VTech - Write And Learn Touch Tablet Rating :
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
49 of 53 people found the following review helpful.
Very POOR writing model!
By J. Marchiniak
First, I taught PreK through 3rd grade for 10 years prior to being a mom... with that said: DO NOT BUY THIS TOY if you want your child to learn good writing habits! Seriously, please read this before you consider buying it!
I mistakenly bought this for my own 2-3year old son without thoroughly checking out its full features. Although he really does like it, it's going back! The positibve benefits do not outweigh the negatives in terms of educational/instructional value.
PROS:
-encourages tracing with a pen stylus or finger touch on the screen
-includes a three sided, triangular pen, which is helpful to help start a correct early pen/pencil grasp
-easy to see screen, step by step instructions to form shapes, lower case and upper case letters (NOTE: SEE CONS BELOW regarding odd letter formation directions and modeling!)
-does engage my son (he keeps it in the bathroom as a special potty toy while he's busy "working", never gets old, will cry when it's gone)
-so far durable over several months of use and some accidental drops on hard tile floor and grabbing it by the stylus string
-has a free draw feature & a "make the picture dance/wiggle/jump" feature that moves your creation up and down a bit after drawing
--continuously positive praise for all attempts of writing/scribbling/drawing
-encourages shape and letter identification, plus beginning words that start with the corresponding letter
CONS:
-terrible letter formation modeling (make two lines down, then connect them in the middle to make a capital M!? NO way! Just one example. Several more!)
-child will have to unlearn bad habits and relearn properly when faced with school instruction, no matter what printing method is taught--every teacher from every district I've talked about this with agrees!
-loud volume, even when adjusted to lowest setting
-includes shapes, upper & lower case letters, no numbers (do they need to keep it separate to make more $ and force you to buy a different game toy?!)
-no tracking or way to self check w/ only positive praise (my son can color the entire screen dark and it says "great job!")
-absolutely no correlation connecting the lower case letters with the upper case letters, even though they are the same button, the two functions are entirely different and do not come together to help build this matchup for young learners.
Not recommended. Still looking for a better substitute! Do let me know if you happen to know of one, please. Thanks!!
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
My son like this writing toy - a first for us...
By Baby B's Mom
My son is 3 1/2. He has no attention span and likes things that involve running, jumping, etc. It is difficult to get him to do anything that involves little physical movement. However, he seems to like this toy. We have had it about a 3 days and this is my take on it.
Pros:
* It has both capital and lower case letters
* The writing surface is easy to use and accurate
* It tell my son he has done a great job when he actually traces the letter correctly. If he does a poor job on the letter and hits the check to say his is done, it asks him to retry tracing the letter.
* It seems durable and has already taken a tumble out of the van door into a puddle. It is working fine.
* It has a shape tracing and free draw activity. There is also a hiding letter game which is good.
* you can turn down the volume.
Cons: Just a few...
* I wish that it started in the capital letter activity instead of requiring the child to select it.
* I wish that they had the same device but added a number activity to it
* The little pen is a bit thick for my son
* I wish that it did not say "see ya" when it was turned off. My son has started saying that which is annoying and he keeps turning it on and off just to hear the "see ya." It really is not the game's fault he knows how to push my buttons ;) However, I do not like slang so I would have preferred something like "I'll see you later" or "until next time"
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful.best for learning letters
By columbiabelle
I purchased the leap frog letter learning tablet before purchasing this one and was very disappointed. This letter tablet is far superior. The leap frog tablet uses a series of lights under the screen that light up and the child traces the dots, leaving a irregular pattern on many letters. In my opinion this teaches the child to make the shape of the letter wrong. This vtech tablet has the letters shaped correctly, so the child learns to write the letter correctly. This one fact was so important that I got rid of the leap frog and gave my daughter the vtech for Christmas. She loves it, spends so much time learning her letters. There are some child game systems out there that offer letter tracing as a part of the system, but I found this a better option for my daughter because I wanted her to focus on the letter writing and not be distracted by the other games.
Product Description
The Write & Learn Touch Tablet will take your child on a learning adventure! This portable notepad has five different modes of play that teach your child about object and shape drawing, uppercase letters, lowercase letters, and letter writing. Through graduated learning, this tablet allows your child to develop their skills, starting with simple line and shape drawing and moving up to actual letter formation. Its touch screen lets them draw and write directly on the screen using either their finger or the attached writing stylus. For added fun, 26 alphabet buttons each represent an animal that comes to life after the player correctly draws the matching letter on the touch screen.
Product Measures: 1.5 by 6.7 by 9.2
Recommended Ages: 3 years - 5 years
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #9529 in Toys & Games
- Brand: VTech
- Model: 80-120700
- Released on: 2011-06-01
- Dimensions: 9.20" h x6.70" w x1.50" l,1.00 pounds
Features
- Touch screen with stylus
- Cute notepad design for easy portability
- 26 letter buttons, each represented by an animal
- 5 modes of play
- Progressive learning takes kids from shape drawing to letter formation
