As I've posted before, we have lots of LeapFrog products in our house... two Leapsters, and a new Tag Junior just to name the most-used. And, as you know, we also have a V-Tech V-Motion.

The V-Motion has not been used in about two months. It had its brief period of novelty when it first appeared and then the batteries in the hand-held units died. I told my kids we'd get more, and we did, but they were never replaced, simply because my kids never asked about it. I had noted that the unit wasn't very user friendly. Apparently my kids noticed it too.

A few days ago, we had a neighbor boy at our house, just Jelly Belly's age. He wanted to play with the "Wii" as he referred to it. Both Jelly and Gopher could have cared less. In fact, I'm not sure, but I think they talked him out of it, because a little while later, he was playing with Jelly's Leapster2 quite happily--the V-Motion completely forgotten.

Then, just yesterday, my family was out and about when our 16 year-old asked to swing into Goodwill. We did and while she and I shuffled through racks of clothing and shoes, my husband did his best to keep the little kids occupied. He came over to me, beaming. He told me he had the topic for my next blog, and dragged me over to the shelves where they keep toys and electronics. There sat six, BRAND NEW, In-the-box V-Tech devices, and a single, well-loved (and I think broken) LeapFrog item.

Now, I think we're pretty average. I certainly won't go donating toys that my kids play with. And if they've outgrown something, I'm pretty likely to pass a good toy along to someone I know. The stuff that goes to Goodwill are the things that I don't know where else to "dispose" of and can't bear to just send to the landfill. I'm assuming other people work about the same way, which leads me to the conclusion that LeapFrog toys are enjoyed to a natural death by their original owners, whereas those other educational toys just don't make the grade in one way or another. I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on the "Goodwill Grading Scale."

TTFN! 

LeapFrog furnished LooneyBinCEO with product to solicit objective feedback. [Edited by: LeapFrog Paul]

Thanks to my friends at Leap Frog, we were able to give Gopher an extra-special present for his third birthday this week--a Tag Jr., hot off the presses!

 He loves it!  It came with a copy of "If I Were" which is a cute book that talks about animals, colors and imagination.  Gopher has already learned that by touching the Pal (which we've dubbed "Eva" because it really kinda looks like Wall-E's girlfriend) he can hear the story, answer questions and learn more about what he's looking at.  He told me tonight before bedtime that he wanted to "read his book."  We can't wait for the system to be released so we can add the other books to our library!

I'll admit, I've been hesitant about spending the money on a Tag System for Jelly Bean--she's been so happy with her Leapster 2.  Now that I've seen how the Jr. works and how much Gopher is enjoying his, it's just a matter of time for her.  Today, I saw that they have the Tag on sale on the Leapfrog website.  I might just have to splurge a little. 

So, on Tuesday morning, I sat down at my desk and went through the usual motions--jotting a few notes as I waited for the computer to boot, sipped those first precious drops of coffee (blessed caffine!), and checked my voicemails.  Upon checking my e-mail, I found my weekly progress report from LeapFrog.  It's my little reminder that she's not just playing, and it's amazing! 

Our weekly progress report allows us to see most of the same things that you get when you log onto the Learning Path, but it takes a few things that you normally have to dig for and puts them front and center. 

This week, our report focused a lot on the cool things Jelly Bean is working on with her Outwit game.  She's exploring some third grade skills, which is great for a Preschooler, and goes into more depth about what type of questions she's answering (as in real, honest-t0-goodness examples), what percentage of questions she's answering correctly, and how that compares to past progress reports. 

My favorite thing is that it's NEVER comparing her to any other kids.  The Learning Path gives us an idea of how our kids stack up as far their development of age-appropriate skills.  There's nothing saying that she's behind the "national average," whatever that is. 

In comparison--it's been three weeks since I first signed onto the V-Club site.  I haven't received anything from them to supplement their website.  Not so much as a reminder to connect the device so they can see what progress she's making. 

Now that my kiddos have had a couple of weeks to play on the V.Motion that LeapFrog provided to us, I've finally made the time to connect to their version of the Learning Path and I have some insights to give to my fellow parents.  

Jelly Bean is receiving feedback on two main platforms--Language Arts and Fine Arts.  If you scroll down a little, you see additional information on Math and Science skills as well. 

