The kids got so many wonderful toys for their birthday and the holidays, I thought maybe I'd highlight a few. Partly to recommend them anyone reading who has younger kids and partly for me to help remember what they loved when they were 4.
These TAG Reading Systems from Leap Frog were a birthday gift. I researched them to within an inch of their lives. Oh wait, if you know us, we do that with everything.... even maple syrup*. I went back and forth on buying a $40 toy per child. I read reviews, reviews and more reviews. I asked friends who had the toy already (their glowing reports are what really pushed me over the edge.) and I stood in Toys R Us picking them up and putting them back many times.
So, if you like reviews from someone you know... feel confident buying your 4 year old a TAG reading system! The twins love them! Be sure to buy the one bundled with The Cat In The Hat, though - not a book with Ollie in the title. The Ollie one looks identical - and if you have twins, you'd be tempted to buy the 2 different books, so one of each.... but the computer pen that comes with the Ollie book is the old version and only holds 5 books in it's 16 MB memory. The Cat In The Hat one has 32 MB and holds up to 10 books. The pen reader tool comes in either green or purple so you have an easy way to tell them apart. For now, they each have all the books we own loaded on their pens, so they can read any of the books, but they sort of feel certain books belong to them vs belong to their twin. They do share nicely most of the time.
Once you buy the pen part, you go online and download the stories into the pen. Then the child is ready to "read" the individual books that are loaded up for them. The pen only works with the TAG reader special books which you have to buy separately (they run $10-$14 dollars most places, sometimes Leap Frog's website has good sales. I got several for only $5 each before Christmas.) They can click one icon and the reader literally reads the page to them. Or, they can choose to touch each word individually to hear the story. Touching the pictures will say different things. There are different games to play where the pen asks them questions and they have to touch items on the pages to answer.
Another cool thing is you can then plug the pen into the computer and it tells you exactly what your child has been doing on the TAG reader. This plug-in feature shows how much time they spent with each book, how many times they "read" it, clicked on the individual words, what percentage of game questions they answered correctly, what skills they excel in and even what grade level they place in based on their answers. FYI... Carl is scoring at a 1st grade level on some things!!
I definitely recommend the carrying cases right from the start. They also come in green and pink, so you can easily tell whose is whose. You're able to fit 6 books in each one. Stock up on AAA batteries or get some good rechargeables. You can buy headphones, but really, it isn't that loud and even in the car for 18 hours to NY, with 2 of them playing in the back seat, I never got bugged by the sound. I kind of like eavesdropping on their activity anyway.
I highly recommend the TAG Reading System! And, Carl & Gretchen recommend it even more!! 
*disclaimer... do not use maple syrup on the TAG reader system!
These TAG Reading Systems from Leap Frog were a birthday gift. I researched them to within an inch of their lives. Oh wait, if you know us, we do that with everything.... even maple syrup*. I went back and forth on buying a $40 toy per child. I read reviews, reviews and more reviews. I asked friends who had the toy already (their glowing reports are what really pushed me over the edge.) and I stood in Toys R Us picking them up and putting them back many times.
So, if you like reviews from someone you know... feel confident buying your 4 year old a TAG reading system! The twins love them! Be sure to buy the one bundled with The Cat In The Hat, though - not a book with Ollie in the title. The Ollie one looks identical - and if you have twins, you'd be tempted to buy the 2 different books, so one of each.... but the computer pen that comes with the Ollie book is the old version and only holds 5 books in it's 16 MB memory. The Cat In The Hat one has 32 MB and holds up to 10 books. The pen reader tool comes in either green or purple so you have an easy way to tell them apart. For now, they each have all the books we own loaded on their pens, so they can read any of the books, but they sort of feel certain books belong to them vs belong to their twin. They do share nicely most of the time.
Once you buy the pen part, you go online and download the stories into the pen. Then the child is ready to "read" the individual books that are loaded up for them. The pen only works with the TAG reader special books which you have to buy separately (they run $10-$14 dollars most places, sometimes Leap Frog's website has good sales. I got several for only $5 each before Christmas.) They can click one icon and the reader literally reads the page to them. Or, they can choose to touch each word individually to hear the story. Touching the pictures will say different things. There are different games to play where the pen asks them questions and they have to touch items on the pages to answer.
Another cool thing is you can then plug the pen into the computer and it tells you exactly what your child has been doing on the TAG reader. This plug-in feature shows how much time they spent with each book, how many times they "read" it, clicked on the individual words, what percentage of game questions they answered correctly, what skills they excel in and even what grade level they place in based on their answers. FYI... Carl is scoring at a 1st grade level on some things!!
I definitely recommend the carrying cases right from the start. They also come in green and pink, so you can easily tell whose is whose. You're able to fit 6 books in each one. Stock up on AAA batteries or get some good rechargeables. You can buy headphones, but really, it isn't that loud and even in the car for 18 hours to NY, with 2 of them playing in the back seat, I never got bugged by the sound. I kind of like eavesdropping on their activity anyway.
I highly recommend the TAG Reading System! And, Carl & Gretchen recommend it even more!! *disclaimer... do not use maple syrup on the TAG reader system!
How awesome! One of my friends was asking about this before Christmas and I had no clue what it did. Joe's sister bought the kids a Tag Jr and it's pretty neat. Sounds like they do similar things. You should try to do some of the reviews you get paid for - review some toys and let them pay for themselves. :)
ReplyDeleteOoh, I think it will be a must for either A's bday in March or next Christmas. :)
ReplyDelete