Educational Insights Hot Dots Let's Master 2nd Grade Reading Set with Interactive Pen

I am a Teacher and used Hot Dots Grade 2 Reading to assist students in the class that are struggling with reading. The students had no idea it was educational and thoroughly enjoyed the lights/sounds. It's great when the students are lining up to "play" with the game.

My son loves playing with the Hot Dots sets. I like that each one builds on the previous one. This is helpful so my child will continue to learn and grow rather than having lots or repeats. I like the 2nd grade reading books because they work on grammar and reading rules and not just how to read. I also like that it uses the same vocabulary as they are learning in school (like homophone). Not only does this help my son learn in addition to school but it helps refresh my memory on the correct verbiage so I can help my son rather than say things like, "These words sound the same but mean different things." Now I can say "These words are homophones." This pen is a great motivational tool. Lights and sound go off when an answer is chosen. This will help my child be able to do the books on his own in the car or at home. He loves learning and I love finding him "toys" that help him excel.

My 7 y/o enjoyed playing and learning with this toy. It comes with an interactive pen and 2 books. The books are broken up in different categories, such as reading comprehension, prefixes and suffixes, punctuation, and capitalization. The pen and books were easy for him to use. He was excited when he would get the answers correct!

I have two children ages 7 and 9. They were immediately intrigued by this item. They love the interactive pen and the immediate feedback it gives. The kit comes with 2 spiral bound books with 85 lessons and 15 advanced lessons plus the interactive talking pen. The skills covered include reading comprehension, synonyms and antonyms, homophones and multiple meaning words, context clues, spelling, and punctuation and grammar. The skills are a good stretch for my 1st grader and a great review for my 3rd grader. I have left it sit out and a number of times the kids will pick it up on their own and play with it for a few minutes. I look forward to using it this summer as we continue to review skills. It keeps the interest of children in a wide age range (we had a friends 2nd grade daughter over and she played with this over an hour).

My grandson isn't really into the homework he brings home from school. We don't treat Hot Dots like work. He plays with it (learning along the way) until he wants to be finished. This has worked out super because he is learning and challenging himself while feeling he is in control of the situation. I love that the pen makes reading more fun. I feel it is very age appropriate. He asked me for the Math version. I received a sample in exchange for a honest and unbiased review.

My grandson got a kick out of the noises it made when he got an answer correct or wrong. He smiled the whole time. It was good practice for his reading skills.

My daughter had fun playing with this. She is in first grade, but reads quite a bit above grade level, but she still had fun playing with this set. She liked hearing the different sound effects and trying to figure out how the pen worked. I only wish the pen had come with an initial set of batteries. It seems like a lot of battery-operated toys come with an initial set of batteries to get started anymore, so that would be my only recommendation.

My daughter is in first grade, but we got her the grade 2 Let's Master Reading because she's 7-1/2, and she's an advanced reader. The only reason I didn't rate it 5 stars was because some of the content was still too easy for her. The part she really enjoyed was the reading comprehension section. I wish there was more. Also, plurals were somewhat of a challenge for her, so that was good. Additionally, I like the multiple choice format, which should help her with standardized testing once she gets to 3rd grade.

My first-grade son received this. It comes in a box with a handle for easy transport and storage. Inside are two fifty-page, spiral-bound, laminated books of reading and language arts questions and the Hot Dots pen. Each page contains two questions. There are 85 pages of regular questions and 15 pages of more advanced ones. Topics covered are reading comprehension, synonyms & antonyms, homophones & multiple-meaning words, context clues, spelling, and punctuation & grammar. Two AAA batteries required for the pen aren't included. The pen is interchangeable and can be used with other Hot Dots books. Children read the questions and use the pen to choose their answer. If the answer is correct, it lights up green and makes positive sounds, if it's wrong, it lights up red and makes negative sounds. One button on the pen is used to select the type of sounds. You can choose speech, sound effects, or a combination. The second button changes the volume level to low, high, or mute. My son really liked the concept of Hot Dots. However, he found even most of the advanced questions to be too easy. He said that these topics were covered in first grade, and it shouldn't be rated for second-grade use. A problem he had with the pen was that if you don't hold it straight up and down and put it in the center of the dot, it sometimes told him he was wrong, even though he answered correctly. This was frustrating to him. Overall, I like the concept of this product. It makes learning fun, and kids can do this independently. Parents don't have to hound their children with questions. This can be used while traveling, waiting for an appointment, or even at a restaurant with the sound muted. However, I feel this is not at a second-grade level, which is why I only gave it three stars. If your child is testing at grade level or higher, I would order this product at least one or two years above their current grade. EI sent me this product in exchange for an honest review.

Its too advanced for the age and grade stated