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Product Description
Learn to read with the #1 selling reading system!*
Designed for children ages four to eight, the Tag Reading System uses touch technology to engage children and bring reading to life. Each touch to the pages of specially printed storybooks, puzzles, maps and more triggers audio responses that support and surprise-engaging children's senses to make reading-and learning-a rich, fulfilling experience. Winner of 55+ awards worldwide, the Tag system holds audio for up to 10 titles at a time from a vast library featuring characters from favorite TV, movie and classic tales.
For parents, the Tag Reader offers easy audio download with no cartridges to lose, adjustable volume control and it turns itself automatically after a period of inactivity to save battery life. Parents can also see specific details of their child's reading progress through the free online Learning Path.
99% of teachers recommend Tag!**
Tag helps children build the skills to learn to read, and games and learning activities help reinforce new skills, building confidence and encouraging children to continue to explore and discover a love of reading and learning.
The Tag Reading System:
• Provides children with tools to build phonics and reading comprehension skills.
• Sounds out words in select books to provide tutorial support.
• Challenges and supports young readers to progress at their own pace.
The Learn to Read System Library
The Tag Learn to Ready System is designed to guide children through their learn-to-read journey. Beginning with the Get Ready to Read series and the Tag Junior book pal, children are introduced to reading basics and essential preschool skills. Moving on to the Tag Reader, the Early Reading series expands upon these skills with core phonics practice and exposure to basic sentence structure. As children build confidence they can develop their reading comprehension and vocabulary skills with the longer text and more complex sentences of the Read on Your Own series. And their growing reading skills lead to even more fun with the Learn through Reading series, which features maps, puzzles, flash cards and sets that expand the learning to geography, writing, science and more.
Book and Print Basics
A child's early experiences with books greatly influence his ability to learn to read. Reading together helps a child learn how to turn pages one at a time and that text moves from left to right. Advanced readers learn how to use books for research.
Consonants
There are more consonants sounds than there are consonants in the alphabet. A consonant digraph is a pair of consonants that stand for a single sound (ch, sh, th, wh).
Vowels
Spelling begins with regular short vowel sounds (cap) and long vowel sounds (with silent e, cap becomes cape). Finally, children learn the rules and patterns of vowel pairs (ee), digraphs (ai in train), dipthongs (oi in boil) and r-controlled vowels (farm, bird).
Phonological Awareness
Along with learning language and letters, phonological awareness-the ability to pick out and play with sounds in words (such as syllables and rhymes)-is essential for learning to read.
Word recognition
With repeated exposure to commonly used words, word recognition grows and becomes more automatic.
Phonics skills
To read independently, children must understand the relationship between the sounds in spoken words and the letters that represent those sounds.
Vocabulary
The larger their vocabulary, the easier it is for children to comprehend what they read and hear and communicate with others.
Listening and Reading Comprehension
As children develop comprehension of books read aloud or independently, they explore the uses and functions of written language. They begin to construct meaning, eventually applying critical skills to make inferences and draw conclusions.
Learn Through Reading
In addition to creating a strong foundation through language and literacy learning, there are skill sets that children need exposure to and knowledge of for further development and achievement in school. Topics like science, social studies, mathematics and overall life skills are essential experiences to ensure further development and achievement in school.
Product Dimensions: 5.0 x 1.0 x 1.0 inches
Package Dimensions: 11.0 x 2.5 x 10.6 inches
Package Weight: 1.80 lbs
Batteries: 2 AAA (not included)
What's in the Box:
• LeapFrog Tag Reader
• Sampler activity book (audio pre-loaded on Reader)
• User guide
• USB cable
System Requirements:
- Internet connection (high-speed connection recommended)
- Monitor resolution of 1024 x 768
- Available USB port
- 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended)
- 300 MB free disk space
- Latest version of Adobe Flash Player
PC Requirements:
- Pentium 4 or equivalent (2 GHz processor or faster recommended)
- Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 operating system with latest service pack
Mac Computer Requirements:
- Intel-based Apple computer (1 GHz processor or faster recommended)
- Mac OS X 10.5+ operating system software
About LeapFrog
LeapFrog is a leader in education innovation. We create award-winning learning toys, interactive book and map experiences, reading systems, educational gaming handhelds and learning tablets that are age-appropriate. Our mission is to help every child achieve his or her potential. So our products combine robust technology, curriculum and popular characters to create engaging experiences that make play and learning even more fun. With more than 120 million learning systems, books and games in homes worldwide, plus multisensory technology in more than 100,000 U.S. classrooms, the LeapFrog brand is trusted by parents, valued by teachers and loved by children. Many of our products connect to the Internet for enhanced learning with additional interactive experiences. Those connections also empower parents with personalized insights and recommendations, helping them see and share in their child's learning progress through our groundbreaking LeapFrog Learning Path.
