R Eading

I have to disagree with Jen. When my daughter was younger she had a leapster (not the tag, but an earlier version). She loved it and it helped develope her reading skills. She is now 9 and reading is her favorite past time. She is in the 3rd grade, we got back her reading test scores last week and she is reading on a 10.9 grade level. So I do not believe that it hindered her reading skills. I still read to her and when she started learning to read she would read to me.
The best way for a child to learn is in play. I high recommend the Leapster toys.

My son got the tag reader and the books for a Christmas gift. He absolutely loves them. He is not a reader quite yet (beyond some site words), so I love that the reader gives him some independence.

my son has had them for a couple of years now and loves them they test reading comprehension, etc, not just teaching how to read. The reader asks questions about what happened on the page it's on , or for example "find the 4 chickens", asks about letters , sounds . Anyway you get the picture. They are more than just books. My son is 5 now and reading.

TOOOOOOOOOOoo expesive, just read with your child

I got a tag junior for my daughter's 2nd bday as a gift. I can't get it to work. The usb cord isn't recognized by my computer and says it's malfuntioned.
I contacted them about it and have not recieved a solution.
I might opt for something else like a leapster or vsmile game system. Or, just some good old fashioned books. ;)

The Leap-"book "really helps pre-readers.
It complements reading With them...
Once they can read, it is done being fun ( they do have games)
It (like all electronics)does have a need to be reset once in a while...
My last 2 used it age 3- to 5 to start reading (like a bridge 'tween totally with me and just by themselves).
Hope the info helps,
J

I think they're great! My son is 6 and got one when he was 4. There's a mode you can choose in which each word is sounded out. It's fun and educational.

Honestly the best thing you can do to foster your son's newley aquired reading skills is to read to him and have him read to you. The electronic reading systems are completely unnecessary and can actually hinder a child's love of reading by making it a mechanical exercise. Stick with the real thing! :)

In general, I think that any way you can use to introduce reading will only help. My question is in regard to cost effectiveness. We have an older version of Leapster, with two of the books that go with it. I wouldn't have purchased it at the retail price, because that just seemed to expensive to me. However I found this one at a thrift shop for a couple of dollars. The children get it out about once a week and do the activities on it. That gives them just one more way to enjoy reading ... and there are many ways. So bottom line is it isn't going to hurt your child's learning, and may help. But, do you want to put your money into something like that or spend it on other items that may help as much or more?
I would also recommend that you look online for some sites that offer you online reading opportunities. Most of these cost an annual registration fee, but they also give you samples to look at free. Even having your child read those samples can be a good reading experience for him, and if you choose to pay the fee for the annual subscription, he'd have a lot of good reading activity online that would be quiet similar to the Leapster Tag books.