Are you trying to choose a good kriah (Hebrew reading) CD for your kids, but you’re confused about which to buy? It can be hard to find detailed information about what each CD offers. Since our family recently bought a new kriah CD, we thought we’d share our experiences with the two that we own. Hopefully this review will help other families choose which one is best for their family.
Kriyah Coach is a new CD that was created as a way to raise money for tzedakah. It assumes that kids already know the alef-beis; there’s a quick alef-beis review you can click on, with video footage of a rebbe and his class pointing to the osios and reviewing them, but that’s all that’s offered for alef-beis. The CD’s focus is on learning the nekudah sounds and learning to blend. For each nekudah, there’s a 3-step approach: first, a computer-animated scene with characters introducing the nekudah; second, video footage of Rabbi Henoch Potash teaching that nekudah to his class; and third, a brief exercise for the child to practice with.
The pronunciation used is mainstream yeshivish.
Overall, Kriyah Coach is cute–the little boys in Rabbi Potash’s class are adorable, and the animated characters interest kids–but it doesn’t offer a lot of practice.
Alef Bet Adventure is a CD that’s been around for a while. It focuses on the alef-beis, nekudos, and blending. There’s a little bit of Hebrew vocabulary taught as well at the end.
Alef Bet Adventure offers three choices for pronunciation: “standard” (yeshivish), chassidish, 
and sefardi. The vocabulary taught at the end uses Israeli-style pronunciation.
For each letter, you can click to see its name, its shape, and its sound. Then there are exercises to practice the new letter while simultaneously reviewing the letters already learned. The same process is used for learning the nekudos. So the program is structured and sequential, with tons of review. There are also exercises which help kids practice letters that look similar and are commonly confused.
There are many hours’ worth of exercises in Alef Bet Adventure. I do wish that animation or exciting graphics or something fun were integrated into some of the exercises, because they’re simply black and white and workbook-esque, but overall the exercises are good. My son likes being able to click and check whether he was right or not, rather than waiting to hear from a parent. Doing an activity on the computer is a welcome change from flashcards and the like.
Bottom line? For a kiddo who’s really struggling in kriah and needs a lot of practice, Alef Bet Adventure is definitely the more useful CD. Kriyah Coach would be good for kids who just need a little kriah review, but aren’t struggling. Links to Amazon are provided for convenience but first try your local Jewish booksellers.
Cm says
I was interested in this article but then dismissed it when i thought you were discussing DVD’s. I own alef bet adventure and it is a CD/ computer software disc. DVD implies a video put into a DVD player and viewed as a movie. At least that’s how i think of it….thanks for the article!
reviewer says
Sorry for the confusion! I will ask LJN to change the wording. I guess you can tell I’m not very tech-savvy! I didn’t really know the difference between those two words. Thanks for pointing out the error. They are both for playing in the computer.
Heather says
so to clarify then, these are both computer programs that you use with a computer? NOT Dvds? I think I’ll get one of these. Thank you!
reviewer says
Yes, they are both for use on a computer. The terminology is confusing because the Kriyah Coach publishers call it an “interactive DVD.” I don’t really know what that means. But yes, both of the CDs I wrote about are ones you insert into a computer. I’m glad my review helped you! That’s great to hear. 🙂
reviewer says
I wanted to add that the animated characters in the Kriyah Coach CD move and talk slooowly, to the point where my kids were joking around and pretending to talk like those characters. My six-year-old got very bored with the brief animated scenarios because they weren’t fast and dynamic enough for him, but my three-year-old loved them and would watch them repeatedly. So maybe consider your kid’s age when deciding if it’s a useful CD for your kid.