Recently I was lucky to try out the Tabeo E2 kids’ tablet, which was launched on October 14, 2013. As I earned my graduate degree in education from the rigorous, highly ranked program at Vanderbilt University Peabody College of Education last year, I remember receiving questions from my teaching mentor about how I would integrate technology in the classroom. Because I was a student teacher, I didn’t have the funds to invest in a tablet, and I strongly felt that my lesson plans were missing an important piece without the proper technology. Now, I have been homeschooling my 3 1/2 year old daughter Samantha, and I wanted her to have the best opportunities. My daughter had loved technology since she was an infant. Getting my daughter a tablet during her preschool years helped my daughter have the best educational opportunities and exposure to educational material.
Kids’ Tablet Review: the Tabeo E2
After using the tablet, I thought that the product had great educational value for my daughter. I personally went through all the apps to determine whether the activities would be appropriate. I found several apps that had educational books and videos for kids, and I would wholeheartedly recommend about half of the apps as educational and appropriate for early learners. Before I gave the tablet to my daughter Samantha, I deleted around half of the apps from the front screen, which didn’t delete them completely, but did make them more difficult for my daughter to find. One of the apps, which required a download, would have instantly linked to social media and prompted kids to purchase add-ons for the game. As a parent, I felt that monitoring my daughter’s use of the tablet was the key to ensuring her safety. I was glad that the parental controls were very effective. Over time, I learned to restrict the use of certain apps with the parental controls, and I became more relaxed about my daughter using the product unsupervised.
I loved that the tablet gave my daughter opportunities she wouldn’t have otherwise had. Because my daughter had photography as a hobby, she enjoyed using the tablet as a camera. My daughter took a dozen photos of her little sister. I was happy to see that the tablet helped to create a beautiful family experience that Samantha learned to record with pictures. The tablet did a good job of encouraging my daughter’s hobbies and interests, which helped her learn. Samantha got so interested in the stories played on the apps that she didn’t realize she was studying phonics. I explained to Samantha how e-mailing worked, and I was happy to help her craft a letter to a family member via my e-mail account. I did make sure to delete the history so my daughter couldn’t log back into my e-mail account unsupervised. As my daughter typed the letters, showing her letter recognition skills, I liked that my daughter learned literacy in a very authentic way that appealed to her.
For more information about the Tabeo E2 tablet, join Toys “R” Us on Facebook. Read my follow up review of the Tabeoke Karaoke Player, which goes with the Tabeo E2 and the Tabeoke app. As a parent to a young Nashville-based preschooler who loves singing, I look forward to sharing my future experiences with the product.
Disclosure
I received a free tablet to help inform my writing.
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