My six-year-old daughter loves exercise videos; I’m not sure how that happened. If given free access to DVDs that guide her through structured physical activity, she faithfully completes the disc on a daily basis, dragging as many of her younger siblings along as she can round up. When I discovered Alphabet Exercise - a children’s exercise video that teaches letter recognition along with the formation of numbers and letters - I knew we had to try it.
Designed for children from three- to five-years-old, Rock ‘N Learn’s unique exercise program integrates early literacy skills with physical activity. A funny gentleman named Alphabet Al guides children through 35 minutes of gentle physical activity while clad in a blue tux: complete with cummerbund, bow tie, top hat and gloves. Al introduces children to each of the capital and lower case letters in turn, providing an active movement that begins with the specific letter. L for example is lift, P is pick and T is twist. The letters appear onscreen along with the action word and related vocabulary words that begin with the letter throughout the segment.
As the letters change, the colourful, digitally generated background that Al and his exercise mat appear shift and the music changes as well. At times Al switches off with children performing the movement, or is accompanied by computer-animated characters. A pause is provided while each new letter is introduced, allowing for a relaxed pace that will accommodate most children. Some of the letter segments encourage children to form the shapes of the letter with their bodies, an excellent reinforcement for kinesthetic learners.
Developed in conjunction with a certified fitness trainer, a variety of balanced exercises are included: stretches, light cardio, upper body, lower body, and isometric exercises are all present. A natural intermission is provided at N for nap, providing a break that can be used to divide the workout into two segments, or just a pause before resuming with letters O through Z.
Following the 35 minutes of movement an animated guide to printing the letters and numbers is quickly presented. Encouraging children to follow the onscreen movements with their finger in the air (air-writing) is absolutely the best method for imprinting proper letter formation in young learners, so I was thrilled to see this included. The printing segments bring the discs total run time to 44 minutes.
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