I don’t like to brag, but… my son recognizes and can name all of the upper and lower case letters of the alphabet when I show him flash cards.  Out of order.  And he knows his numbers from zero to ten.  And all of his colours.  Did I mention he’s only 19 months old?

Now before you think that I spend five hours a day drilling numbers, colours, and the alphabet into my son like an army sergeant, I think you should know about the Preschool Prep series of DVDs for babies and toddlers.  This company really delivers what they promise - my family owns and has had great success with Meet the Letters, Meet the Numbers, Meet the Colors and Meet the Shapes (other DVDs in this series include Meet the Sight Words 1-3).

The first time we put Meet the Letters into the DVD player, Oliver was captivated - he cried when we tried to turn it off!  Before long, he started saying the names of the letters with the narrator, and then he began saying the letter of the alphabet that came next.  It was really neat to watch - it took only four weeks before we tried out the flashcard option on the DVD menu and discovered that he could actually recognize the letters out of context.  Now, we read alphabet books and he points to the letters and says their names.  I think what makes these DVDs so effective is repetition, the variety of ways in which they introduce each concept, and the basic characters and music used to identify each idea.

Preschool Prep believes that children can learn concepts like numbers, shapes, and letters much earlier than traditionally thought - their DVDs are targetted for children aged nine months to five years.  I underestimated Oliver at first (I mean the kid can hardly talk), but just because babies and toddlers can’t communicate perfectly doesn’t mean these little people aren’t little sponges (note to self - watch potty mouth).  But my son is smarter than he looks, and even though his pronunciation isn’t always correct, Oliver now knows his number from zero to ten, along with the alphabet, the colours, and he is just getting his head around the shapes.  I can personally attest to Preschool Prep’s motto - “You will be amazed at what your little one can learn.”  These DVDs retail from $14.95 USD and can be purchased from the Preschool Prep Company website or from online retailers Amazon or Baby Proofing Plus.