"The Tag Junior book pal is easy for parents and children to use. Parents can download audio for up to five books to the book pal, then let their toddlers explore. Each Tag Junior board book introduces a different preschool skill – such as the alphabet, counting or social play – through 24 playful activities and more than 130 audio responses.* Open-ended questions and fun sound effects encourage children to take charge, as they touch any part of any page to bring words, pictures or activities to life. After their child has played, parents can connect the book pal to the online LeapFrog® Learning Path to see their child’s progress and get printable activities to expand the learning" http://www.leapfrog.com/en/families/tag_junior/platform/tag_junior_book_pal.html
Do you think it is useful or no? Does your child have one?
This one is geared towards pre-schoolers so it doesn’t teach your child to read. It reinforces things like colors, shapes, animals/sounds, etc. All the books cover different things preschoolers should know. It’s entertaining and educational.
I have bought one for my son already (yeah, I know he’s 22 months and it says 2-4 yrs…lol.) He got it a few months ago and in the beginning he was only interested in the tag electronic thing and not the books. Lately he has been showing more interest in it and it’s great for entertaining him while I’m doing chores.
My cousins daughter (my 2nd cousin once removed? I dunno what she is to me) is over 3 and is enamored with it! Her dad is a SAHD and says she wil sit and play with it all day if she could. It’s not all THAT interesting IMO but kids like strange things.
He does prefer traditional books and me reading to him but this has helped him recognize different things I’ve been teaching him all along. It’s not essential but a cool gadget is basically what I’m saying.
March 4th, 2010 at 3:46 am
Beautiful thing, sitting down and reading with your child. Why deny yourself and allow a computer to do it?
Waste of money.
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March 4th, 2010 at 4:29 am
I really don’t believe that it does anything other than read to your child. I don’t believe it helps teach them reading at all. I think it is a waste of money. Get some books on tape if you want something to read with your child. At least they read the books with some feeling.
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March 4th, 2010 at 4:52 am
It is not a waste of money. There are games and songs that the book has as well as being able to read each story. My 2 year old received Tag Jr. for Christmas and my 4 year old received Tag. I helps with color and shape recognition and teaches things like opposites, etc. I realize that you can do the same thing , and I do, but my sons like their Tag and Tag Jr.s. They have come in handy while waiting and can also be used in the car when you are not able to read while driving.
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March 4th, 2010 at 5:18 am
I have a Leapfrog "Text and Learn" and a Leapfrog "Scribble and Write," and they are genius noisemakers for the car, but I always thought the "Tag" stuff was a little…weird. When my toddler has a book and nobody reading it to her I’d rather she look at the pages and think about what she’s looking at.
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March 4th, 2010 at 6:03 am
Sounds like yet another over-priced load of crap to me.
Go with your child/ren to your local book shop. Sit on the floor (or sofas if available) and spend a good hour looking through all the books appropriate to your childs age.
Then spend the money that you would have spent on this leapfrog thing on the books that you and your child loved to look at.
Many happy hours can then be spent together at home doing all the things that you outlined above but with real books.
Alternatively, do all of the above but at your local library and keep your money in your pocket.
Happy reading x
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book lover
children who are book lovers
March 4th, 2010 at 6:50 am
I do not have one, but I have looked at it in the stores.
I thought it would be useful in the car. My daughter loves books but can’t read yet. Since we are on the road a lot, I thougtht it would be nice for that.
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March 4th, 2010 at 7:31 am
My B-I-L bought the Tag Reader for out son and I was not happy as I like to read with him and I really hate these electronic devices when the parents should be the ones doing it!
That being said… I love this toy. We drive a lot and this makes it possible for him to "read" while I drive. It also will have games and activities to help your child learn to read. The biggest bonus I find with the Tag is you can plug in a set of headphones.
I later bought a Tag jr. for my niece as I know that they travel quite a bit too. I found it was a little more limited but for a toddler it does not need all the bells and whistles. My niece loves this toy and will often "read" to herself when mom or dad are busy with older brother or making dinner.
So after all I have said I think both the Tag and The Tag jr. are very useful toys!
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Experience!
March 4th, 2010 at 8:10 am
My son has the Tag reading system (not the junior) and he loves it. He likes the games. He is 7 and can read some, but just loves to sit down with the books and go thru them and play the games at the end.
