Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: My daughter, teaching
Likes: Educational DVDs
Dislikes: Boring kids DVDs
Hates: The vagaries of the English language

The Show
In my spare time, I teach journalism, so I know a thing or two about explaining the proper usage of the English language to kids. What I know nothing about is how to teach kids to read, outside of sitting with my little girl and reading to her. Thus, the concept of sight words, words that are nigh-impossible to sound out and are taught via recognition to give kids the starter tools for reading, was awholly foreign idea to me. So a problem arrived with this DVD: how do I review a functional disc I know nothing about?

Time to call in an expert.

Luckily for me, I have a reading expert close at hand, as my mother-in-law is a retired first-grade teacher with extensive knowledge of sight words. She sat and explained the concept to me and answered my ignorant questions, giving me a pretty thorough orientation on sight words, which honestly feels pretty weird. You have this list of single syllable words, like "the," "you," and "have," which are hard for kids to grasp, and you teach them how to recognize these words, but not spell them or understand what they mean. The kid simply learns to see the word "the" and say "the." That's it. That's very frustrating to someone like me, who cares tremendously about context.

This DVD introduces 16 sight words, which includes the top 10 of the two main sight words lists and 50 percent of Houghton Mifflin's reading list, by showing the word, in black on white, with a narrator repeating the word several times, and then transforming it into a cute animation, before returning to black and white. The animation normally doesn't have anything to do with the word. It's just there to keep the kids' attention, which is did with my 2-year-old daughter, whoparroted the narrator and watched through the entire list without much fidgeting.

After getting through the 16, they repeat the list, without the narration and with shorter animation clips. This is where my kid checked out, perhaps bored by the repetition. After that, you get to see the word used in a context, like on a sign, and the word "jumps out" in the animated form from the feature, before returning to the context. Finally, they show an "Easy reader" format, putting the words into sentences in a short story, again popping the sight words out in their animated forms. My expert noted that all together, this was just too much to expect from a child, and she wouldn't teach more than five at a time. Thus, the mini-lessons available, which include four words each, are a better option. Each mini-lesson includes the four versions of the sight words. My reading expert thought the presentation was good because it showed the word outside of an on-the-page format, since that's how most language is seen in real life. Though she wouldn't build a lesson around the video, she though it would be a good supplement to a traditional lesson plan.

The only issues we came across is the age suggested on the case and the lettering used. The case lists an audience of 15 months to 6 years. Per my expert, on average, these lessons only really sink in around the age of four, where reading really starts, as the level of concentration required to "get it" is rarely present at 15 months. Meanwhile, the default "case" of the lessons use a more formal "a" instead of the usual, simpler classroom "a," which is like an o with a tail. The more complex "a" should be an option, not the default, as it can be confusing for young viewers. Also, despite a few screens of opening notes, a more involved set of instructions for parents would be appreciated (perhaps as a menu option), as when I started the DVD, I really wasn't quite sure how to use the content properly. Some suggestions would have been nice, as in should I say the words, should I try to explain the words, should I not spell them out? Without that info, you may not get the most out of the material.

The DVD
A one-disc release, the DVD is packaged in a standard-width white keepcase, with a promotional insert for other "Meet the..." DVDs. The disc features an animated full-frame menu, with options to select alphabet type, chapters, mini lessons, the easy reader or flash cards. There are no audio options, no subtitles and no closed captioning.

The Quality
The full-frame video is legitimately fantastic, with bright, vivid animation that's virtually flawless, though admittedly pretty simple and child-friendly. That doesn't mean it's not pretty detailed and definitely adorable. There are no noticeable issues in the image, which is one of the better examples of animation from outside the major studios.

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and, like the video, is bold and clear, presenting the speaking voice of the narrator clearly, while giving the music in the animated segments a good bit of heft. It's an appropriate presentation for the material, and will make it easy for kids to follow along.

The Extras
The extras are slim here, as you only get a set of animated flash cards which show you the word and the animated word from the main feature. It's probably a good way to refresh the material or cement the concepts. The other extras in the menu are just alternate ways to view the main feature.

The Bottom Line
While the concept doesn't really resonate with me, as someone who values the meanings of words, I can see the value of giving kids the basic tools for reading to encourage them to learn more easily. Based on my expert's point of view, this DVD does a fine job of that, though the suggested audience age seems too low and the disc could use more instructions for the parents picking the DVD up. With impressive audio and video quality, but a paucity of extras, this is a good educational supplement for pre-schoolers.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.