Recently I’ve read several articles on the importance of ECE (early childhood education). Phrases such as “early cognitive development”, “building brain architecture”, “at-risk children”, and “early intervention” highlight the immediacy with which many scholars think about & talk about this issue. One article even pronounced that opportunities for early cognitive development, once they’ve been lost, can never be recaptured. In other words, once the vital, early formative years are gone, the opportunities they provide for developing intellect and intelligence are gone forever. I don’t know how true some of these warnings might be, but when you really sit down and think about it, it’s some pretty scary stuff! Ultimately, when I finally have children, I’d prefer not to take chances with their future. I believe that it’s never to soon to begin the lifelong journey of learning, and that it needn’t be tedious and frustrating either. For the littlest ones among us, learning can be absolute heaps of fun!
There’s no doubt that numbers & counting are among the first and most important things your child can learn. It’s not as though kids need to take up advanced algebra before they even begin grade primary. However, knowing some basic counting and how to identify their numbers could go a long way towards helping them build confidence and develop a lifelong interest in learning. To this end, a great starting point is the Tiggly Math Interactive Toy for Tablets. Tiggly Math Interactive is actually 5 toys in one that interact with 3 special learning apps on your tablet or other device. As an interactive tablet toy, Tiggly uses physical & digital play methods to help teach your child counting, addition, and number line. It’s fun for your child as well as being an innovative, educational tool. In fact, it’s an award winning system that was developed by top level educators. Tiggly Math works with most generations of iPad and iPad mini (though not with iPad 1). It also works with Kindle Fire HD as well as most of today’s leading Android based devices (specifically those developed by Samsung).
What’s every bit as important as numbers to the early developing mind? Well, shapes for one! With Tiggly Shapes Interactive Toy for Tablets, you can ensure that your child has a good grounding in shapes before embarking on his or her formal learning years. With this toy you can specifically develop your child’s capabilities in motor skills, spatial reasoning, language, & creativity. It’s pretty much exactly like the Tiggly Math toy above, only this time geared towards shapes. Your child will use the 4 included shape toys to interact with your tablet via the 3 special learning apps that make up the system. This particular one was designed with children ages 2 through 5 in mind. That’s prime preschooler territory!
To my way of thinking, the most important Tiggly learning product of all is the Tiggly Words Interactive Toy for Tablets. Not everyone will agree with me on this, but I have always valued words above numbers—and by a significant margin! But even if you’re a numbers person, you can’t undervalue the importance of literacy in today’s world. If you’d like to give your child a head start with valuable reading and comprehension skills such as learning important sounds, phonics, nouns, verbs, & spelling, then the Tiggly Words Interactive Toy will certainly serve you (and your little one) well. Designed for children ages 4 through 8, this toy focuses on key reading and language skills and uses 5 word toys and 3 learning apps to teach your child fun and wacky words, problem solving skills, and an overall familiarity with the basic fundamentals of language. Truly invaluable skills, every last one!
If you’d like to find an amazing early educational product that combines all of the above subject areas along with numerous others, then you really must consider the LeapFrog LeapPad3 Learning Tablet – In Green – English Language Version (also available in Pink). This product is truly wonderful. The list of things that it can do is absolutely enormous! Among its many features are a 5″ capacitive touch screen (with 480 x 268 resolution), a 4GB hard drive, a quad-core processor (the LeapFrog LF3000 processor with 1.0GHz processing speed), 1GB of RAM, the LeapFrog operating system, and built-in Wi-Fi. The system also provides your child with learning tools like LeapSearch (powered by Zui), which delivers “pre-screened and learning-expert-approved Web content that’s kid-friendly and age appropriate” as well as access to a library of 1,000+ games & apps (including numerous educational games, e-books, and videos) that offers a wide range of diverse & educational content. There’s even a fun “hint” button that provides your child with in-game tutorials. Quite honestly, even though I’ve listed a ton of specs and features already, I’ve barely scratched the surface here. LeapFrog is a truly amazing educational tool for any 3-9 year old child!
Finally, one of the great advantages of LeapFrog’s impressive children’s tablets is the multitude of educational, interactive games that you get get for them (sold separately, of course). One such example is the LeapFrog Explorer Game – Doc McStuffins – English Version, which allows your child to learn about good health with Doc McStuffins and a variety of animals. Your child will join the Doc at her clinic and use his or her newly developing problem-solving skills to preform medical check-ups and learn vital health lessons while treating the Doc’s toy patients. Your child will have hours of interactive fun while learning many important facts about good health. And who knows, it may even inspire your child to become a full-fledged Doctor someday! For Best Buy’s full selection of Leap Frog Games, simply follow the preceding link. Be aware, however, that not all of LeapFrog’s game cartridges work with all LeapFrog tablets & Leapster or Leapster Explorer systems, so keep an eye out for that and make sure you avoid compatibility mismatches.
I hope that you’ve found today’s blog helpful! If so, be sure to join me in the coming weeks as I continue this series with articles outlining educational toys for your child entering Grade Primary and educational toys that will stimulate your child’s memory. The goal of this series is to help parents with small children to give their kids the very best start to their learning and education. Please feel free to offer questions, comments, and suggestions in the discussion space below, and have an excellent day! Thanks for stopping by.
