Leap Frog Number Land Available January 31, 2012

An All-New Leapfrog Release Visits The Music-Filled, Magical World

Of Number Land!

Popular learning puppy Scout & Friends are back and ready to take a magical mathematical journey as Lionsgate Home Entertainment and top educational entertainment company LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. once again join together to release LeapFrog™: Number Land in January 2012! Following hot on the heels of his first starring role in November’s Phonics Farm release, Scout — along with his friends Violet, Eli, Penny and Axle — introduces early numeracy skills as he helps set up a surprise birthday party in the enchanted Number Land.

Join Scout and his friends for another exciting learning adventure from the world of LeapFrog. When the pals long to learn about numbers, their magical car, Axle, whisks them away to Number Land. With the help of a new friend, Max, the pals meet all the numbers in the land and build early numeracy skills. Then it’s time to help the residents of Number Land plan a surprise birthday party for Max. It all adds up to plenty of fun and adventure as kids sing and count their way through Number Land with Scout & Friends!

My boys and I have watched Phonics Farm about 50 times. They love it. They know the songs by heart. When my three year old saw Numberland he literally started clapping and yelling, "a new leapfrog." So off to Numberland we go singing our favorite song, I'm With You, Scout!! Of course my boys know all of the words! I know that Phonics Farm helped my littlest one out. He really needs this Numberland too. He doesn't count to ten. I know he should be able to do it. I think Scout and Penny and their fun singing should be able to get him to count from 1 to 10. During this DVD they sing a cute song that is literally the animals singing 1 through 10, and then they ask the children to sing along. My littlest one may not do it with them yet, but his brothers yell back. We have the movie, and two brothers counting with him. The more the merrier, right? There are also plenty of times during the DVD that allows for number recognition. They show the numbers and shout out what they are several times. We also have another song or two that we like on this one. Good Job, Leap Frog on another great educational movie!!

Here are some tips that parents can use to help teach their kids math to make it more fun.
Research has shown that understanding early math skills at the beginning of kindergarten is the strongest predictor of future academic success - more so than literacy and social skills! To help support early math skills, LeapFrog has created a new tool for children and families: LeapFrog: Numberland on DVD.

In addition to the skill sets taught on the DVD, Dr. Jody Sherman LeVos — mother, developmental psychologist and the mathematics curriculum designer behind LeapFrog: Numberland— has offered the following tips and activities to engage children with early numeracy concepts:

Practice number recognition and verbal counting with your child by walking through your house or neighborhood, and pointing out the different numbers that you see. Ask your child to say the number names, and then practice counting out loud together. For example, if your child finds the number 5, practice saying “1, 2, 3, 4, 5”.
If your child can recognize numbers but struggles to put them in the correct order, you can play games that help them create their own number lines. Have your child write the numbers 1 – 10 on large pieces of paper, and then scramble the numbers so they’re out of order. Then ask your child to switch the numbers around so they are in the correct order from smallest to largest.
Invite young children to arrange objects of different sizes, such as stacking cups, in order from smallest to the largest. The ability to compare things based on a dimension, such as size, and arrange those things in order is a very important aspect of mathematical development.
Play games together! Several studies have revealed that children can increase their knowledge of several important early math skills by playing board games that contain a number line, like Chutes and Ladders.
Get active and move around! Try drawing a number line from 1 to 10 on the ground outside using sidewalk chalk, and then invite your child to hop on the numbers and say them aloud. You can even practice skip counting by asking your child to jump on the even numbers — 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 — to drive the concept home.