"Phonics Tilesâ„¢ makes school fun!" -- TOSâ„¢ Magazine

Neurosmith has done it again! This is another smart toy for which the company is well known! Phonics Tilesâ„¢ is just what every pre-schooler and kindergartener needs, and to be honest, I think this is a perfect tool for special needs children, including those who are dyslexic and/or who possess other learning disabilities.

It's a large mat, very colorful, with heavy duty "tiles" in their own sturdy, plastic pouches. Each tile represents a letter. A recorded voice (female and very fun sounding) directs the child to place specific letters on the sound slots made available at the top of the machine (keyboard). As this happens (correctly), the letter sounds are echoed back to the child. Soon, the female guide has you "writing" (keying, actually) simple words. When your child scores, celebratory sounds emit from the control panel at the top of the mat. Soon, increasingly difficult words are required to be "written." No writing even takes place however! It's all DECIPHERING and keying in - game style!

Neurosmith explains that "Phonics Tilesâ„¢ helps children discover and explore the relationship between combinations of letters and the sounds they make." Very musical as well. Kids love it! Something else we observed - as we all know, we have long entered the information age, and EVERYONE needs to know how to keyboard, since computers abound. While penmanship is important and can never be dismissed, keyboarding at an early age is a great idea. Phonics Tilesâ„¢ is an early keyboard in a sense.

Our son, Paul, age 12, often assists us as we assess the wide variety of products that come in for our perusal. His own personal assessment of Phonics Tilesâ„¢ is as follows:

Phonics Tilesâ„¢ is a very well-made reading method. It has helped my sister, Julia, a lot. I highly recommend this product for ages three through nine. It's such a great instrument for learning how to read! Julia was very interested when we first opened the box. I think this is a very well-made product. It teaches a child their alphabet and their sounds and how to make words from them. Phonics Tilesâ„¢ makes school fun!

Of course, our 11-year-old son, Lukey, following in his "reviewer" brother's footsteps, had a few words of his own about Phonics Tilesâ„¢:

Phonics Tilesâ„¢ is a good program because it teaches you to do your ABCs and if you get the problem right, the machine makes happy noises and says, 'Super!' or 'Magnificent!' or other happy things. My sister really likes it and it teaches her school. Phonics Tilesâ„¢ is school, but it makes it fun. Not only does it teach you letters, but also words. It is a really neat program. When you get used to it, it's truly quite interesting. My sister and I do her sessions from time to time and the way I make it fun for her is that each time she gets a word right, she gets an M&M! Phonics Tilesâ„¢ is a helpful program for homeschoolers because it teaches you to read in a fun way!

Levi Mark, our eight-year-old, has found the game challenging for himself because the words get very difficult as you climb to higher levels in the "game." He has this to say:

They help me because there are some words that I don't know. There are games, a song...I like to do the 'learn' key because it's very easy and then you get to hard words. My two young cousins also have Neurosmith Toys: Jumbo Music Block and Music Blocks Maestro. My youngest cousin, Geoffy, liked those toys when he got them!

Now, of course, the review would not be complete without the wise counsel of Julia Rachel who is the master student of this wonderful learning toy. Here are her thoughts:

My name is Julia. Phonics Tilesâ„¢ is a fun game. I like it because it teaches me to read and to spell. What I like about it...there are games, songs and learning. I am six years old. When I grow up, I'm going to read so I can be a doctor. I like to make words in the Phonics Tilesâ„¢. I like it because it makes great noise. You push a button, like the red button, and it tells you to spell, like, 'pad' and stuff...and it's a really fun game. I like to play with it a lot and when I first got it, I started to play with it!

Well, the vote is in. AWARDS all the way around, and, speaking of this, please note the TOSâ„¢ Magazine EE Award for 2002, which was won by Neurosmith for BEST PHONICS in 2002. We love Neurosmith!