Actually LEARN with Tad’s Great Day at the Letter Factory
Written: Jun 30 '05 (Updated Jul 19 '05)
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Pros: ● FUN and educational – phonics, trace letters, and letter recognition
Cons: ● Upper case letter ONLY ● ERASING the pages
The Bottom Line: This is an awesome book for beginners; however, if your child’s already writing, select the Kindergarten book instead - it includes both upper, and lower case letters.
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| marybatson's Full Review: LeapFrog Toys LeapPad Plus Writing System: Pre-K R... |
If your child has a LeapPad then you already know what a LeapPad book is all about? For those unfamiliar with a LeapPad, it’s a battery-operated toy with a speaker, and a wand. By placing a LeapPad book on the reader a child can hear a story, play games, and learn. The books are specially designed for different LeapPad systems, and have sturdy pages with spiral bindings. The books range in subject from phonics, reading, math, science, geography, foreign languages, to music. Today I’m evaluating one of the 12 Writing books, which is designed for the LeapPad Plus Writing Learning System, or as my son has the LeapPad Plus Writing & Microphone Learning System. I’m impressed with this book. Read on to see why.
The Tad’s Great Day at the Letter Factory is a 31-page activity book with Pre-Kindergarten skills. As with all the Writing books it comes with a companion cartridge, and a Magic Pencil. When using these books, the pencil must be inserted into the stylus wand, and switched to writing mode. All you do is twist the cap to expose the lead. The Magic Pencil automatically feeds, making it easy for little ones to manage. When the lead runs out, it can be replaced with either Pilot, or Pentel 0.7mm lead.
The Story
The youngest member of the LeapFrog family is introduced to the Letter Factory where the letters are made. They proceed on the tour, but several detours are made along the way through alphabet mazes. The story concludes with Tad signing the ABC song.
The Games
The writing activities include tracing letters, drawing shapes, and following instructions in the mazes. The letters are all upper case, and have different personalities. The games challenge children to recognize letter names, shapes, and colors. It teaches letter sounds, and helps children identify letters within words as well.
If you want to see inside of Tad’s Great Day at the Letter Factory check out www.leapfrog.com. Click on the Find a Book link, and select the book you want to preview. It allows you to look at every page as well as the instructional, and advertising pages. The colors are a bit distorted, but the content is the same.
Our Experience:
I must admit that I’ve been skeptical of LeapFrog’s claims that their products are educational. My son enjoys his LeapPad, and it certainly entertains him, but I’ve wondered if he’s actually learned anything along the way. Tad’s Great Day at the Letter Factory has made me a believer. The first time I popped it in the reader, we sat and worked on it together for nearly an hour. I couldn’t believe it! My son typically spends 15 to 20 minutes working a LeapPad book, so this was shocking to me. Then, characteristically he wanted to do it again.
Presently, my son owns 12 LeapPad books. Tad’s Great Day at the Letter Factory is his current favorite, and it receives a lot of attention. He loves to trace the letters, especially the letter “I” because it’s “i, i, i, icky…, and “Y” because it goes “y, y, y, YEAH!” The activities are fun for preschoolers, and William enjoys the silly sayings, and interactive play. The mazes are challenging too. For example, the final maze asks that you pick up letter(s) and deliver them to a specific location. The activity requires children to listen to instructions, find and recognize the letter(s), and follow the path to deliver them. It offers praise along the way, which preschoolers appreciate.
William recently started asking questions about words. For instance, the other day he asked if the word “car” started with “C,” or “K” because it has the “c, c, c” sound. Last night he told me his pizza was h, h, h, HOT like the letter “H.” William has a dry erase book for practicing letters, which is definitely easier to erase than the LeapPad Writing books; however, I think the interactive play, and focus on phonics in the LeapPad books is making the difference in his comprehension.
Two things to consider before purchasing a Writing book: firstly, don’t leave a preschooler unattended with a pencil, and second, let them practice two, or three times before YOU erase the pages. I learned the hard way that my son, and a pencil can be a dangerous combination. After William got the hang of the book I stepped out of the room to unload the dishwasher, and when I came back there were ALL sorts of scribbling marks on the pages. The Magic Pencil automatically feeds when the lead gets low, but you have to tap it a couple times for it to work. This frustrates my son, and he’ll start banging on the darn thing, and scrawling to get it to work. It does the trick, but makes a horrible mess. Also, plan to spend at least 30-minutes erasing the pages of this book. I keep the eraser out of my son’s reach, because every time he sees it, he wants to use it. The pages will crinkle, and they will tear off the binding with too much friction.
My only grumble with Tad’s Great Day at the Letter Factory, short of all the erasing, is that it only features upper case letters. You have to purchase the Kindergarten book to work on both upper, and lower case letters. Therefore, if your child is already practicing writing letters I recommend the Kindergarten book instead. Overall, I'm very impressed with this writing book, and definitely recommend it.
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc.
Telephone: 1-800-701-LEAP (5327)
1400 65th Street Ste. 200, Emeryville, CA 94608-1071
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Pacific Time
www.leapfrog.com/
Additional LeapFrog Reviews:
Alphabet Pal
Discovery Ball
Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter Set
LeapPad and LeapPad Book Reviews:
Mother Goose Songbook
Lots and Lots of Honeypots
LeapPad Plus Writing & Microphone Learning System
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $7.99
Type of Toy: Educational
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
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marybatson
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Member: Mary
Location: Phoenix
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