Math Tutor DVD~ Young Minds~ Numbers and counting

This year the TOS Crew received a variety of DVD's from MathTutorDVD.com . Having gotten two DVD's last year for review (<-read here) with no accounting for age, I was delighted to have something to review with my 2 year-old.

We received the Young Minds Numbers and Counting DVD.

Now, I have to say that I really didn't know what to expect, after watching the Algebra 2 and Word Problems DVDs last year. I just wasn't sure how Jason Gibson was going to pull off "teaching/entertaining" the preschool crowd. ;)

We popped the DVD in while the two olders were doing "Their" math, and the 2 year-old was riveted! Counting from 1 to 10 is the focus with each number receiving it's fair share of attention

• as few as 6 and as many as 16 different pictures for each number
• stunning photography (!)
• narration by a sweet child's voice~ the picture is named and then briefly described~ for instance "The elk in the middle has large horns"
• classical music for a background

Aren't these gorgeous? They are just the tip of the iceberg!
Some are still images, and some are actual video (The turtle is one....)

*I just have to make a note here about the Classical Music... these are quality productions and recordings, not computer generated, and VERY pleasant to the adult ear. Nice combination of music and math to stimulate those neural pathways too! :) Check it out~(Just a note... not sure why their youTube video is so "jerky" and the audio is not synced correctly with the video, but the DVD is *lovely*, and I thought you might like to get even just a glimpse of how it sounds...;) )



There are some bonus features that are a nice addition....

• Guess the Animal~ the video pans close up, while the child narrator describes the animal to give a clue~
• Connect the Dots~ Perfect introduction to the concept of Connect-the-Dots. A connect-the-dots picture is shown, and a colored line follows from dot-to-dot while the narrating child says "From one to two to three to four to five....." My only dislike here is that JD2 started counting like that, instead of just straight 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, he started saying "1 to 2 to 3 to 4...." but that seemed to be fairly short-lived, which is good. ;)
• Picture Puzzles, similarly takes a "jigsawed" background (starting with 2 pieces and going up to 10 pieces), the child narrator counts the pieces as they slide into place, and then describes the image. I *loved* the sweet voice... "Let's do anuver puzzle wiff 6 pieces" (Not concerned about the mispronunciations, I felt they totally added to the feel! :) )

The only downside I could find was the cost, which was more than I normally pay for any DVD (But I *am* a bargain hunter first and foremost) $19.99 (list price $29.99). I think I would put this into the nice "gift" category, rather than spontaneous purchase, although your pocketbook may not blink twice. :)

Oh, and I should mention ~ JD2 had recently watched the Young Minds DVD a few times, when he pulled a number book off my bookshelf to read in bed one Saturday morning. In the midst of pointing to the numbers and saying them out loud, he pointed to the "6", and said his version of "six" ! Of course, he also figured that "9" should be "six", but I thought... "interesting", and lightly quizzed him... he could identify 6 or so of the first 10 numerals by sight! Cool! Only a couple of weeks later did I wonder if maybe there was a correlation between the DVD and his number recognition... and while I can definitely say that was not his sole exposure to numerals, I think it certainly helped.

This has been one of my favorite products so far~ It is great for JD2, and is VERY pleasant as "Background" for the rest of us to listen to and watch.

If you are interested in this or any other Math Tutor DVD, I recommend going to the the MathTutorDVD website, and scrolling down~ There are a number of free video samples linked on the left hand side, so you can try before you buy... :)

I hope this review has been useful to you and as always, check out my fellow TOS Crewmates reviews of the MathTutor DVDs, ( as some of them received different DVDs for different ages) to help you make the most sound decisions on where to spend your homeschool budget.

Blessings~


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this item/service for free as part of the TOS Crew Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."