I think I juggle a lot as a mom, but being a kid is hard work too. Keeping up with homework and studying for tests while also participating in sports, activities or music lessons can be tough.
The LeapFrog® Crammer
I wish I’d had the Crammer when I first started studying foreign languages. One of the best ways to learn new words is by making flash cards. Flash cards are a great study tool, but they have their downsides. Sometimes I would run out of index cards in the middle of making flashcards or drop a massive and unwieldy pile of flashcards on the bus. Besides….traditional flash cards waste a lot of paper, so they aren’t very “green.”
The Crammer simplifies the process of creating flashcards. You can create your own test questions and flash cards on your computer, organize them into sets, and load them onto the Crammer with the included USB cable. My product tester found it easy to create and load the flashcards.
The Crammer makes it easy to study on the go while riding the bus to school or driving around with mom to your piano lessons. And to help kids concentrate better while they study on a noisy bus or at school, there’s even a digital music player. The player is fairly basic. So if your child has been begging for an iPod, the Crammer probably won’t satisfy them. But my tester enjoyed listening to tunes while studying, and I didn’t hear any complaints about the quality of the music. I tried the music player too, and I thought it worked well enough given the price of the Crammer (under $50).
Kids in grades three through eight can download math, social studies, and science quizzes online for free at the LeapFrog Study Edge site. You can check out a demo of the site’s features at www.leapfrog.com/gaming/crammer.
While I still prefer the process of making custom flash cards and study questions since kids learn by creating/inputting the questions, my 5th grade tester really liked the downloadable quizzes. And her 4th grade sister begged to borrow the Crammer since she wanted to play “games” too. I was amused to hear anyone referring to math and social studies quizzes as games…but it is a great endorsement of the product since learning should be fun.
A few caveats:
-Similar to an iPod or an expensive cellphone, the Crammer won’t stand up to heavy abuse. So I wouldn’t buy it if you don’t think your child is mature enough to use electronics responsibily. And you might want to buy a case for the Crammer to protect it in case of a drop.
-I wish there were a better backlight on the device. My tester was able to see fine, but I would have preferred a brighter screen.
Despite these two minor criticisms, I would still highly recommend the LeapFrog® Crammer
Want It:
The LeapFrog® Crammer
