I plan to homeschool my two toddlers.? In fact, we are working on learning a second language, Spanish,? already.? I’ve read that starting early with a second language is key, and that 0-3 is the best language learning window.? I’ve also read that children that learn a second language early on tend to have improved reading and writing ability.? We started learning Spanish over the summer,? so when I received the opportunity to review Little Pim, courtesy of Cocktails with Mom and http://littlepim.com, I happily accepted.
About Little Pim? (courtesy of http://www.littlepim.com/)
This holiday season, give your favorite toddler Little Pim and by Valentine?s Day he or she will have learned 60 words and phrases in Spanish, French, Chinese, Italian or the foreign language of your choice! It?s the perfect holiday gift for any child age 0-6 on your list.
Little Pim is an award-winning new DVD series that introduces babies, toddlers and preschoolers to foreign languages in a fun and engaging way. Each DVD features Little Pim, an adorable Panda who helps immerse children in a foreign language through their everyday activities.? Little Pim has won over ten top consumer awards and is a hit with celebrity moms including Angelina Jolie and Entourage?s Constance Zimmer.
This year, Little Pim released three brand new DVD?s to its series. These new DVDs introduce another 180 words and phrases in the following themes: in my home (Disc 4), happy, sad and silly (Disc 5) and I can count! (Disc 6). Little Pim is now be joined by two new characters: Lola the Elephant and Bob the Bobcat. Lola is a sweet and sassy pink elephant with a playful, spraying trunk, and Bob is a lovable bobcat who is easily distracted and always falling asleep.
Little Pim is offered in Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Arabic, English and German and available in a variety of price points from stocking stuffer to deluxe gift set:
- Individual Little Pim DVD in any of the ten languages. Disc one: Eating and Drinking; Disc two: Wake Up Smiling; Disc three: Playtime ? $17.95 each
- NEW Little Pim DVD 4, 5 and 6 in French, Spanish or Chinese. Disc four: In My Home; Disc five: Happy, Sad and Silly; Disc six: I Can Count! ? $17.95 each
- Little Pim Three-Pak is the three-DVD introduction to more than 180 vocabulary words and phrases in your chosen language ? $49.95
- Little Pim Gift Set includes a Little Pim Three-Pak in your chosen language plus an 8-inch velvety soft plush toy of Little Pim, the panda, in a fun, re-usable tote ? $59.95
- Little Pim Deluxe Gift Set, available only in Spanish or French, includes the three-disc set, the plush toy, a music CD and flash cards in a fun, re-usable tote ? $84.95
Little Pim was developed by ?mompreneur? Julia Pimsleur Levine, daughter of the renowned linguist Dr. Paul Pimsleur, and in consultation with Dr. April Benasich, a leading neuroscientist. Little Pim is the only language immersion series specifically designed for the 0-6 age group, and it?s the first product that allows parents to be their child?s first foreign language tut or, even if they don?t speak the language.
We received the Spanish Volume 1 set, which includes: Dist 1- eating and drinking, Disc 2- wake up smiling, and Disc 3- playtime.
Little Pim is a bit different than other language videos we own, in that it is a language immersion series.? Which means, the only language spoken on the DVDs is Spanish.? My two kiddos really enjoy the Spanish-English DVD that we have, so I wasn’t sure how they would like this set.? No worries.? They immediately fell in love with this little panda called Little Pim.
The Little Pim videos are brightly colored and follow children through their day.??? They combine a mixture of animation and video of children, often with Little Pim popping up in the corner of the videos to speak to the viewer.?? Little Pim describes the scenes as the play out.? There is a lot of repetition of the vocabulary and often the words are printed on screen.? The narration is well enunciated and easy to understand.
Each video? introduces more than 60 words in Spanish and end with a review of the words learned.? Because the DVD’s are theme based, they can be watched in any order.? Each video is divided into seven 5 minute lessons that follow the main theme of the video.? Companion transcripts are available on the Little Pim website, or you can turn on the optional English subtitles.?? You can also print coloring pages and follow along with the word of the day to boost learning fun.
My kids enjoy the Little Pim videos, and do ask to watch them, but when Pim in not in the scene, they start doing other stuff.? When Pim returns, my son will shout, “There he is” and they will start watching again.?? The Little Pim set is great for an introduction to a second language. The only thing I would consider changing would be to make the entire video animated or perhaps add a song or two.
I will certainly be adding Volume 2 (Discs 4, 5, and 6) to my language arsenal as time allows!
You can purchase Little Pim products on Amazon!
Hasta luego!
We have the Little Pim discs in French and are actually using them for our high schooler since she has not had any foreign language teaching yet. We love the way they also put the words on screen for a visual connection, for older ones, that is so good.