Review: LeapFrog Tag Reading System

Written on Nov 10, 2008 by Brian and filed under LeapFrog, News, Reviews

Sometimes technology can engage new readers in a way paper books don’t. That’s the bet with LeapFrog’s Tag reading system, a wand that kids use to interact with books and other learning aids. The wand includes an optical reader to tell where it is on a page, and a speaker that is used to read the words or story to kids and gives them instructions for educational games.

Tag Reading System Overview

The LeapFrog Tag Reading System is at its roots, a wand that can read your child a story, play interactive learning games with them, or help them by reading specific words identified by the child. The wand has an optical reader inside that knows what’s being pointed at (we’ll delve more into how Tag works later). Kids can have Tag read the entire story to them, read it to them page by page, read specific words, or interact via games and pointing at objects. The Tag reader comes with one book in the box, and works with a library of other Tag-enabled books and learning aids like flash cards. The system is geared toward children 4-8 years but really finds the sweet spot with pre-K and kindergarten kids who are learning to spell, working with word sounds and otherwise starting the reading process. That’s not to say the system isn’t good for older kids too, but their experience will be somewhat limited if they’ve already mastered these skills.

The Tag reader features an embedded speaker with a button to make the sound louder or quieter. For private use, there’s a headphone jack, though small fingers will have trouble opening the rubberized door on their own. The unit also includes a mini-USB port and connects to both PC and Mac computers. Tag runs on two AAA batteries.

Tag Reading System Setup

Getting started with Tag couldn’t be more simple. Insert two AAA batteries, you do need a flathead screwdriver, and you’re ready to get reading with the included Ozzie and Mack book. It is a good idea however, to go ahead and install the LeapFrog software first. While kids interact with Tag, it tracks their performance and gives rewards for completing tasks. But you must go through the setup process before these points get associated with your account. My son was briefly disappointed when we learned the points would not transfer until we registered the Tag reader, meaning his accomplishments had to be re-done.

Tag comes with an installation CD and USB cable that is compatible with both PC and Mac systems. The software installation is a breeze and assuming you have an Internet connection, the software will automatically look for and download updates. You’ll interact with LeapFrog Connect to manage the Tag reader. This is the same application that works with LeapFrog’s Didj and Leapster2 systems and can be used to track all of them without issue.

The Connect software is also used to download and install the book audio files to the Tag reader. If there’s a major issue I have with Tag, it’s that each book has to be downloaded to the reader and there’s only room for five or six at a time. Tag only has 16MB of storage for books, and each book runs about 2-3MB. So once you pass the five or six book realm, you’ll have to remove a book on the reader to make room for another one. I can already see the problem of grabbing a few books and the reader as you run out of the house, only to realize the proper books aren’t installed on the Tag reader. This memory limitation is almost inexcusable with today’s technology and the price of memory. The pessimistic side of me thinks LeapFrog did this on purpose to hook parents on this version of the reader with the intention of releasing a Tag reader with more storage at a later time. It wouldn’t be the first time such a tactic was used.

Tag book library

Thankfully, setting up Tag and LeapFrog Connect couldn’t be much easier. You name the device and configure a profile for your child, or add the reader to an existing profile. By creating a profile for your child, you can follow along online with their progress, what Leapfrog calls a Learning Path. This path is broken down to the book level in the case of the Tag, and more globally as “Stepping Stones” or core skill sets that are clustered by grade level.

As a parent, this level of detail ads so much more interactivity with the device that it’s really hard to understand until you get into it some. My son, who’s in kindergarten, often takes the Tag and a book into his room or otherwise used it without a parent present. This learning time is great, but not entirely actionable if you don’t know exactly what’s going on. With the online portal, I can log in and view several details of each book, like how long he read or listened to the book, how many questions he answered and his correct answer percentage.

Book detail report

In addition to the book level data, the stepping stone data gives parents information on more global skills like spelling, comprehension and reading basics. Each one of these skills is further broken down into components and each component has specific goals to accomplish. It’s great to be able to glance at the stepping stones to see what is being worked on currently and where progress is being made.

Learning Path Stepping Stones

LeapFrog has accomplished something unique with their connected products. Giving parents a learning tool via these systems and their games or books is one thing, but reporting actionable data is something else, and really the most compelling part of the Tag reading system. Without that, the Tag reader is really only a gimmick. With the reporting though, the Tag reader deserves serious consideration from parents who want to encourage reading.

How the Tag Reading System Works

The Tag system “reads” by identifying dotted media embedded on the pages of Tag books.  Inside the reader, a small infrared camera works as an imaging system to recognize letters, words and symbols when written on special dot-patterned paper. Using an optical pattern system and digital processing techniques the Tag reader can quickly determine its exact location within the dot media. This enables a child to jump around within a book, or back and forth between different books in a seamless way.

If you look very closely at the pages of a Tag reader book, you can see these dot patterns; but it’s not distracting, they just add texture to the page. These dots are how Tag knows that you want it to read the page to you if you tap the book icon, or play a game if you hit a star.

Each book is a little different, but they offer largely the same functionality. Kids can have the Tag system read them the entire story, read it a page at a time or interact with recognition games during the book and learning games at the end of each book. The Tag reader can also be used to identify individual words in a story or scanned across a series of words to have them read in sentence form. Kids can also tap pictures to get additional sounds effects and information.

These reading options are what makes the Tag system pretty flexible for different reading levels. At the most basic, kids can have the story read to them as they follow along, just like a book on CD. For more advanced readers, they can read on their own and tap words that they need help with.

The in-story reading comprehension quizzes are pretty basic, but the games at the end have three levels, with the basic being engaging for young readers and the more advanced usually requiring reading skills or at least sight word recognition.

Here’s a video demo of how Tag works with the T. Rex book.

As the kids make progress with each book, they’ll earn rewards in the LeapFrog Connect system. The rewards are more or less certificates of accomplishment that can be printed out. This may or may not motivate your kids; ours enjoyed it though and wanted to work hard to get all six rewards for each book.

A reward from T-Rex’s Mighty Roar

The rewards feature does bring up one last complaint, and that’s an issue around using Tag with more than one child at a time. While you can certainly do this, the tracking data is useless since it bundles all the data together. LeapFrog recommends using one Tag system per child, and that really is the way to go for maximum effectiveness, but it would have been nice to find a way around that in the product design.

Summary

LeapFrog has once again created a piece of technology that makes learning fun. Our kindergartener is right in the sweet spot for the Tag reading system, but I can see a lot of utility for kids who are starting to learn letters, all the way to 1st/2nd grade readers. The Tag reader is fairly priced at $50 and while the books are somewhat expensive at $14 or so each, the depth of content means you have to think of them more like software than books, in which case the price is about right. What we really love though is the online reporting system and the fact that kids who like technology will instantly be sucked into the Tag reader. Our only complaint is the lack of memory, but hopefully that will be resolved in a future release.

Pros

• Excellent reporting for parents
• Easy for kids to pick up and use
• Each book offers a lot to do

Cons

Lack of memory limits storage of book audio files

Most effective when there’s only a single user

Bottom Line

A great buy for starting readers, ideal for ages 4-6, but there’s something there even for those a little younger or older. Great online reporting makes this a slam dunk for parents who want to track progress.

4.5 out of 5 stars – Editor’s Choice