LeapFrog Tag facts for kids
LeapFrog Tag is a cool electronic pen that helps young kids learn to read. It works with special paper books made by LeapFrog Enterprises. When you touch the pen to a word or picture in the book, the pen "reads" it aloud. It's like having a helpful friend teach you! You can also play fun games with the Tag pen. LeapFrog made the Tag pen after their popular LeapPad system. The Tag pen and its special books are mostly for young children who are just starting to learn how to read.
The Tag reader offers a different way for kids to learn compared to audiobooks or having an adult read to them. It's great for children who are not yet strong readers on their own. It can teach them about phonics, which is how sounds and letters work together. This helps kids become more independent readers. Being able to read on their own helps them become even better readers over time.
LeapFrog has created many books and sets for the Tag system. These books focus on specific phonics skills. They can be used to help with reading lessons already happening in school. The LeapFrog Tag reader can help many different students. This is because it can read whole sentences or just single words. This helps teachers adjust lessons for each student. Tag also helps students who are learning English as a second language.
How LeapFrog Tag Works
The Tag pen needs a computer to get the audio for its books. You connect the Tag pen to a Microsoft Windows or Mac OS computer using a USB cable. Then, you use special software called LeapFrog Connect. This software downloads the sounds for your books from the LeapFrog website. It then sends these sounds to your Tag pen.
The Tag pen works with specially made books. These books have tiny, invisible patterns of dots printed on them. These dots are so small you can't even see them! When you touch the Tag pen to a page, it "reads" these dot patterns. By understanding the pattern, the pen knows which book it is reading. It also knows the exact spot you are touching on that page. Once the Tag pen knows the book and your exact location, it finds the right sound to play. Then, it plays that sound for you. This clever way of knowing where it is on the page is a special invention.
The Tag pen also has a smart system inside it. This system helps kids play games on special pages in the books. For example, a game might ask, "Find the letter that makes the sound k." The Tag pen also keeps track of how much a child uses it. This information can be sent back to the computer software. The software can then give kids electronic rewards. It also helps parents see how their child is learning and progressing.