According to V.Tech, Jelly is "Outstanding" in Language Arts.  It's a big, flashy button--I pushed it.  The list of skills they're grading her on is this:  Spelling and Vocabulary.  They're not making sure she can differentiate between letters and numbers, whether she can identify letters, differentiate between upper and lowercase letters, or even trace letter shapes.  Or maybe that's all included in what they're calling Spelling.  I just don't know, and they don't clarify.  Below that list of skills are their recommendations for things we can do to encourage her interests.  Because she's doing outstanding in it, I apparently don't have to actually do anything with her--they're just encouraging me to go purchase more of their products.  

As far as Fine Arts skills go, Jelly Bean is "Less Interested."  When I clicked on its big, flashy button, I find that the only thing she appears to be "less interested" in is Colors--it's the only skill listed.  I can tell you this, my kid is DEFINITELY NOT "less interested" in colors.  I'd say she spends about two hours a day coloring, drawing and writing.  She's known her colors for years.  She knows that Leonardo and Michaelangelo were not just Heroes in a Half Shell.  Maybe they need some better testing methods.  

 When looking at the other skills, Jelly Bean doesn't measure up to their standards.  She's below their "National Average" in every category but Language Skills.  Of course, when you see that their definition of "National Average" is based upon usership on their website, not any standards established by educators, child psychologists, or any grown-up for that matter; you tend to wonder if their average really is average.   

Conversely, LeapFrog's Learning Path gives me more information than I can usually process in a single viewing.  I can see how she's doing with skills that are appropriate to her age.  I can see how many questions she answered, and how many of those answers were correct.  I get a break-down of skills within each skill set.  I know that she can trace her letters, she can spell three letter words with minimal help, and that she's developing recognition of sight words.   Of course, I knew most of these things already, because I DO actually parent my kids, but it's nice to know that I have the EXPERTS at LeapFrog agreeing with me.  And if I decide that I want some recommendations for what to purchase next, they help me decide what I'd like to focus on so they can give me the best recommendations, not just push something on me. 

Why yes, I AM dedicated to LeapFrog.  Allow me to start at the beginning...

When I first started writing these blogs, I was contacted by LeapFrog for some input.  They wanted to know if I would be interested in test driving a competitor's product and allowing you to see what I think of it as well as the competitor's version of LeapFrog's Learning Path.  I figured, "hey, why not?" and LeapFrog kindly provided me with a V.Smile-V.Motion by V.Tech (Wow!  That's a lot of V's!). 

The unit was delivered about two weeks ago, the same day our Little Man underwent his third (and final, PLEASE, GOD!) surgery.  He's pretty well back to 100% and his big sister has used the down time to get acquainted with the new system.  For now, I'll give you my thoughts on the unit and games.  I'll move on to their answer to the Learning Path next time. 

Unpacking the unit, I was surprised to discover that it's supposed to run off of batteries.  Here's what I don't understand... it connects to your television to work.  Your TV has to be plugged in, wouldn't it make sense for the game system to plug in too?  After going through the batteries that came with the unit within two hours of gameplay, I pirated an AC adapter from our electric pencil sharpener.  The controllers are pretty cool--wireless and they're easily reversible for Lefties, which is great for Jelly Bean.  The whole point of the V.Motion is go get kids moving.  It's supposed to use a gyro-type technology similar to the Wii by allowing your kids to move the entire handset in order to control the characters on the screen.  I'm glad that it comes with a basic joystick function too.  Their motion-sensing technology needs some work--it's not very sensitive and there's a lot of lag time.  The graphics also leave a lot to be desired.  Think Atari you children of the 80's out there!  The characters on the screen make Donkey Kong look life-like, and we've only got a 32" tv. 

The games do not seem to be very age-appropriate.  Even the game that comes with the V.Motion--Action Mania--expects too much of 4-6 year olds.  Level One doesn't ask the basics of Number or Letter recognition.  Kids are supposed to collect letters while skiing downhill.  Here's the kicker--the letters needed to spell the word aren't in any particular order and the word is in the corner of the screen, so there's no need for the child to put any phonetic thought into collecting the letters.  This was compounded with the Scooby Doo Funland Frenzy game where the words include compound-letter sounds.  I don't know of too many 4 year-olds who are capable of spelling the word "heart" by themselves.  Mini games on the Scooby-Doo cartridge included a spelling train where the object is to drop letters into the matching train cars.  This is nothing more than an exercise in matching and a little eye-hand coordination.  

 I'm sure I'll have more to say soon, but for now, my parting advice is this...  The V in V.Smile does NOT stand for Victory.  The Frog knows best!  

