Give the gift of early reading: A Review of Preschool Prep Company's Meet The Sight Words Series

The love of reading is a gift that will smooth your child's path through life. Many children dread going to school each and everyday simply because they find it a struggle. Reading is a gateway to success in school, in work and in life. We read for business, pleasure and to gather facts.

When my first child was born 7 years ago I found myself searching for ways to be a good parent and ways to make my child happy. I spent countless hours and dollars amassing a variety of toys, books and DVDS that I thought would help my daughter learn and I hoped would keep her entertained. The Preschool Prep series Meet The Sight Words were some of my most successful finds. The company recommends the DVD series for children ages 15 months up to 6 years. My youngest found the colorful, moving words to be captivating from the time he was about a year old.

I can not promise that you will be captivated but your kids will.These DVDs are hugely entertaining and incredibly educational. I have plenty of educational DVDs that won't keep my kids' attention-not great. The Meet The Sight Words series have polished, professional quality images. The words transform from plain black and white font into colorful words and finally into planes, helicopters, camels and a whole host of other characters. There is plenty of motion and activity to keep your kids focused while they learn basic sight words.

Sight words are words that occur frequently in early reading materials but are not always easy to sound out. Preschool programs and kindergartens focus on teaching these sight words or high frequency words in order for students to be able read fluently. Edward Dolch, PhD first put together a list of sight words in the 1930s. The Dolch sight word list is a teaching resource found in almost every early and primary educational program. Having a good sight word vocabulary is a major step toward learning to read fluently. The Meet The Sight Word DVDs present these sight/high frequency words using colorful characters who jump, run, and fly around your tv screen and along the way your kids learn to read them.

Reading to your child is a great way to instill a love for reading. Practically speaking most people do not have the time to read to their kids for hours each day. Kids and parents inevitably turn to the TV every now and then for entertainment. Why not make that entertainment educational as well? The Meet The Sight Words series is a great solution. You can feel confident knowing that your kids are learning while they get some TV time.

My youngest son watched the most Preschool Prep DVDs and he also has the board book collection. At age 3 he could read 90% of the top 100 sight words-amazing! The great thing is I never taught him these words. What I did was choose good quality, entertaining and educational products for him to watch, read and play with. My son took these things and learned the rest on his own. The Meet The Sight Words is one of products I used.

Instead of hooking your kids on cartoons give them the opportunity to be entertained by DVDs that will help him learn. Give them a chance to Meet The Sight Words.

I keep books all over my house. I keep a basket in the living room, an additional basket in the bedroom and the bottom 2 book shelves are filled with board books which are always dumped out on the floor several times each day. I read to my children each day but I like them to have books available just to pick up and look at when they are playing.

If you want your child to stay interested it is best to give them a variety fo things to do. Watching a DVD in the morning, flipping through a board book after lunch and playing with some magnetic letters in the afternoon will all reinforce each other and your child will learn that much faster and that much better. Most importantly they will stay interested and busy throughout the day. You can use DVDS, board books, lift the flap books as well as coloring books and flash cards to keep your child busy, entertained and learning to read all at the same time.

• Board books
• Magnetic letters
• Magnetic words
• Coloring Books
• DVDs

Ensure that any materials you choose are within easy reach for your child. Place board books in baskets and magnetic letters and words on refrigerators or an uncluttered magnet board hung low on the wall for easy reach.

If a variety of colorful and interested items are kept visible and within reach your child will be encouraged to play with them throughout the day. The more different ways letters, words and sight words are presented to your child the more easily they can be learned. Making letters, words and reading interesting for your child will go a long way to instilling a lifelong love or reading and writing.