*U.S. Source: The NPD Group / Consumer Tracking Service; Preschool Electronic Learning, Reading System brands in Dollars, Annual 2010(excluding gaming systems). U.K. Source: The NPD Group/ EPoS Retail Tracking; Preschool Electronic Learning, Reading System brands in Value, Annual 2010 (excluding gaming systems). Canada Source: The Nielsen Company, Market Track Closed Group, National Toy Market 2010 (52 weeks ending December 2010).
**Based on a 2010 survey conducted by LeapFrog of teachers participating in its Tag Kindergarten Program who received Tag Reading Systems from LeapFrog for use in their classrooms.
TM and © LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved.
Customer Reviews
The good: The pen is amazing, a real marvel of teaching technology. The kids like it.
The bad: It's the most techno-savvy leapfrog product yet. The pen needs to be connected to the computer a lot as your child learns. Not only do you have to "download" the books onto the pen, but there is a feedback loop where the child earns rewards. Most of the "rewards" require printer paper and ink. I wish you could turn off the pen's requests to be plugged back into the computer, but you can't.
Should you buy it:
If you are used to performing regular "maintenance" with your ipod, and you don't mind that, then definitely buy it.
If you don't like maintainin computers (firmware upgrades, syncing, troubleshooting, etc) then consider very carefully before buying.
Don't get this as a gift for a person who either doesn't have a computer, or has a relic of a computer that they never use.
Long version:
I have owned a lot of leapfrog toys. This is the first one I've used which is very similar to owning an ipod.
Upon receiving this product, the pen comes with a demo book. The demo book works out of the box, of course. The technology itself is cool, there is a little camera underneath the pen point and it can "see" where you are on the page. Touching the pen to the page makes the pen announce whatever is in that location. You can switch "modes" by touching in the corner of the book. For example, you can switch to "play a game" or you can "read".
The demo book is fine for maybe a couple hours play, but it doesn't have enough play value for you to be satisfied with the demo book alone. You're going to have to buy more books, which you expect if you have some experience with these leapfrog devices.
So I bought several books to test this out with. They included: LeapFrog Tag Activity Storybook I SPY Imagine That!, LeapFrog Tag Learn to Read Phonics Book Series Short Vowels, and LeapFrog Tag Learn to Read Phonics Book Series Long Vowels, Silent E and Y. I waited to post my review until those items arrived.
It was only after I received these books that I realized what it was like to use this product. Here is my journey, in steps:
STEP 1: I had to install Leapfrog software on my computer. And each time you buy a book you have use your computer to "install" that book on the pen. You can't go to a store and pick up a Leapfrog book and use it right away. You either have to download the audio ahead of time (more on that in a minute) or come home and download it after you buy the book. This IS NOT a cartridge system, like many previous leapfrog products.
STEP 2: I had to set up a leapfrog,com ACCOUNT with a username and password. I didn't appreciate the need to set up an account. I am receiving occasional rare email solicitations from Leapfrog now, even though I indicated that I didn't want any emails.
STEP 3: I had to set up each CHILD in the account. You do this to track their progress. I actually don't care about that very much, and I would have appreciated an opt-out on that feature. So each child has a little account of their own.
STEP 4: After I installed the software I plugged the pen into my computer with a USB cable.
STEP 5: Then I had to update the software on the pen. (Thats "firmware" to us geeks). Thats right, Leapfrog felt the need to change the software that makes the pen work between the time the pen was made and the time you bought it. So bringing the pen "up to date" is your responsibility.
STEP 6: Then I had to find the books I bought (one at a time, even though they aren't sold separately) for download from leapfrog's website. You can download every book they have, even if you don't own the paper version of the book. You could download the audio for a book, and then go to the store and buy the paper version, and then use the paper book immediately. This was kind of nice if you are planning ahead.
I hope you see what i'm saying - to use any book you need to have (1) a paper book and (2) a digital download for that same paper book which you got on your computer. If you only have one or the other, you can't use that book.
