FOR PARENTS:

If preschool through first grade looked like a musical revue, it might very well resemble Sing and Spell.  Under the careful and caring eye of Miss Cathy the teacher (who provides a careful introductions to each concept in each episode), an engaging crew of musical performers introduce young viewers to the alphabet, the sounds each letter makes, and how they combine to make words.  Whether Luke Warmwater or Amanda Lynn strum a C&W version of the sound and use of “D” (“…My dog Duke drowses in the driveway all day…”), or Seymour Trax and his garage band pound out a lyric featuring “B” words (“Big brown bear bounces balls…”), or the charming French chanteur, Al Phabet, croons a new version of the alphabet song, the result is a fun, engaging, and informative trip through the foundations of the English language. 

And that’s not all!  In addition to a chorus of letters and words and how to use them, each 24 minute episode presents a lesson or two about numbers and counting and quantity, as well as a look at such things as different shapes, different seasons, and an whole raft of new songs about letters and words.  Letters and numbers, how to recognize them, how to shape them, how to say them, and how they work … all in the context of a musical comedy … what could be better? 

• Watch the show with your child and talk about what you have seen. 

• Help your child learn the traditional alphabet song (A-B-C-D  E-F-G….), then challenge her to learn Al Phabet’s version of the alphabet song.  Make it a tradition to sing either or both these songs along with your child at least weekly. 

• Trace the shape of a letter in the air with your finger.  Challenge your child to identify the letter, then to say five words that begin with the letter.  Reverse roles. 

• Point to words in the newspaper or magazine or even on a cereal box, and challenge your child to identify the vowel in each word. 

• Play rhyming games;  say a word and have your child think of as many rhyming words as possible; reverse roles.