If you haven’t already figured this out from reading my personal blog, I’m a fairly laid-back parent where it comes to my children’s development.  Even when it became obvious that CJ would need a little extra help in the language department, I figured it would just take time for her to catch up.

Likewise, my approach to choosing a day-care-slash-preschool for my kids was also pretty basic.  My top priorities were their safety and comfort.  Academics were secondary.

But I’ve always loved reading, and I couldn’t help twitching a bit every time the girls would put down a book and stare raptly up at the TV.  I wanted them to love reading, but I didn’t want to push them into a love for reading.

The LeapFrog Tag Reader has been a great resource in helping them enjoy reading, especially CJ.  Tacy can already read on her own, but CJ is still learning her letters.  She’s not yet sight-reading any words (except her own name), but with this magic pen - the Tag Reader - she’s well on her way.

She runs the electronic pen over the pages of the LeapFrog Tag books (including Olivia, one of her very favorites), and the stories are read TO her - word by word.  She can go back and explore the words on the page at her leisure, which is especially cool and prolongs the reading experience.  It won’t be long before she’s starting to sight-read on her own.

LeapFrog is the first sponsor of the Savvy Source sidebar widget, which links to a quiz on the Savvy Source site that assesses the developmental stages of your child, based on your answers to a series of questions in a dozen different skill categories.

If you haven’t already heard of Savvy Source, you must not read blogs - or you’ve been hiding under a rock.  Several prominent parent bloggers (including a few PBN bloggers) post regularly for Savvy Source about family activities in their respective cities - their Being Savvy initiative.  Beyond that, Savvy Source is a fantastic reference for preschool research, particularly in big cities where preschool selection is an Event with a capital E.

The Savvy Quiz generates personalized recommendations for your child - toys and games and activities - based on their developmental stage.  Any parent of more than one child knows how vastly different they can be in terms of their personal skills, even when they’re the same age.  For example, Tacy was always highly verbal, whereas CJ is extremely physical and artistically inclined.  The same toys, games, and activities that interested Tacy when she was three aren’t necessarily what CJ enjoys now that she’s three.  The Savvy Quiz provides guidance for choosing what’s appropriate for a child’s developmental stage, not just their age.

Finally, the sidebar widget (over there, look to the left), is a revenue generator (whoo!) that bloggers can install on their blogs (main sites and review blogs) to guide their readers over to the Savvy Quiz while earning a few extra bucks.  Right now the widget is invitation-only, but all the PBN bloggers who are participating in this campaign have invitations to dole out - so start sucking up!