Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: I recommend every parent buy this for their child!
Comment: My daughter received this as an early Christmas gift from my mother and it has been amazing so far. She started watching the first dvd December 18th and not even a month into it she can recognize flash cards! She is 10 months old and if you hold up two flash cards and ask her which one says a certain word she will point to it! I really didn't expect such fast results but it's a great program I believe it's a great investment. My daughter always smiles when it starts and it keeps her attention she loves it! I've been recommending it to all of my friends with small children!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed..wish it lived up to online demo
Comment: Wow, I'm disappointed. I really should have known better.
I've been working in the field of early childhood for over a decade. Most of my graduate-level work focused on infant and toddler development. Why wouldn't someone like me know that flashcards and monotonous repetition are unhealthy and boring for toddlers and total unproductive? Because, like most parents I was wooed by the thought of super-babies.
You see I have 2 year old twins and every time I saw those darned infomercials I thought "if they can do it.., well shucks, so can I".
I tried that online demo and my boys just loved it. They picked up on it the very first time they tried it. I was so excited I bought the whole kit for them for Christmas.
Well, what arrived was a boring video that my boys were expected to watch 2x a day (added to a daily regimen of flashcards and a book featuring the same 10 or so words) that went something like this:
TIGER. This is a tiger.
Mouth. Can you touch your mouth?
BABY. Are you a baby?
At one point during the first screening I heard my boys having the following conversation, "Tiger? We just did tiger."
"We have to do it again."
"Oh, man!"
They had that exact conversation each time they watched the DVD. As repetition seemed a theme they wanted to contribute.
We were all bored. And irritated.
The boys wanted nothing to do with the flashcards or their book. They like plots and they're way beyond, "Baby Lauren is waving!" They love the Leapfrog videos and know all of their letters and letter sounds. I'd rather develop their word attack skills with that series than use this sight word approach. Today I mail back "box-o-genius" and look for some of those cool word puzzles.
For those of you who are chronic optimists, I can see how this program MIGHT work with babies ages 9 months to 24 months, but the videos need to have several versions which change the way they present the words. The same pictures, silly costumes children make learning time more like baby torture. How about reading to your child and pointing out the words instead of propping them up in front of the TV? As much as children enjoy reading the same books over and over this is sure to have the same effect with the added bonus of parent-child interaction.
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy this for a child over the age of 2 1/2. And, as a former Kindergarten teacher who has taught children to read, don't waste your time buying this for a kindergartener. The Leapfrog videos, games and toys are way better.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great learning system!
Comment: I bought the whole package off their website. I love it! It's very interactive and my baby boy (ll months) loves it! It's been about 3 weeks and he's already learning new words and starting to read them. Even if he doesn't become a great reader he's obviously learning new words by sound which is great on its own.
Customer Rating:
Summary: BEWARE
Comment: This product will teach a child to MEMORIZE WHOLE WORD SHAPES, not individual phonetic letters and sounds. The ability to "read" will depend on how many words the child has MEMORIZED. This will not teach a child to spell or to sound a word out which is the most effective way to teach a child to read. If a child knows the alphabet SOUND he/she can spell out and read ANY word. As an Occupational Therapist I'm not surprized that so many children today cannot properly spell or read. Programs like this is the cause. There are MANY MANY FREE WEBSITES online (like Starfall) that will lay the PROPER GROUNDWORK FOR READING and SPELLING.
Customer Rating:
Summary: better than junk TV and DVDs!
Comment: I live in UK, originally grew up in US and was concerned how these would translate with the accent etc. But my 3 year old son loves these. When he started pre school he was behind but now he is ahead in spelling and reading. I do believe it has helped him in learning, no problem.
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