Today instead of featuring a specific book, I’m going to discuss a literacy tool. I went back and forth about this because I want this weekly column to be about literature and not about reviewing products, but my daughters like this so much that I thought I would include it.
I have been back and forth, over and under, left and right about electronic reading gadgets for my kids. On the one hand, things are moving ever more quickly in the direction of electronics, and I obviously want my kids to have every advantage they can. I want them to be familiar with technology that will help them academically and cognitively. And I want them to have fun, and as most adults will testify, video-game like gadgets are fun. On top of all of that, since the games are so engaging, they make children want to use them more. Since most of these games are electronic in nature, some claim that they will help them gain necessary skills faster and more easily.
On the other hand, I am an avid reader; I believe in fostering creativity over pushing academic skills, and with some things I am just very old fashioned. I have an intense fear that if my children get used to reading animated books that the boring old paper variety won’t hold any excitement.
But then I think back to my younger days of reading and how I would devour Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley Twins books. Arguably, they weren’t the most cerebral of books, but I credit them for teaching me just how fun and engaging reading can be. I remember just how excited I would get when the book club orders would come in, and I would get to see what was new with my favorite characters. I remember the touch of the books, the smell of them, and how I would rearrange them endlessly on my bookshelf. They obviously had a huge impact on me because when I see these series in the kid’s section of the library, I can’t help but pick one up and flip through the pages. So obviously teaching children just how enjoyable reading can be is vitally important if you want to raise readers.
And so I had no idea what to do with all of these e-readers, tablet games, handhelds, and reading systems for kids. But then I found one that seemed to marry the best of the electronic world and the best of old-fashioned reading: The Tag System by Leapfrog. The backbone of this system is a little computer that looks like a pen. Adults download audio to the pen, and then kids can use it with the Tag books.
There are quite a few Tag books. There are the old Disney standards, but then they have a collection of some great children’s classics like Green Eggs and Ham and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. My daughter’s birthday party was yesterday, and she just got one that helps her practice writing her letters.
What I like about the Tag books is that they are interactive and yet they are still just old fashioned paper books. Kids can play games on some of the pages by finding words that start with certain letters or rhyming words, or they can have the pen tell them a story. For slightly more advanced readers, they can use the pen to sound out words or they can read the book themselves and just use the pen to help them with words that they don’t already know.
Now before I go on, please just let me say that I do not condone nor do I recommend that this system is ever used as a replacement for reading to children. Children need a real life human to interact with during story time. They need time with an adult who is looking at the same thing they are to increase vocabulary skills. They need adults to answer their questions and ask them questions of their own. They need the comfort of warm arms to wrap themselves in to create comforting associations with reading. And most of all, they need time with their parents. The Tag system is not a replacement for any of this. Not even just a little bit.
But in our house we treat the Tag as just another toy. When they are playing on their own, if they want to use the Tag, that is fine. Occasionally I let Magoo bring it in the car. I don’t always allow this for the same reasons I almost never let her watch movies in the car (kids need some “bored” time in order to let their minds wander and ask questions,) but every now and then it is fun for them on long rides.
As a parent, I got the most use out of the Tag when I was pregnant with the Goose. Magoo had just turned two when I got pregnant, and I had multiple chiropractor visits a week as well as appointments with the obstetrician and perinatologist. Some people are adamantly against using electronic toys to “babysit” kids during appointments so adults can talk to the doctor. They think it robs kids of a chance to occupy themselves with a more creative task. I say if you need a two year old to spend a lot of time quietly in doctor’s offices, use what you can!
So overall, I have been very happy with this system. If it is used appropriately, I think it can help kids learn that reading can be fun. It can help them interact on their own with words and books before they can read.
And the Goose wanted me to let you know that this is an Aqua Doodle pen.
Sadly, it does not work with the Tag books 🙁
