At Christmas we gave Lara a Tag reading system from Leapfrog (Note: Leapfrog gave her this as a gift back in august as part of the Leapfrog Motherboard but we saved it until she was ready for it). Lara has been using the Tag Junior reading system for a year now but we felt that she was ready to move onto the main Tag system for slightly older children.
Leapfrog's Tag system works as a hand-held 'pen' device that your child passes over the words and pictures on the page of a book. At present, Lara is not quite reading (although she can do letter sounds, she hasn't yet worked out how to string them together). The Tag system is perfect for her now because she understands that words and sentences mean something, she just needs someone to read for her and sometimes she would rather that it wasn't me or Daddy that helped her. The Tag system gives her some independence. Once or twice I have left Lara in her bedroom to 'read' before going to bed if she is playing up and the act of sitting quietly on her own with a book has calmed her down enough for bedtime.
We bought Lara a number of Tag books for Christmas to accompany the reader. Most of the Tag books are themed with various popular characters - many of them Disney. Lara's favourite books are usually ones with lots of puzzles in them. To me, this is the thing that makes the Tag books stand out... anyone could read a story book with Lara but the Tag books are more than just stories. Lots of the pages in the books feature quizzes or activities that allow your child to interact with the book. In many cases these are observational questions to make sure they've been paying attention to the story and sometimes they require your child to reference back to previous pages. Lara also owns one book which is entirely made of puzzles that practice maths and letters skills. There are awards and rewards to be gained by doing well in the quizzes.
As with most Leapfrog toys, you can connect the Tag reader up to the computer to see your child's Learning path. You can download activity sheets for some of the books and see the rewards your child has earned.
I love watching Lara interact with her books. I don't think the Tag reader will teach her to read but it is certainly cementing her love of books and extending her imagination as well as ensuring she continues to recognise words and their relationships. As she gets a little older, I'm excited to see how she adapts her use of the Tag reader and I'm looking forward to trying out some of the other products for the reader including some of the non-fiction books including an atlas and a book on the solar system.
Leapfrog's Tag system works as a hand-held 'pen' device that your child passes over the words and pictures on the page of a book. At present, Lara is not quite reading (although she can do letter sounds, she hasn't yet worked out how to string them together). The Tag system is perfect for her now because she understands that words and sentences mean something, she just needs someone to read for her and sometimes she would rather that it wasn't me or Daddy that helped her. The Tag system gives her some independence. Once or twice I have left Lara in her bedroom to 'read' before going to bed if she is playing up and the act of sitting quietly on her own with a book has calmed her down enough for bedtime.
We bought Lara a number of Tag books for Christmas to accompany the reader. Most of the Tag books are themed with various popular characters - many of them Disney. Lara's favourite books are usually ones with lots of puzzles in them. To me, this is the thing that makes the Tag books stand out... anyone could read a story book with Lara but the Tag books are more than just stories. Lots of the pages in the books feature quizzes or activities that allow your child to interact with the book. In many cases these are observational questions to make sure they've been paying attention to the story and sometimes they require your child to reference back to previous pages. Lara also owns one book which is entirely made of puzzles that practice maths and letters skills. There are awards and rewards to be gained by doing well in the quizzes.
I love watching Lara interact with her books. I don't think the Tag reader will teach her to read but it is certainly cementing her love of books and extending her imagination as well as ensuring she continues to recognise words and their relationships. As she gets a little older, I'm excited to see how she adapts her use of the Tag reader and I'm looking forward to trying out some of the other products for the reader including some of the non-fiction books including an atlas and a book on the solar system.
