Drawing upon research into the astounding effects of classical music on young minds, this video attempts to teach young children to recognize letters of the alphabet in the Spanish language all set to the music of Mozart.
This video begins with an alphabet train — a machine with eyes loads each letter of the alphabet onto a train car, one at a time. The letters are spoken in Spanish, then the sequence is repeated without a voice-over, presumably so that toddlers (or their parents) can name the letters all by themselves. The next segment features letters emerging from the ground, spinning up into the air. Later segments feature boats sailing across the screen, and from each pops up a letter, and an assembly line in which each letter of the alphabet is created out of wood and painted.
In each segment, the letters of the alphabet are identified clearly in Spanish, and the sequences are repeated without voice-overs to encourage children to think for themselves and/or participate in identifying the letters.
This video is appropriate for both Spanish-speaking toddlers and toddlers learning Spanish as a second language. Note, though, that it simply introduces the names of each letter, no other notable vocabulary words.
The presentation is simple and may capture a child's attention at the outset with its appealing and uncluttered graphics. Keeping that interest and attention may not be as easy. Repetition is necessary for children to learn to identify and name the letters of the alphabet, but it will only be effective if kids stay interested in the video, and that is where the program falls short. It is less engaging than many other baby/toddler videos on the market, simply because the scenes are all so similar.
The segments are straightforward, and remind me of the number and letter clips in Sesame Street. However, the reason why Sesame Street captures the attention of young children is its variety of clips, and this video lacks that diversity and creativity. Additionally, the human element that is found in many baby/toddler videos on the market is missing in this video — there are no faces of babies or adults to watch, for example.
The nature of the child should be taken into consideration in the decision to purchase this product. Patient children who seem to be interested in the alphabet may thoroughly enjoy the video. The images move slowly and deliberately across the screen, so that younger children can improve their tracking skills.
The video runs for approximately 30 minutes.
