes and colors. - Great for learning with your child (or as a distraction if need be). Cons: - Can be monotonous and can drive parents a little crazy. After all is said and done, I can wholeheartedly recommend this DVD set 100%. While I would never depend on the television to educate my child, I'm convinced it is an invaluable way to supplement his learning.