Alphablocks Reading Programme – Review

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Fiona Martin

The Alphablocks Reading Programme consists of 15 magazines along with lots of extras such as flash cards, gold stars, Alphablock phonics tiles, stickers, games and more. It is aimed at young children aged around 4yrs old who are just beginning their journey into the world of phonics and learning to read.

The Alphablocks Reading Programme comes in 3 parts, each delivered to your door in in sets containing 5 magazines along with lots of extras. For a price of £39.99 plus p+p, I think this is very reasonable having seen what is included.

When we opened the first set, Mister B’s eye’s lit up at the array of goodies inside. He couldn’t wait to start looking at the magazines and doing the activities. He loves the Alphablocks from the television series and several DVD’s that we have so was immediately familiar with what he saw and due to the recent phonics lessons he’s been having at school, he was eager to pick out letters and sounds he knew and tell me them.

Mister B has just turned 4 but still at pre school until next September. Being one of the oldest in his class and quite able, he joins the foundation class for phonics lessons each morning, so the Alphablocks Reading Programme is a great way for me to build upon what he has learnt and encourage him to learn to read.

The magazines are packed full of fun phonics activities that completely captured Mister B’s attention, he was eager to work through them and found it fun. I was so thrilled when he blended some letters to create his first word. I then found some of the letter tiles really useful to make various three letter words that he could sound out and say.

The activities in the magazines are really varied to help maintain interest, from tracing letters, using stickers, colouring, to fun games and things to cut out. I really think they are perfect for us and are great to sit and do on the days we are at home together. We only do a few pages at a time to give Mister B time for all his new knowledge to sink in, but as long as he is enjoying it then I happy to sit and encourage him at home.

Alphablocks have really thought about this reading programme and it really seems to hit the mark with little ones. My children have always loved magazines so to incorporate the learning into a magazine style format has really worked. I do think the extras help as well, the learning tiles are great, and Mister B always has to use the Alphablocks pencil in his magazines!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the reading programme in order to write the review.

Read with Biff, Chip & Kipper App – Review

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Biff, Chip and Kipper, the characters from the much loved, popular reading scheme for children have been turned into apps by Gazoob, a leading designer of children’s educational and games apps. The apps feature six levels of reading and phonics books and with 48 books in total, there is plenty to keep your little ones occupied either on their own or reading aloud with you.

The app is easy to use and it didn’t take my 4yr old long to work out what to press to get to where he wanted to be. He loved just listening to stories and repeated each sentence after hearing them. There are also some fun little activities at the end and one to find a certain object hidden on each page throughout the book. I liked the questions at the end to check the child’s understanding of what he had read or listened to. Mister B loved the spot the difference puzzles too!

Each level has 8 books, 4 reading stories and 4 phonics books. The phonics books are brilliant for Mister B who is just learning his sounds. He could practice, trace the letters and see words beginning with that letter. There are plenty of activities to keep him interested but I found it best to sit down with him doing these to ensure he knew what he was learning about and what he had to do on each page.

I think the app really helps parents to encourage children to practice and reinforce what they’ve learnt at school in a fun way.

Miss M is 6 and a confident reader but she enjoyed reading the books from the higher levels by herself before bed. I wasn’t sure she’d be keen but the Biff, Chip and Kipper books really seemed to appeal to her. The stories are fun and easygoing with a widespread appeal and certainly kept her quiet!

The apps are available for iPhone and iPad from the App Store, Android from Google Play and the Windows Store.

You can see a trailer about the apps here:

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the app in order to write the review.

Mr Thorne Does Phonics – App Review

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Mr Thorne Does Phonics is one of a series of apps by Mr Thorne a primary school teacher who has produced numerous YouTube videos on the teaching of phonics, spellings and also various maths topics.

We downloaded Mr Thorne Does Phonics to the iPad to see what it was like. The app contains all the Youtube videos relating to phonics sounds in one easy place, so you can just tap the sound you want to practice and the video plays.

