Rock 'N Learn
Rock 'N Learn is an American children's educational program brand. It covers many of the necessary elements of learning children encounter throughout childhood. Topics include fundamentals for young children such as the English alphabet, to a higher level for children who may have difficulty learning multiplication tables, to those for teenagers in high school who need to improve their writing skills. Releases of titles today include DVDs and digital copy download formats (for video versions) and CDs and books (for audio versions). However, titles (released on video and audio versions) were formerly available on the VHS video cassette tapes and audio cassettes with books.[1] Multiplication Rock was the first title published in 1987.
| Industry | Educational Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Founded | Texas (1987) |
| Founder |
|
| Headquarters | Conroe, Texas, United States |
| Website | rocknlearn |
History
In 1987, school psychologist Richard Caudle saw that children needed the use of music that they enjoyed to help them learn. Assisted by his musician brother Brad, Caudle released the first video -—and audio—- release (Multiplication Rock). This title featured practice with multiplication tables. The success of this release spawned more educational content from Richard and Brad, eventually forming the company called Rock 'N Learn.
The first other VHS releases (after Multiplication Rock) were Alphabet, Colors, Shapes & Counting, Nursery Rhymes, and Letter Sounds. Later came a two-volume VHS release (Phonics Volumes I and II). This title featured more complex foundations for learning to read. Many video releases were released as well --as well as audio releases with each audio title including a book-- to coincide with the audio version (on cassette and CD). DVDs (for video versions of titles) have been released since 2006.
Melissa, Brad's wife, has been known to write Rock 'N Learn's products, as well as consulting teachers for educational input. Richard's wife, Kathie, is the company's director of marketing. Over the years, a plethora of releases came along, including Alphabet Circus, Spanish, and Money & Making Change. Some math releases are released using diverse musical genres; rock, rap, and country. Several releases come in both video and audio formats, while others come in either the former or the latter.
While Rock 'N Learn does keep what benefits children in their products, some releases have been renovated to appeal to a new generation of children. 2010 saw the renovation of Phonics, with the animation improving as well as new character designs. Several new scenes were adding including phonemic awareness exercises, sentence practice, and story practice. Formerly, both volumes were roughly forty-five minutes in length and shared the same DVD disc. However, following the renovation, each volume has extended to a running time of at least seventy minutes, prompting both volumes to require separate discs. This went on for over six years, until 2016, when it was renovated again, improving the animation, as well as some slight alterations. Not long after that, the volumes themselves were split in two, with each of the four parts having a running time between twenty-eight and forty-four minutes, as well as all parts being on a separate disc and being sold together in the Phonics 4-DVD Set.
2011 saw the release of Sight Words Level 1, previously released as simply titled Sight Words. Sight Words Level 2 and Sight Words Level 3 are available as well. 2010, 2012, and 2018 saw the renovation of the video versions (DVD only) of the Letter Sounds, Colors, Shapes & Counting, Alphabet, Telling Time, and Nursery Rhymes titles. However some titles have been discontinued. These titles include Division Rock (all formats on audio --including audio cassette, CD, and book), the Division Rap (audio only --including audio cassette, CD, and book), and Alphabet (audio only --audio cassette, CD, and book), and Aprendamos Inglés DVD for teaching ESL. The video version of Alphabet (DVD) is still available but the audio version (all formats) have been discontinued. Rock N' Learn has won over 200 awards. Most of them are listed below.
On October 12th, 2021, Brad passed away at the age of 54 due to complications of COVID-19. He was survived by his wife Melissa and his brother Richard, among other family members and friends.
Titles
The following tables show a list of titles of the programs Rock 'N Learn has produced, as well as their respective running time, age range, the number of awards won, and whether or not they are available on video and audio versions (DVD for video; CD and book for audio).