We've gone pretty easy on "Gopher."  He was born with a cleft lip and palate, and we've allowed ourselves to be a little blinded to his age by his speech delays.  So, a couple of months ago, I decided that two and a half was plenty old enough to sit down with him and show him how the older "retired" Leapster works.  He got addicted to Color Corral pretty quickly and learned how to use the different tools and how to select the color he wants. 

Once that seemed to take hold, I decided to move him on to a "big kid" game.  I plugged in Letters on the Loose and showed him how to get started--selecting a letter book, listening to the commands....  Being a very independent kid, he would never allow me to just sit there breathing down his neck, so I let him play till he fell asleep.  It continued on this way for a couple of weeks.  I could always tell when he'd gotten frustrated with it, because the cartridge would be removed from the Leapster when I'd go in to check on him before I went to bed.  But more and more, Letters on the Loose would be the only thing he'd play before bed. 

About a week after getting him started with it, I stayed one night to see his progress.  He was hitting the A's with almost 100% accuracy!  And he's starting to learn letter names!  Just yesterday he was coloring and had created a little thread of squiggles.  He looked up at me and said, "I made an M!"  Of course, it wasn't a REAL M, but he knew that M was a letter, and I knew that he had taken those first steps.

It's just a matter of time till you're reading about the latest and greatest LeapFrog exploits of our little Gopher!

I have a problem.  My kids love their Leapsters.  Granted, Gopher is still a little young and mostly uses his sister's old pink Leapster for drawing in Color Corral, but he's starting to get the hang of Letters on the Loose too.  But still.  When it comes time for bed and they just won't cooperate, there' s a definite ladder of threats that we climb. 

The living room is a disaster, littered with toys that I'd be happy to have on the floors of their bedrooms (I've given up on the idea of them being actually PUT AWAY years ago)... "If you don't pick up your toys, you're going to lose your story!"

The story is gone and I'm picking up all 500 multi-colored blocks. 

They're both jumping on the big one's bed.  It's time to brush teeth.  Everytime I move him, she lures him back into her lair.  "Everyone in your own beds or you lose your songs too!" 

I'm now locking Gopher in his room (we turned their doorknobs around about the time he started walking so we could keep them contained till they fell asleep in the evenings.  It's been one of the best ideas EVER!), listening to him banging on the door.   His big sister begins shouting into the floor vent, trying to reassure him.  It only further convinces him that we're torturing her by trapping her in the basement.  He does not understand the concept of ductwork.  She's playing her Leapster, shouting progress reports to him, keeping him awake and screaming. 

Finally, it comes... "GET INTO BED OR I'M TAKING YOUR LEAPSTER AWAY!!!!"  Wait!  It's an educational toy.  Isn't taking an educational toy away tantamount to expelling a kid from school--punishing them for bad behavior by taking their education away and just perpetuating the problem??? 

 I'm so confused!

I work weird hours.  I'm in retail...  it's what we do.  And since I'm a night person, the only "me" time I ever get is at night after everyone else has gone to bed.  So, about once a week or so, I tell Jelly Bean to bring her Leapster to me after she's done playing it at bedtime.  She knows what this means, and I'm usually too tired to argue, so it becomes her late night too.  She can hardly wait to see what happens when I get out the USB cord and upload her progress reports. 

So, there she sits, perched on the arm of the sofa, breathing down my neck while I get logged on, go through her new rewards with her and take her for a walk down the Learning Path to see what new stepping stones she's colored in, where new stars are cropping up, and what grade level she's working at.  I've already talked about what a great feeling of accomplishment she has from these little sessions, but for me, they mean one more thing--a little extra Mommy/Daughter time in our busy week. 

You know how you can tell when you child has been spending a LOT of time on their Leap Frog learning system?  Log onto the Learning Path and check out the "Play Details." 

 We added "Ratatouille" to our Leapster 2 library for Jelly Bean's 5th birthday last week and she has officially spent something like three hours on it so far! Anything over an hour since your last sync makes the star get so excited that its mouth gapes and its eyes bug out.  When I first saw this, it seemed to mock me, as though it was saying, "HOLY COW!  Is your kid a quadriplegic or something that she's incapable of playing outside?!?!?!"  But once I got over my initial shock, it became a lot friendlier--saying instead, "Wow!  Check out that kid!  She ROCKS!!"  On my own closer inspection, she's learning her food groups, honing her listening and sorting skills and polishing her math and vocabulary skills.  Yep, she rocks!

 So, next time you sync your Leapster, Tag, or Didj up to your computer and you log onto the Learning Path, keep an eye open for those happy little stars!