Anybody Own a V-smile or Leapfrog Learning System???

Hi C.-

My daughter is 20 months old, and I have the pink leapfrog system for her. It's the baby-toddler one. We sit down with it and go through the book, and she does really well. She already knows how to use it. I like it, but that's only my opinion. I think it's pretty easy to use, and my daughter already knows most of the buttons. I only have to set the initial setting for her, and then she goes through the pages pretty quick. She even knows to hit the page button to let the system know what page she is on.. Do you know someone who has one? Maybe you can borrow it for the day to see if it works for you..

M.

Both my kids (2 & 3) lose interst very fast in the leap pads - I think that they advertise the "my first leap pad" for 3 and over but I really think it is geared more towards 4-5year olds.

as far as other leap frog products, they have been a hit.

We also have the V-Smile. Both my kids love it although the 2 y.o. can't do too much with it. Unfortuantely the V-Smile is pretty finicky. For some reason they chose to run this on batteries vs. plugging into the wall. Everytime you turn it on there wil be a problem, for ours we have to take the middle battery out and put it back in - that's the only way we can get it to turn on! It is very annoying at first but we got used to it, I have heard similar stories from other mothers and each v-smile seems to have its own problem. Once you get it on there are no problems.

My son likes the alphabet cartridge it came with and also loves the Thomas one. My daughter can only play with the Barney one right now.

In my opinion this system might be a little too advanced for your son right now. I got it for my son a couple moths after he turned three and he has just really gotten the hang of it now that he is about to turn 4 in a couple months. My 2 y.o (almost 3) does not have the motor controls yet to use the joystick but she can do the games that only requires using the colored buttons.

hope this helps....

C.,
I have some of the LeapFrog products and I think they're great. My daughter is a little too young to fully use the Little Touch Leap Pad (she's turning 1 next week), but it's one of her favorite toys even if I have to hold it and try to keep her from eating the pages. I will say this, though....my mother (who bought her practically all of the cassettes) is a LD Resource Reading Teacher and when she arrived at her new job this fall the school where she works uses the Leap Pads (for older kids). Good luck.

Jen M.

I have leapfrog for my son and i dont care for it. He rarely plays with it, however i did buy him an INTERAC TV system, its is a handheld controller with no wires to connect to the tv, it has cards that u sit in it and a dvd that goes in the dvd player, it works liek a remote control the child answers things using the shapes and pictures on teh card that is inserted in the controller. You can program it to work on 3 diff tvs so u can bring it to grandmas or use in any room of the house.

I personally like this system the best as a learning toy, my son is always asking to play with it, and he learned to count to 5 with htat game, even with all the counting i had been doing with him, he wasnt doing it on his own til after he got the game. The system runs anywhere from 30-60 depending on where u buy it..u can find it wiht 3 cards included (card and disc come together if u buy addl ones) i found mine on ebay and paid 32 plus shipping, and it had bonus disc and card with it..it was brand new, so i would check ebay as well.

http://www.fisher-price.com/us/products/advsearch.asp?sub...

thats a long link but it will take u to the item on the fisher price site, so u can see it and read up on it more.

just a thought and i have read great reviews on it.

B.

C.,

I hope I'm not too late, but you should also talk to your son's doctor and ask him/ her to suggest age and developmental stage appropriate toys for your sons needs.

Hi C., we bought the vsmile for our son last year and he was 3, and at first he played with it, then he lost insterest. now he is 4 and on occiasion he will play with it. and my 2 1/2 year old daughter plays with it also...so it could be a hit or a miss....

C.,
We bought the V-Smile for our son when was around three. The cartridge that comes with it is really good. Once we taught him how to use this, he really enjoyed it. Also it helps teach abc's and also coordination in their hands. We purchased a couple of other cartridges for it but honestly none have been as educational or as interesting as the one that comes with it. My son also had some delays in the area of speech development and I think this is helpful. I wouldn't recommend wasting too much on add'l cartridges for it unless there is a good sale.
Diana

C.,
I have been using Leap Frog since I had my oldest son 10 1/2 years ago and I love it. I love all there products. My three boys also enjoyed all there things and has helped a ton!! My 4 years old son was just his Leap Pad yesterday. He was learning to read and recongize words and letters. Hes doing great! I have nothing bad to say about Leap Frog stuff.

We love LeapPads in our house! We bought one for my son when he was four with a case to keep all the books, cartridges and cards that go with it. That way things do not get misplaced and everything is contained in a nice case that is portable. My son is now six and he still uses it all the time. My ten and a half year-old daughter has had the Quantum Leap designed for kids eight and up and she loves hers too!(with a case of course)It's a good way to practice any skills you want to reinforce. We do not watch a lot of television, but some for sure, and we do not use video games. What is great is that the Leap Pad is interactive, but it is still like reading a book. I love the LeapPads because they are educational and fun, and a great activity to do with your child and for them to do independently. We of course set the ground rules so that they would take good care of it, and we treat it as a computer that is a lot of fun.
A couple of weeks ago, my brother gave a My First Leap Pad to our very verbally advanced 2 year-old, and she will be able to grow with it. This one may be the way to go, the books are smaller and the Leap Pad is easy to carry around. Lots of fun games and songs for learning to count, shapes and letters(abc's), and pre-reading skills.
I have a degree in Elementary Ed. and a Master's in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education.
I hope this helps. I guess it all depends on how willing you are to encourage and interact with your son surrounding the Leap Pad. All my kids love them, and so do I. Maybe that helps! If you are interested, he probably will be too.

We've taken them on long trips, to doctor's waiting rooms, to older sister's piano lesson, etc. Keeps them busy and learning!
Gretchen