Early Childhood Titles[2]
| Title | Running Time | Age Range | Number Of Awards Won | Available on DVD (video)? | Available On CD and Book (audio)? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet | 42 minutes | Ages 2–5 | 8 | Yes | Formerly |
| Alphabet Exercise | 44 minutes | Ages 3–5 | 2 | Yes | No |
| Baby's First Words: Body Parts Family Feelings and More | 31 minutes | Ages 0–2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| Baby's First Words: Colors Food Activities and More | 30 minutes | Ages 0–2 | 0 | Yes | No |
| Colors Shapes and Counting | 46 minutes | Ages 2–5 | 8 (DVD) 4 (CD) | Yes | Yes |
| Dance With The Animals | 45 minutes | Ages 2 and up | 3 | Yes | Formerly (but known as Animals) |
| Fun Songs For Kids | 42 minutes | All ages | 0 | Yes | No |
| Getting Ready For Kindergarten | 45 minutes | Ages 3 to 5 | 3 | Yes | No |
| Learn A Language: Let's Play Outside! | 35 minutes | Ages 2 and up | 3 | Yes | No |
| Learn A Language: Numbers Colors and More | 37 minutes | Ages 2 and up | 9 | Yes | No |
| Nursery Rhymes | 40 minutes | Ages 1–5 | 0 (current DVD edition) 2 (CD) | Yes | Yes |
| Preschool Songs | 42 minutes | Ages 1–5 | 0 | Yes | No |
| Silly Songs and Sing-Alongs | 55 minutes | All ages | 0 | Yes | No |
Phonics Reading and Writing Titles[3]
| Title | Running Time | Age Range | Number Of Awards Won | Available On DVD (video)? | Available On CD and Book (audio)? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letters Sounds | 1 hour 2 minutes (DVD) 51 minutes (CD) | Ages 4–7 | 10 (DVD) 3 (CD) | Yes | Yes |
| Phonics 4-DVD Set | 2 hours 27 minutes | Grades K and up | 0 (current edition) | Yes | No |
| Phonics Easy Readers | Self-paced | Ages 6 and up | 0 | Yes | No |
| Phonics Volumes I and II | 1 hour 32 minutes | Grades K and up | 3 | Formerly | Yes |
| Read-Along Stories | 35 minutes | Grades 1 and up | 2 | Yes | Formerly |
| Reading Comprehension | 46 minutes | Grades 2-4 | 4 | Yes | No |
| Sight Words Level 1 | 50 minutes | Grades Pre-K and up | 12 | Yes | No |
| Sight Words Level 2 | 1 hour 1 minute | Grades K and up | 7 | Yes | No |
| Sight Words Level 3 | 50 minutes | Grades 1 and up | 6 | Yes | No |
| Writing Strategies | 1 hour 10 minutes | Grades 3-12 | 5 | Yes | No |
Math Titles[4]
| Title | Running Time | Age Range | Number Of Awards Won | Available On DVD (video)? | Available On CD and Book (audio)? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addition and Subtraction Rap | 55 minutes | Ages 6 and up | 7 (DVD) 2 (CD) | Yes | Yes |
| Addition and Subtraction Rock | 40 minutes | Ages 6 and up | 4 (DVD) 0 (CD) | Yes | Yes |
| Beginning Fractions and Decimals | 35 minutes | Grades 3 and up | 3 | Yes | No |
| Division Rap | 55 minutes | Grades 3 and up | 5 | Yes | Formerly |
| Math Word Problems | 58 minutes | Grades 3 and 4 | 2 | Yes | No |
| Money and Making Change | 58 minutes | Grades 1 and up | 7 | Yes | No |
| Multiplicación Rap (Multiplication Rap in Spanish) | 42 minutes | Ages 8 and up | 0 | No | Yes |
| Multiplication Rap | 46 minutes (DVD) 39 minutes (CD) | Grades 3 and up | 12(DVD) 2 (CD) | Yes | Yes |
| Multiplication Rock | 50 minutes (DVD) 45 minutes (CD) | Grades 3 and up | 3 (DVD) 0 (CD) | Yes | Yes |
| Telling Time | 46 minutes | Grades 1 and up | 3 | Yes | No |
Languages Titles[5]
| Title | Running Time | Age Range | Number Of Awards Won | Available On DVD (video)? | Available On CD and Book (audio)? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| French Volume I | 27 minutes per disc side | Ages 6 and up | 0 | No | Yes |
| Spanish Volume I | 27 minutes per disc side | Ages 6 and up | 0 | No | Yes |
| Spanish Volume II | 27 minutes per disc side | Ages 6 and up | 0 | No | Yes |
| Spanish Volumes 1 and 2 | 55 minutes | Ages 6 and up | 2 | Yes | No |
Science and Social Studies Titles[6]
| Title | Running Time | Age Range | Number Of Awards Won | Available On DVD (video)? | Available On CD and Book (audio)? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth Science | 1 hour 1 minute | Grades 3 to 8 | 9 | Yes | No |
| Human Body | 44 minutes | Grades 3 to 8 | 8 | Yes | No |
| Life Science | 59 minutes | Grades 3 to 8 | 4 | Yes | No |
| Physical Science | 55 minutes | Grades 2 to 8 | 6 | Yes | No |
| Presidents and U.S. Government | 37 minutes | Ages 10 and up | 0 | No | Yes |
| Solar System | 40 minutes | Ages 7 and up | 0 | No | Yes |
| States and Capitals Rap | 30 minutes | Ages 10 and up | 0 | No | Yes |
Board Books
| Title | Number Of Pages | Age Range | DVD Counterpart | Number Of Awards Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alphabet Al's ABC Board Book | 30 | Preschool Level | Alphabet | 5 |
| Animals | 30 | Ages 1 & Up | Dance With The Animals | 0 |
| Colors Shapes and Counting | 30 | Preschool Level | Colors, Shapes & Counting | 6 |
| Letter Sounds Silly Sentences | 30 | Ages 1 & Up | Letter Sounds | 0 |
Discontinued Titles
| Title | Format(s) |
|---|---|
| Addition and Subtraction Country | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Addition Rap | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Alphabet | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Alphabet Circus | VHS DVD |
| Animals | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Aprendamos Inglés (Let's Learn English) | DVD in Spanish |
| Building Self-Esteem | Audio Cassette |
| Dinosaur Rap | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Division Rap | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Division Rock | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Grammar | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Multiplication Country | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Oceans | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Phonics Volume 1 | DVD |
| Phonics Volume 2 | DVD |
| Phonics Volumes I and II | VHS DVD |
| Rock N' Read CD and Book Series | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Spiders and Insects | Book CD Audio Cassette |
| Subtraction Rap | Book CD Audio Cassette |
References
External links
Rock 'N Learn Website – official children's educational entertainment program brand website
Rock 'N Learn YouTube Channel – official children's educational entertainment program brand YouTube channel