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new for us friday: leapfrog tags!

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A few weeks ago, my talented friend Amy from Resourceful Mommy connected me with the good people at Leap Frog, and I am so grateful that she did. We are a changed family.

I’m going to come clean here and admit that I have never been particularly fond of electronic toys for my children. Maddy and Owen do have those cool Fisher Price Kid Tough Cameras, we’ve dabbled in digital books, and we do frequent several (and I mean several) children’s websites for learning and games.

We (gulp!) don’t own a Wii, we don’t have a Play Station or XBox, and our kids don’t have hand-held video games. (I’m waiting for the lightening to strike. . . )

But when we gave our new Tag Reading Systems and Tag Junior System to Maddy, Owen, and Cora, our little family turned a new leaf. I am still amazed at how awesome these toys are.

This New For Us Friday , we’re sharing our new-found love for our very, very new for us, LeapFrog toys.

  • LeapFrog Tag and Tag Junior: Maddy and Owen received Tags, which are directed toward children ages 4-8 years, and Cora received a Tag Junior; the Tag Junior is geared toward younger children, ages 2-4 years.
Tag Reader, welcome to our familia.

For those, like me, who have been living in a cave, the Tag Reader is a wand that children use to touch the page of a specially printed Tag Book, and the words and pictures come to life. Seriously.

You can check out a demo of the Tag Reader System here, but essentially, kiddos can listen to the Tag book being read page by page or word by word, depending on what they want and depending on what icon they touch at the bottom of the page. They can even answer questions about the text, the pictures, or the story.

Maddy usually tries reading what she can by herself, and when she gets stuck, all she has to do is touch the wand to the challenging word, and the word is read for her. Then she can re-group, re-read, and move on. This totally supports that all-too important one-to-one correspondence that emerging readers need to understand when they’re learning to read. It also makes self-monitoring, or making sure they understand what they’re reading, easier for them. I love it.

Even more fun is that characters sing songs and parts of the setting and illustrations make sounds when readers touch them with the Tag wand. Owen’s really loved trying to figure out what he needs to do to find the surprises on each page of each book. He also has loved listening to the books during his rest time.

One thing that Cora loves about her Tag Junior is that when she turns it on or off, it welcomes her or says goodbye with a personal message (Hello, Cora! or It’s my friend, Cora!); hearing her own name when she begins or ends playing really gets her giggling.

I could go on even longer about how incredible the LeapFrog Learning Path is–each child’s time spent reading books, scores for answering questions and specifics about the questions, and Skill Stones (or specific skills touched on with each book) are detailed. And this information can be emailed to you so you don’t have to check the site if you don’t want to.

Overall, here’s the skinny on Tag Reader and Tag Junior:

We like:

  • that it took me only minutes to learn how to download the audio for books onto the Tags. The site is easy to navigate, and the LeapFrog Connect is incredibly easy to understand (thank goodness!);
  • the variety of books available–from books like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! and The Cat in the Hat to favorite Disney, Star Wars, and familiar cartoon characters books, and learn-to-read books, there seemed to be something for everyone;
  • the reading voices, the songs, sounds, and clarity and overall quality;
  • that readers can listen to each page read or each word;
  • the size–Maddy, Owen, and Cora fit a few of their books and their Tag wands in their backpacks for our trip to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving, and they didn’t weigh a ton;
  • the questions and games at the end of each book and the surprises on each page;
  • the Learning Path and Parents Community on the LeapFrog site.


We wish:

  • that Maddy and Owen’s Tags had a personal message (all kiddos love to hear their names, right?!);
  • hmmmmm. . . I was going to mention the price, but now–especially–these Tags are affordable. The site is offering some major deals on shipping, and you could buy a Tag book for as little as $5. In fact, I’m going to hit the LeapFrog site now so that I can grab some Black Friday deals before the clock strikes twelve.

And that’s it for a last-minute New For Us Friday after Thanksgiving. I’m looking forward to getting back to our NFUF foods, activities, and events, but I also want to share some really worthwhile toys and games to explore before the holidays really get underway.

I’m always looking for new ideas, so if there’s something you think we should try. . . let me know!

fyi: Thanks so much to LeapFrog for sending us these incredible products. We were given the Tag Readers, Tag Junior, and several books to try, but my opinion was in no way influenced by the LeapFrog company. It was, however, influenced by three little ones who just so happen to really, really, really enjoy their Tag Readers and one Reading Specialist mom who is impressed at a few little electronic toys that are fun and supportive of learning. Woo-hoo!

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

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Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

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What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
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(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
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#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
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Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

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So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

#readingteacher #raiseareader #kidlit #bestbooks #linkinbio
View
Open
How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
Open
Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia
View
Open
(Part 2) 

The series will be shared on IG stories, on tiktok, on the teachmama facebook page, and in the Take 5 newsletter. 

Look for the logo on social, and if you want to receive the whole thing via email, then sign up for Take5 on the link below. 

Iโ€™m really excited about this. Itโ€™s taken a long, long time to create, and the only thing I ask is that you, once viewing it all, could take 2 minutes to give me some feedback. There will be a google form on the last of the slides, at the end of the series. I thank you, I appreciate you, and I look forward to learning along with you.

Join the Take 5 list if you want this series to land in your inbox: 
https://take5.teachmama.com/

#raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher teachersofIG dyslexia teachreading
View
Open
Hi and thank you for your interest in watching my โ€˜de-mystifying dyslexiaโ€™ series. 

My name is Amy Mascott, and Iโ€™m a reading specialist and former high school English teacher. Iโ€™m also the creator of teachmama.com  where since 2008, Iโ€™ve helped families make meaningful connections with their kids and build bridges between home and school. 

As an educator, Iโ€™m always trying to share important informationโ€”bc I really think that when we know better, we do better. This series is part of my final project for a course Iโ€™m taking through Advancement Courses called โ€˜understanding dyslexiaโ€™. 

And as a reading teacher, I need to know all I can about this condition. What I realized is that I had a lot to learnโ€”maybe you, as a parent or teacher yourself, can also stand to learn a little bit. 

Maybe, like me, youโ€™ve grown up thinking that dyslexia was a condition where people read letters backwardsโ€”b for d or p for g? Maybe you thought, like I did, that if a person was dyslexic, they saw all of the letters jumbled together on the page? Iโ€™m here to tell you that both of those things are untrue. 

So if you would like to learn a little about dyslexiaโ€”if you would like for me to โ€˜de-mystify dyslexiaโ€™ for you, then follow along! 

(Continued on next VIDEO)

#readingteacher #teachersofIG #demystifyingdyslexia

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