LeapFrog: Let's Go to School
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Movie Reviews of LeapFrog: Let's Go to School
Movie Review: great for your young ones
Summary: 5 Stars
my kids are 2 and almost 4 and LOVE this dvd, will choose to watch this over regular cartoons. It is a great dvd and you will not be disappointedMovie Review: My 3 Year old Loves this DVD!!
Summary: 5 Stars
She wants to watch it again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Gotta love the learning from Leapfrog!!Movie Review: Time to Go to School!
Summary: 4 Stars
When it's time for a child to go to school, I think it is only natural for them to be a bit nervous. And when the characters from a popular series are redesigned, that can lead to some nervousness too. So there's a certain symmetry when it comes to this DVD release.
"Let's Go to School" is the first Leapfrog DVD to feature a brand-new character design launched in 2009. It's also the first in the series to be released by Lionsgate-- previously the DVDs were released by Sony. So let's get some things out of the way, right away. The characters definitely look different, but they still look quite cute. Overall, the feel of the animation is very nice and it's a lot of fun to watch. The characters' heads seem to be slightly too large for their bodies, but the effect works here. The other main thing to note is that this seems to be a bit of a reboot. Tad and Lily are now the exact same age (in fact, it seems to be suggested that they're twins) and the show staff have apparently chosen to have them forget everything that they learned in the previous DVD releases. They don't seem to know anything more than basic counting or letters.
That said, I think this DVD works on the whole. The story begins with Tad and Lily being nervous about their first day of school. Big brother Leap assures them that it's going to be great, but they're not so sure. Enter Edison. In "A Tad of Christmas Cheer," Edison was a fairy godbug who helped out Tad and Tad only. In this release, both Tad and Lily seem to know Edison quite well. He has a special stone which transports them to a sort of magical school. There, they learn that they're not the only ones nervous about going to school. So are all the books, the chalk and erasers, the calendar and the clock! But together they help each other to all feel less nervous. The film clocks in at about 35 minutes, which seems like a reasonable amount for the target age group. I suppose I somewhat agree that they may be trying to teach a bit too much and too many varied concepts here, but the material is in general presented well. In fact, it's so well presented that I think many kids will want to view the program more than once, which should help to reinforce the material. On the whole, the program is presented pretty straight, but there are some humorous moments involving Edison and also a slightly snarky talking clock.
The film features five songs. The only one that doesn't really seem to work is the film's alphabet song. 26 letters is a lot to present and the tune used isn't very catchy and really starts to drag after a few letters. Otherwise, the songs are fun and have catchy tunes.
Special features:
- Closed-captioned (I know, this may not seem like a special feature. But none of the previous Leapfrog DVD releases have included closed-captioning, so it's nice to see this finally being included.
- Preview of "Math Adventure to the Moon," which comes out in 2010
- Interactive alphabet book
- Trailers for other programming
- Selectable Sing-alongs of all five of the film's songs-- "Alphabet Song," "Counting Song," "Animal Family Song," "Calendar Song," "Leapfrog Learning Path Song"
This film is not rated, but is listed as being targeted at ages 3-6.
Movie Review: Slightly Dissappointed Leap Frog DVD Series Fan
Summary: 4 Stars
This is not as good as the first five Leapfrog educational DVDS made between the years 2003 and 2005: Leap Frog - Letter Factory, Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory, Leap Frog - Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word Caper, Leap Frog - Math Circus, and Leap Frog - Learn to Read at the Storybook Factory. They try to squeeze in too much educational skills in a tiny amount of time to the detriment of any one skill. My jaw and those of strangers dropped when my son at 13 months old knew all the names of the letters of the alphabet and their real phonic sounds after watching the first DVD Leap Frog - Letter Factory. He now at 2 going on three can count to 20 and read complex words with silent letters and blends because of the other 5 DVDS. If this 6th DVD had been my son's first DVD I don't think that would be case today. I think it is a shame that Leapfrog stopped making the other DVDS and if you can buy the 2003 to 2005 versions on Amazon.com I would buy them if you can. They have redone the first two DVDS in the series in 2009, and I haven't viewed them yet, but if they are the same quality as this 2009 Let's Go to School DVD they might not be as good as the original? I give this DVD four stars still, because despite the only OK educational value and the total change in character and story continuity alluded to by other reviewers, it does teach some kindergarten prep skills not in the other DVDs such as walking in a line with your class from place to place, following a schedule according to a calendar or clock, the names of the months, the names of the days of the week, names of the seasons, raising your hand in school when you want speak. Also my son keeps wanting to play it and the DVD Extras over and over so he must like it.
Movie Review: Not as good as the older series but not bad.
Summary: 4 Stars
I watched this last night for the first time and I thought it was ok. I don't like Lily as a twin but I guess it keeps the character count down if Tad has a buddy. I mean the old series there were many characters, in this one there are only 3 full sized characters (Leap hardly counts though) and multiple small characters that are more subjects or guides to what is going on and don't really play any significant role. I enjoyed the interactions of the older series betweeen characters. This dvd is more skit based. Like the difference between a drama show and saturday night live. We follow a less interesting and not as bright Tad through various areas mostly inside a classroom. There are observations going on but hardly any teaching. They rattle off the ABC's much too fast, and the whole things moves too fast. I was much less satisfied at the end of this dvd than I was with the older series. My daugter seemed to like it but Lily's role change is a bit confusing and I think we both missed the old cast of characters. When a formula works why change it? I am sure it was to save a buck, too bad this was a very good educational series that has lost some luster.