LeapFrog WordLaunch Learn-to-Read-It System
by LeapFrog
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Our Price: $84.98 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $28.10 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of LeapFrog WordLaunch Learn-to-Read-It System
Customer Review: Great educational toy!
Summary: 4 Stars
My 4 1/2 year-old son received this for Christmas last night. It's all he wants to play with; it was the first thing he asked for when he woke up this morning! My 3 year-old daughter enjoys it as well. As a primary special ed. teacher and mom, I completely agree that this system should somehow indicate when your child has not spelled a "real" word during the explore mode. (That's the only reason I gave it 4 stars for educaitonal value.) My only other critisism is of the audio quality; It would be nice if it were a little louder and there was a little more inflection in the voice.
That being said, I absolutely love this system and would definitely recommend it. I think it's a great educaitonal toy/game. My son has ADHD and an auditory/language processing delay but is a bright little guy. Word Launch accomodates both his processing difficulties and his inability to attend to something while giving him the opportunity to exercise his cognitive ability. I love the fact that Word Launch is in fact a simple type of game versus something like the Wii system or V-Tech Smile. Sometimes less is more. (Not to mention you can't beat the price, that's for sure!) I'm sure they're both great systems, but for a highly distractable child who can't process language as quickly as the next child this system is great. My son would quickly become frustrated and discourage with another "higher-tech" system. That's exactly why we haven't purchased one of them yet and were delighted to get this system!
The Word Launch is engaging to my son without being overwhelming and difficult to follow. The games are also brief and immediately reinforcing which is a great way to maintain his attention. He giggles and laughs while the letters bounce around and "talk" to him! The directions are easy to follow and the fact that he has to manipulate the letters to spell each word is another great way to keep him engaged and on task. The predictability and repetition also gives him the confidence a child needs to play these types of games. All in all, Word Launch is a fun and engaging game system with a great educational value.
Customer Review: Only beneficial for lower case letter recognition (NOT for letter sounds)
Summary: 1 Stars
This product is advertised to be beneficial for learning sounds and reading. It is not for one reason. It is beneficial for lower case letter recognition only. It tells you what letter to go and get, that helps you learn and enforce lower case letters, which is good if that is where you are at. The instructions are spoke out slowly and that is clear.
BUT the reason it is NOT the least bit helpful for learning sounds is because the toy has a circus theme and the circus music in the background is equal volume to the voice telling you the sounds. If you lower or raise the volume it does not matter because the two sounds play at once and they are just about equal. You can barely HEAR the instructions clearly which gives you the sounds of the letter. This is because you can't hear it over the circus music in the background.
Another complaint is that they give you a grid or palette in which to place the letters and select them from, but it is cardboard.. I am sure it will get destroyed .. they should have made that from plastic.
Another ANNOYING THING is that these letters are NOT the same size as fridge phonics and also not the same size as the word builder shaped like a jet airplane. So now I have 3 leapfrog letters and none of them work any game but their own. It would be nice because kids loose letters, that would have been nice. But now all 3 games are useless without a full letter set and having bought their other game did not help you out.
Customer Review: Great learning system with a few glitches
Summary: 4 Stars
My son is turning 4 years old this month, and he's been enjoying the Fridge Phonics, Word Whammer, and all the DVD titles from Leap Frog. This 4-letter learing system is a great extension to the Leap Frog's edutainment lineup witha few glitches.
While the machine provides a fun way to master the 'silent E' featured in the Word Factory 2 DVD Title, most parents will be disappointed to learn that thie machine is not compatible with the magnetic alphabets included in the Fridge Phonics and Word Whammer. The Word Launch uses a smaller plastic character set (probably to cut down the cost).
Also, the sound/voice quality is somewhat poor, and you will need to either volume up your TV (or make your kids sit near the TV). This always makes a problem unless you remember to turn the volume down before you switch to other channels after your kids are done with the Word Launch.
Other than that, this provides great learning opportunities to kids over 3. (in my personal opinion, the product description of 4+ is somewhat underestimating kids)
Customer Review: Leap Frog Dropped the Ball
Summary: 2 Stars
This toy was on sale for $20 and i jumped at the chance, only to be very disappointed. We have enjoyed Leap Frog products in the past and trusted the company name, no more!
Our 4 year old has enjoyed the toy but the graphics are very poor quality and "chunky" in nature, takes me back to my Atari days. The games are rather simple and boring. As a reward players receive tokens to use to build a theme park roller coaster, once again the graphics are just terrible and the roller coaster can only be built so big before you have to start again.
i just can't believe that Leap Frog allowed such a toy to be marketed? The board must have been sleeping the day this was rammed through. It's not a toy that will build their name in learning. It's annoying to adults, frustrating to children and a waste of money.
One weak positive, our daughter does enjoy plugging it in and turning it on by herself.
Customer Review: So much potential
Summary: 1 Stars
We are leapfrog fans, owning items from infant to tween. We found this on super sale and gave it to our 5 year old for Christmas. He has a leap-pad and leapster and no complaints there. This disappointed all around.
It doesn't use the fridge phonic letters, wouldn't you think it should? But the main issue is it's so slow. My son loved the idea of playing a game on the TV, but in less than 2 word assemblies he was done. It takes too long with various screen music and instructions, when he was excited to just get on with it and build words. It also doesn't come with enough letters to build any but the most basic word sets. There are so many great 4 letter words that need more than 1 of each letter!
He actually put it back in the box and said he didn't want it. From the straight forward actions of a child. Back it went.
Great concept- just too much filler.