Word World

My son has started watching a show on PBS called Word World. Its a cute little edutainment show that teaches kids letters and some phonics as well. There are several animal creatures on the show like a bear, an ant, bugs and a sheep. Caleb's favorite characters are the duck and the frog.

What makes these characters so special is that they are made up of the letters that make up their names. They run around a world where nearly everything is made up of their letters. So, the duck sleeps in a nest that is made out of the letters N, E, S, and T. The frog lives in a log that is made of an L, an O, and a G.

The animals solve problems by creating things out of letters. They select the letters, sound out the word, and then when the letters are smashed together, they form into the item. Nearly everything in the cartoon is formed this way, even their food.

Caleb is really taking to his letters because of this show. He calls out the letters and repeats the sounds. He especially loves the songs, which are frequently about phonetics. There is a song about how S & T go together to make a sound. There is another episode where the shark character is mistaken as a suh-hark because the duck doesn't know that S & H make a special sound together.

I have lots of toys for Caleb that are supposed to help him learn letters and sounds, but he wasn't really that into them until after he saw Word World. I think the show just kind of brought everything together for him. Now, when he sees letters that he recognized, he yells them out. When he sees letters that he doesn't recognize, he just hollers, "L-M-O-P!" It is truly adorable!