I have found the most useful place for his tag system is the bathroom. When he needs to poop he gets his tag reader and the books. LOL!!
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March 4th, 2010 at 8:24 am
It is wonderful to curl up on the couch with your child and read with them. If however, you cannot read with them (you’re busy making dinner or whatever), then perhaps this toy would be helpful. We had a Leap Frog that my children enjoyed playing with. They were able to follow the stories word by word using the special pen provided. I am convinced that this method helped my daughter recognize words on her own and become an early reader.
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March 4th, 2010 at 8:46 am
I remember when Tag came out as they had a special display for it. My daughter was already too advanced for it, but I have nothing but good things to say about Leapfrog products. My daughter had a Leapster, and the games are all fun, but totally educational, and I believe that the Leapster definitely helped develop and strengthen my daughter’s skills.
Having said that, and seen some of the other answers, I did and still do read to my daughter, but there were times when I was not available to do so, or times when she wanted to play the games, and the Leapster was handy to carry around.
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March 4th, 2010 at 8:57 am
My oldest son has the regular Tag Reader. He absolutely loves it! It gives the child control over the story and helps them learn new words and see what the words look like at their own pace. Even the pictures in the books make some sort of sound or say a phrase when they are "tagged". I never would’ve bought it (I think it’s too expensive) but it was a Christmas gift from my mother in 2008.
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March 4th, 2010 at 9:22 am
I think as long as parents are still reading to their children and not replacing reading with it, then I see no issues with it.
My son received one as a gift from his grandma. He can still look at the books without using the tag reader or use the reader. We like to take long road trips, and we mostly reserve this toy for the car on a long haul somewhere. Honestly, he prefers to be read to or to look at his books and "read" to himself but on those occasions such as a car trip, I would much rather him use a system like this than watch a movie. It also keeps him entertained.
This new tag system is just a newer, fancier version of read along tapes that came out in the early 80’s. We also have a few books that have a CD to them that he can read along with. These are also in the car. Nothing better than driving down the highway listening to The Lion King. Good Stuff.
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March 4th, 2010 at 9:46 am
I hate Leapfrog. We don’t have the Tag Junior… but someone bought my son this for his 1st birthday: http://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-Tads-Counting-Smart-Block/dp/B000067818
It seems to be a similar kind of thing (without the online downloads option/progress monitoring). But after about 4 months I threw it in the bin. It worked fine and my son liked it… but it really really REALLY drove us nuts and he wasn’t benefiting in any way from it. He’d just press the same button over and over and over "Tad’s sheep is hiding… Tad’s she-… Tads… Tad… Tad’s sheep… Tad’s sheep is hiding." ARGH!
I think that something more beneficial than the Tag Junior book (or anything like it) might be a parent… I assume most can summon up more than 130 audio responses and use open ended questions. Maybe for an older child this product may have some benefit… but my 18 month old is a long way off. I feel he learns and develops much more from human interaction and real life experience… in fact, I KNOW he does.
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March 4th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Our 23 month old has one. She loves it! We also read to her constantly so we’re not being denied the joy of that either. I think it was worth the money.
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March 4th, 2010 at 11:01 am
This one is geared towards pre-schoolers so it doesn’t teach your child to read. It reinforces things like colors, shapes, animals/sounds, etc. All the books cover different things preschoolers should know. It’s entertaining and educational.
I have bought one for my son already (yeah, I know he’s 22 months and it says 2-4 yrs…lol.) He got it a few months ago and in the beginning he was only interested in the tag electronic thing and not the books. Lately he has been showing more interest in it and it’s great for entertaining him while I’m doing chores.
My cousins daughter (my 2nd cousin once removed? I dunno what she is to me) is over 3 and is enamored with it! Her dad is a SAHD and says she wil sit and play with it all day if she could. It’s not all THAT interesting IMO but kids like strange things.
He does prefer traditional books and me reading to him but this has helped him recognize different things I’ve been teaching him all along. It’s not essential but a cool gadget is basically what I’m saying.
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I just bought my son the shapes book that is "Cars" themed. The last page made me laugh so hard Mater says in his country twang "Somebody as smart as me? SHOOOT. They must be good lookin’ too."
March 4th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Its fascinating….for me. It amazes me how it works LOL. that said, my 2 yr old isn’t too interested in it. She’ll play with it for a little but then moves on to something else. She prefers regular books
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