LeapFrog Phonics Writing Desk
by LeapFrog Toys
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List Price: Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of LeapFrog Phonics Writing Desk
Customer Review: This writing desk is great and also convenient for the little people.
Summary: 4 Stars
This toy is wonderful. The item description provided is exact. It teaches letters, phonics, spelling, and writing. It even teaches BOTH lower case and upper case letters! Especially neat; when your child presses a letter, for instance D, it says the letter D than the phonics sound (if you have the switch set to phonics) and then the little screen clearly shows just how to write the letter properly.
While this toy seems very useful, parents are advised that children should be learning how to spell and write lower case letters BEFORE they learn the capital letter symbols. When children read books or see words in print in most places, they will NOT see words printed in all capital letters. The younger the children, the more important it is to learn first words in lower case letters because that will transfer more quickly to reading words in books.
This particular toy offers upper or lowercase letters, and shows you how to write both. In fact, the early levels show you both versions for identification. My 4 year old son uses both upper and lower case letters (he mixes them randomly) but has no trouble understanding that there are two different ways to write one letter.
My only complaint would be wishing for more Writing Area. I think it would be easier for the children to stretch out their words especially once the get the hang of it. And I would also leave off some of the sounds. My son enjoys more learning and hands on activities instead of having to listen for "instructions, correct and incorrect" and having to figure out what the toy "said" through its little speaker.
This toy has proven to perform durability, as well, surviving several falls down the stairs and drops off the couch without any problems.
Customer Review: I do a lot of home schooling for my son
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a pre school teacher with a degree in ECE from Penn State University. I have five grown children that I helped with their homework, but my now seven year old seems to have a lot of problems unless I am teaching him at home. The school said he avoided writing, but at home I had no problems. I got him the phonics writing desk to see if it would encourage some of the things he was avoiding in his classroom. My son knew all of his uppercase letters, age2-3; and lower3-4. The phonics writing desk has raised letters with the uppercase and lower case below color coded. It also teaches the proper way to write the printed letters and moves up to the level of writing cursive letters. It teaches a child to write their own three letter words. The child begins at the level he is at, if it is letter recognition or at a higher level. It encourages the child with constant positive reinforcement, and my child is beginning to enjoy writing and his letters get neater each time. He wants to do the cursive but I remind him of the rules of forming letters for printing. He can learn cursive and do it at home, but he must follow the rules at school. which the formation of printing do with this phonics desk. The colors are very attractive for a child, the writing pencil stays attached to the desk, so it does not get lost, and I feel a lot of parents are finding themselves doing a lot of the teaching at home these days for some reason, and this desk is a real help to the child and parent.It encourages independence on practicing "in between" times by the child and a feeling of positive self esteem.It is consistant and patient with a child that may make a mistake, and enthusiastic when the child succeeds. An excellent learning toy. Mrs. SymmingtonCustomer Review: Completely Worth The Money
Summary: 5 Stars
This toy is awesome! I bought this for my granddaughter, whom has taken a sudden interest in learning how to spell. She has gotten tired of us spelling around her and not knowing what we are spelling. She already recognizes all of the alphabet but for writing practice this toy has been great and excellent interaction and guidance. It has 500 words for her to learn to spell and write. I also love the fact it has upper and lower case letters and I didn't realize when I fist bought it but it also has cursive, which is incredible. She has learned to write her name in cursive just so she can pretend to sign a check. The phonics is also wonderful. She finally realizes once she knows the sounds of all the letters she can pretty much figure out what a word is on her own. She is 4 years old and can spell 12 words plus. Her mother tripped out when my granddaughter went home one day out of the blue started spelling. Now her new found interest in spelling had really taken off, thanks to this toy. She will read off letters from anything and want to know what it spells. I would recommend this toy to everyone with a little one that wants to learn how to read. It provides hours of interactive play and learning. It also has quizes which I love because it exposes her to taking quizes and proving to herself she is learning and when she sees for herself that she is answering questions correctly she is very please with herself. I think there is something about possitive feedback from the toy that really builds her self esteem. This has been the best [$$$] I have ever spent.Customer Review: Great for learning the alphabet & no pieces to lose!
Summary: 5 Stars
My 3 year old was having trouble remembering the "ABC song" until she got this toy for Christmas. After playing with it for a few weeks, she could sing her ABC's. Her little brother now knows all the letters of the alphabet by sight, and I think this toy helped him with that.The letters are very bright, the toy is really pretty and the plastic is nice and shiny. The letters are affixed, so there aren't any pieces to lose. Attached to it is a sort of a pen (not sharp, the point is rather rounded) which is used to write the letter on the little writing pad (it's magnetic - no ink!) There is also a little display where the computer directs the child as he or she writes the letter -- it will say, "A" then the letter "A" is written in the display, so the child can see HOW to write it. You can choose upper or lower case.
There are several levels here - just touch a letter and the voice says it's name and writes it for you. Or the voice says the letter, and you have to find it and push it. The voice is very pleasant, as well.
We are very happy with this toy, but the writing pad has become difficult to use, but honestly, we have 6 kids here and no toys last forever. We had this one about 6 months before the writing pad got messed up, and it has been played with a great deal.
All in all, I think it's a wonderful product. The only thing I would complain about is that it doesn't do letter SOUNDS at all - only letter names, hence the 4 stars for educational value.
Customer Review: One fantastic toy! This is a must have for those 3 and up.
Summary: 5 Stars
This toy is wonderful. The item description provided is exact. It teaches letters, phonics, spelling, and writing. It even teaches BOTH lower case and upper case letters! Especially neat; when your child presses a letter, for instance D, it says the letter D than the phonics sound (if you have the switch set to phonics) and then the little screen clearly shows just how to write the letter properly. I plays a couple song notes as it shows the first line being drawn downward then up and into the curve for the letter D. Then, it invites the child to write the letter D in the writing space below. As the child writes, it continues to display the correct motions to write the letter D properly so that the beginner child can easily copy the motion. My 3-year olds first attempt was definately messy but you could see her concentrating on copying the screen and you could see the 'rough outline' of the attempted letter. This is a great toy. Traditionally, these electronic toys have not been taken out much at our home. However, I feel this will be used. And I have recently discovered that the electronic toys like this that fit on a lap work perfect in the car. They don't have to compete there with trucks and little 'busy toys', your child is occupied and learning something without much to divert him/her, and you can travel in peace-for a time. You simply can't go wrong with this toy.