STEP 7: Next I had to use the computer program to move the books I wanted to use onto the pen. This is called "synchronizing". Fortunately, all 12 fit on the pen at one time. You'd have to buy a lot of books before you filled up the pen (maybe 20?).
STEP 8: I had to hit a button telling it to Sync.
STEP 9: Then I unplugged the unit to let my child play with it.
STEP 10: (the unexpected step!) The toy instructs my child that she has won a reward! And to plug it back into the computer to claim the reward! The reward is a color bookmark for me to print out on my printer! In 1 book (the I spy) she earned all four rewards in an hour. Each time she stopped what she was doing and came to me to plug it in, view the reward, and print it out. The first time, the software said I didn't own the book (which was funny because I had downloaded it using the same software) but after restarting it, restarting the pen, and resyncing the pen to the software it finally agreed that I did, in fact, own the book and could redeem the reward. Personally, I didn't like step 10 very much, I was done at step 9, but modern technology is demanding.
Will you (as a parent) like this experience?
1) Obviously, if you one of the millions of people who are used to having your iphone, ipod, or whatver, you are used to all of this. You get to do it all again when you buy this device.
2) If you are one of the millions of people to whom this sounds like a pain in the [...] and makes you want to call your son in law, then, maybe, just maybe, this product is not for you.
As for the product:
The product is really quite good. Its amazing what it can do. And the kids really love to use it. It will help them to learn to read, spell, and some other things too. I'm very pleased with the product overall.
It has a headphone jack, but no headphones are included. My kids prefer over-the-ear headphones because those little earbuds just keep falling out. We use these: Sennheiser HD 202 Dynamic Supra-Aural Headphones
The demo book that comes with it is just ok. Being optomistic, its worth 2 hour of fun. Its got a huge variety of stuff. Its almost too random an assortment, but it does show you what the pen can do. They had to include something. But the demo book is not very "deep". You absolutely will have to buy more books. The books range from $10-$20 each. They can be used without the pen in a pinch. I think the books are a "fair" value.
The instructions were "clear enough". They are good considering how much more software is involved. I felt comfortable with the instructions and had no problems getting it set up. I'm complaining about how much "setting up" there was, but, it wasn't "hard".
Overall, to enjoy this product you are looking at a total expense of around $100 between the reader and a reasonable assortment of books. And its really cool and really fun once you look past the other details.
"On the parental side, software installation was quite simple. The device was in use less than ten minutes after opening the box. Managing the LeapFrog TAG's media library at the desktop is also quite easy. The UI can be personalized to and utilized by the child with minimal instruction.
While my overall opinion of the system is positive, I found the materials included with the device to be decidedly minimalist. Unlike the Leapster 2, no protective case was included. Considering the TAG's size, this increases the likelihood of misplacement. Batteries were not included, a rarity these days. Finally, the 'sample' book included was comprised of snippets from multiple available titles. The Leapster 2 had come with a complete game included. No additional purchase was required for the child to enjoy full immediate use of the device.
After purchasing a copy of 'Walter the Far---g Dog Goes on a Cruise' on sale for $10 at a local big box retailer, LeapFrog TAG's potential was realized. It's entertaining, versatile, and certainly more than just a talking book. The child can have the entire story read to him/her or point to specific words for assistance with pronunciation. Illustrations feature puzzles and quizzes to elicit interest beyond the story itself.
In addition, sound effects are employed to entertain which was of particular interest with the above noted title. Upon first receiving the TAG device and additional book, my child spent roughly a half hour with it (uninterrupted), then revisited frequently throughout the rest of the day. The device was used multiple times every day since receiving it, but my child is already requesting more titles after fully exploring the one(s) we have.
In just a short time, I have witnessed my girl's ability to learn and speak more complex words. Long term viability of the LeapFrog TAG will likely be a function of available titles. I have noticed more of the newer ones to involve mostly games and puzzles. We will be sampling one of those soon.
Even if the LeapFrog TAG turns out to be only a transitional learning tool that doesn't provide years of use like the Leapster 2, I've already found it to be a valuable help improving my child's reading skills."
I hope my son's remarks were helpful. I can tell you that he was very satisfied with the TAG system and even more important so was my granddaughter.
social Angle: The Leapfrog tag reader toy encourages kids to go... Read more