When I first showed 3 yr old Mister B the app, he was a little disappointed as he was expecting an app that he could be more interactive with by pressing the screen rather than just watching it. It took some encouragement from big sister Miss M who sat watching them herself and repeated the sounds and words that Mr Thorne says. Mister B being one who always copies his sister started saying the sounds too and got really into it, soon watching Mr Thorne himself and repeated the sounds that he heard.

This is really good to get little ones practising phonics sounds and basic words. All sounds and words are displayed clearly on the screen alongside a real life Mr Thorne who is pronouncing them. Mister B is really starting to grasp his letter phonics and this is great for him to sit down with to listen and repeat. When he’s in the right frame of mind he quite happily sits there copying the sounds – it’s so lovely to hear and you can really hear the enthusiasm in his voice.

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For 6yr old Miss M who is becoming an increasingly confident reader, the one thing she struggles with is spellings. Sometimes I’m amazed at how well she reads but then writes a story with quite poor spelling, she literally writes how she sounds it out.

Mr Thorne’s Spellbook is a series of spelling tests, each of which consist of 10 spellings. Miss M has sat quite happily trying these out and worked out that if she gets all ten right then she gets some items to display in the museum. This helped motivate her into trying hard as she could see lots of empty museum shelves that needed filling and wanted to try and gain the rewards.

mr thorne 3 I love this app for Miss M as it really does challenge her, we have a lot of apps on the iPad that are below her age, and although she loves to play, they don’t challenge her in anyway. This is brilliant for spelling practice and is one area I really feel she lacks in. The first level on this is perfect for her ability, she can easily get 7 or 8 correct but needs to repeat the other few. There are two further levels concentrating on harder words that she has yet to reach.

Mr Thorne’s apps are simple, to the point and do the job they should – they teach children. There are no gimmicks, the children learn straight away but in a fun way. Obviously you need to have the child in the right mood to respond and react to the app but I can definitely say that these apps have been of benefit to my two, they’ve enjoyed them and continue to use them to this day.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the app in order to write the review.

Alphablocks Phonics Next Steps Volume 2 DVD – Review

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Fiona Martin

Knowing how much my two enjoy watching Alphablocks on CBeebies I was delighted to be sent the new Alphablocks Phonics Next Steps Volume 2 DVD from Abbey Home Media to review. The DVD contains 86 minutes of entertainment ideal for preschoolers – both my 2 and 5 year old will happily sit down watching this.

For those who are new to Alphablocks:

The Alphablocks are 26 living letters who fall out of the sky and discover that if they hold hands and make a word, it comes to life. When words are magic and anything is possible, it’s an adventure, songs and games all the way!

My children love watching Alphablocks and it always keeps them entertained. The episodes are full of brightly coloured images that are fun to watch. With 5 yr old Miss M in her first year at school she already know her phonics but uses this as a way to practice them and says the phonic sounds as she sees them come up on the screen. She also loves saying as many words as she can think of that start with the letter on each Alphablock as they appear.

What I like about the Alphablocks Phonics Next Steps Volume 2 DVD is that it introduces some of the harder sounds to really help children recognise all of the phonetic alphabet along with simple word formation.

Two year old Mister B loved imitating the sounds made by the Alphablocks and was encouraged by his big sister to really take in what he was seeing – a fun way of learning without realising it for younger ones.

We really enjoyed watching Alphablocks Vol 2 DVD and would definitely recommend it!!

The DVD is out now available from all good stockists.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.

WIN – Alphablocks Phonics Next Steps Volume 2 DVD – 5 copies to giveaway!!

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Fiona Martin

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Following on from the first Alphablocks DVD, Abbey Home Media are releasing a NEW Alphablocks Phonics Next Steps Volume 2 DVD. As it’s not released until next week we haven’t yet had a chance to view it but if the first one is anything to go by, my two will love it just as much and want to watch it over and over.

Phonics Next Steps builds the alphabet skills that children are taught at school, helping them to recognise all their letters and sounds and make simple words. With repeat viewing, children can boost their phonics skills and reading confidence while having lots and lots of fun!

We love the Alphablocks and think it’s a wonderful pre school learning programme that both entertains and encourages little ones to pick up sounds. Look our for our review in the next week or so, but in the meantime if you want to win one of 5 copies that I have for my lucky readers, fill in the rafflecopter entry form below.

