Discovery Kids Puterbugs Game

Geared for children's ages 8 and under Discovery Kids Puterbugs is designed to take kids beyond apps and playing games.  This new website teaches kids how to use technology as a tool in a healthy way. 

It works like this- there is a virtual, cowboy hat wearing teacher, "Mr. Scott",  (my daughter thinks he is hilarious) and a set of little bugs called,  'Puterbugs' for each letter on the keyboard.  It's that simple but watching my child play it showed a whole lot more.  Mr. Scott takes her on a self-guided tour of games, activities and missions on the Puterbugs site that goes with only her level of knowledge.  Everything unfolds in various ways and avenues based on her level of competency.  Games like "Frozen Pizza Pops" have her using the mouse, space bar and learning all the letters on the keyboard in no time.  While she normally plays games on other television websites it usually results in her watching videos or designing cakes and dresses.  Not collecting microchips, driving with a mouse or using learning to spell, add and work all the components at one time.  Words like 'luau' are now part of her vocabulary and list of words she can spell.  Call me happy and impressed.  I love that the site keeps her focused while building concentration. It is beyond anything I have seen her do on other websites. 

Imagine Tomorrow along with the experts at Discovery Kids (Discovery Channel) identified the 'Top 100 Tech Skills' that children should learn.  Concepts like typing, texting, swiping and more are definitely involved and used frequently in Puterbugs.  While I am still limiting her time this game is now at the top of hers and my 'favorite' list. 

MPR Rating:  Five Stars. 

Disclaimer:  MPR was not paid for this post.  Products received are for review purposes only.  Opinions are MPR's only.



Rosetta Stone Lanuage Learning System

The Rosetta Stone Language Learning System is everywhere. You see the commercials on TV, the ads in magazines and chances are your local mall has a Rosetta Stone kiosk in it. Am I right? They make it sound so easy to learn another language. I tested the French version of Rosetta Stone and found the following.

Rosetta Stone uses the technique of Dynamic Immersion, which is the process of using images, intuition, interactivity, instruction and immersion to learn a language. My high school French teacher always said that immersion was the best way to learn a language. Each time I went to Quebec or France I have found this to be true. When you hear nothing else but that language all around you your brain begins to process and decipher it like it is cracking a code. After a while, you can understand key parts to conversations and sentences and work from there. Hearing the native tongue correctly pronounce the words is also key to learning the Rosetta way.

Each language set (there are more than 30 languages to choose from) comes with a headset with a microphone, levels 1, 2, and 3 of the interactive software, and an Audio Companion for a CD or MP3 player ($539). All of these items combined together help you build a solid foundation of the core vocabulary for that particular language. Once you have those fundamentals and structure in place, you can interact with others in that language. Rosetta Stone is great product for anyone who wants to learn a new language for business purposes, travel or for furthering their education.

I found that it really is intuitive learning. By using images, seeing the words and hearing the native tongue I was able to correctly identify the pictures with the words quite fast. I surprised even myself. Especially since they were words, I did not already know. Despite stumbling at some points, I wanted to continue because this Dynamic Immersion technique was really working. I could not wait to learn more.

The Rosetta Stone Language Learning System is a bit steep in price. Purchasing a package makes it cheaper, but you might want to tell yourself that you are investing in furthering your education or have this as a job write-off to soften the blow to your wallet. You get what you pay for though and after using many other language-learning systems, I have found that Rosetta Stone is the only one that shows results as fast or ones that acutally stick. Test drive it yourself right here.

MPR Rating:  Four Stars. 

Disclaimer: MPR was not paid for this posting. Products were received and kept for testing purposes. The opinions in this review are solely my own.

Leapfrog's Tag Junior

We are big fans of Leapfrog's Tag Reading System in our house so when we were asked to test out the new Tag Junior. we were very excited. Products that are geared towards literacy always score points in my book. The Tag Reading System has become a favorite toy in our house. There is nothing else that can make my daughter stay still for so long than a pile of books and her Tag Reader.

The Tag Junior ($34.99) is geared towards the 2-4 year old set and is even easier to use than the Tag with a pen. The chunky hand device is simple in concept and for tiny hands to operate. All a kid has to do is stamp the device onto a page and it works its magic. A section of text is read aloud along with songs and sound effects that are hidden in the pictures. The board books ($10.99 each) are another asset to this device as they are smaller, more durable and easier to hold on to or stand up versus the Tag's paper books.

Included with the Tag Junior (also comes in purple) is the beginner book, "If I Were..." which has 16 activities and over 70 audio responses. When I handed over the Junior to my three year-old she immediately grabbed the concept and got down to reading. The theme with the Junior is colors, letters, social play and numbers. Characters such as Dora, Curious George, Dr. Seuss and Winnie-the-Pooh feature prominently in the Tag Junior collection.

Like the original Tag the Leapfrog Learning Path, a free online resource, allows parents to see just what skills their children are learning. The books are easily downloadable as well. The price is affordable and the Leapfrog website is wonderful for kids and parents as well.

What I noticed is that while the Tag Junior is great for kids in the preschool set and I love the board books after having already become users of the original Tag my daughter just did not want to use the Tag Junior as much. She liked the books but prefers the pen. However, if you get the Tag Junior first it will be a welcome addition, helpful literacy resource and teaching device for you and your child.

MPR Rating: Four Stars.

Meet the Sight Words 1

From Preschool Prep comes a great 40-minute DVD geared for children ages 15 months to 6 years aimed at getting your child interested in learning words. This animated series ($14.95) is a great tool for gearing up for preschool and teaching children words through visuals.

At first glance I was surprised to see that this first DVD in the series of three has over forty-five basic sight words to it. It all seemed a bit overwhelming for a 2 year old. 'Sight Words' are common, every day words that cannot be identified through pictures or from basic decoding rules. The series teaches the alphabet, colors, numbers and shapes in a simple format that children grasp quickly as proof with my daughter. It helped her in a very short time to recognize words by associating them with pictures and I was amazed. The bonus feature illustrates video flashcards and classroom/lesson use which teachers might find helpful too. At forty minutes this DVD kept my child engaged and wanting more.

My child starts preschool in the fall and I am confident that she will be more prepared than ever with the help of this DVD. It's a great tool for children and not just a fun show.

WIN a copy of this great DVD today!! Just email me and be the FIRST one to do so at veamason AT gmail DOT com and I'll ship one out to you.