The new DVD is available from Monday 6th May from all good DVD stockists.

To find out more about Abbey Home Media check them out on Twitter or Facebook!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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If a selected winner has not fulfilled the first entry criteria or any others to which they have said they have will be disqualified
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Alphablocks : Phonics First Steps DVD – Review

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Fiona Martin

What could be better than getting children to learn alongside watching the tv? Miss M loves watching television, more than I’d ideally like, but there are times when a little bit of tv keeps her entertained and occupied and gives mummy time to do some housework. So the NEW DVD that’s just been released from Abbey Home Media, Alphablocks : Phonics First Steps, is perfect.

Not only does it provide an entertaining cartoon, but each episode is centred around a certain set of sounds and each of the Alphablocks characters repeats it’s sound throughout the programme as it is used to make a word alongside other letters. This is great as it can either be watched and enjoyed as 2 year old Mister B does, although he has now started to repeat some of the sounds which is a great start to phonics for him. Or Miss M who now has a knowledge of phonics, gets the opportunity to practise and recognise the various sounds and try to say the words as she sees them before hearing them being sounded out.

“Based on best-practice phonics, your child will laugh and learn with the little letter people and their adventures, songs and all kinds of fun and games.”

With 18 episodes to watch on this Alphablocks DVD, therir is plenty to keep little ones occupied. Also included is a Alphablocks alphabet poster which is rather fun and brightly coloured. We have stuck this up alongside Miss M and Mister B’s reward charts so they see it everyday and Miss has been very good and used it to practice her phonic sounds of each letter.

Overall I think this is a fun, yet educational DVD that is ideal for preschoolers or those in the early years of school.

Find out more at www.alphablocks.tv or at www.abbeyhomemedia.com
You can also catch up with Abbey Home Media on Twitter or Facebook

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions. We are not paid for reviews although we do receive the product to try out and enable us to write the review.

Alphablocks : Phonics First Steps DVD x 5 to giveaway!!

Posted on February 16, 2013 by Fiona Martin

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“Learn to read with the Alphablocks” is soon to be released by Abbey Home Media on DVD. Alphablocks is a hit CBeebies show that introduces phonics, encouraging little ones to learn the sounds and develop reading skills. This will be perfect for Miss M who is just learning to read and brings a new phonics sound home from school each week.

The Alphablocks are 26 living letters who fall out of the sky and discover that if they hold hands and make a word, it magically comes to life!

Based on best-practice phonics, your child will laugh and learn with the little letter people and their adventures, songs and all kinds of fun and games.

So I’m excited to say that I have 5 copies of the NEW Alphablocks DVD due to be released on 25th February 2013 to give away – just follow the instructions below.

Alphablocks
Volume 1: Phonics First Steps
Phonics First Steps introduces the first letters and sounds that children are taught at school
and starts them off making simple words. With repeat viewing, children can build key phonics
skills and boost their reading confidence – while having lots and lots of fun.
This DVD also comes with a FREE Alphablocks, Alphabet poster!

Find out more at www.alphablocks.tv or at www.abbeyhomemedia.com
You can also catch up with Abbey Home Media on Twitter or Facebook

If you fancy getting your hands on a copy of the Alphablocks DVD, then Abbey Home Media have kindly offered me 5 copies to giveaway to my readers – so just follow the instructions below.

To enter, please comment below (compulsory entry)

To gain up to a further 3 bonus entries – Please leave a separate comment for each entry for it to be counted:
1.Subscribe to my blog (at top right of page) – either through email or RSS feed
2.Like my Facebook page
3.Follow me on Twitter and tweet I’ve entered to #Win the NEW Alphablocks DVD with @star100x http://wp.me/p1UDjA-ng

Terms & Conditions
Winners selected at random
If a selected winner has not fulfilled the first entry criteria or any others to which they made comments they will be disqualified
No automated entries
Competition ends Friday 8th March at 9pm
If a winner does not make contact within 48 hours an alternative winner will be drawn
UK only
ThePrizeFinder – UK Competitions