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Parents are the best teachers {Review and Giveaway of Pen Pal Whizz}

I like to think that as a mum, I am one of the best teachers my children can have in the first few years of their lives. Back when I was teaching at Berries, it was enjoyable and mostly easy to teach Chinese to a group of preschoolers as the syllabus, worksheets and teaching aids had all been prepared for us.

When it comes to teaching my 4-year-old who only goes to half-day childcare, especially now that I have another baby to take care of 24/7, sometimes I can't help but ask myself: Is she supposed to know this Chinese character by now? What else can I do besides printing writing worksheets? Is she even interested in all my flash cards? Is she effectively bilingual? Am I doing enough to teach her as a stay-at-home mum?

Just when that last question was weighing heavily on my mind,  I was introduced to Pen Pal Whizz and was astounded by all the magic contained in a pen. Seriously, it was a load lifted off my shoulders and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect timing.
 

Pen Pal Whizz - A brilliant education tool which seeks to enhance learning and interaction in children
Children aged 3-7 have strong cognitive abilities and therefore it is optimal for them to start learning more at this age to prepare them for higher education. Pen Pal Whizz, a simple pen device that allows children to tap on what they want to learn, blends digital technology and traditional learning, transforming printed materials into interactive tools that can emit responsive voices or sounds.

The Pen Pal Whizz bundle comes equipped with 18 books customised for kids aged 2-7

It is a unique education tool that not only recites written text, it also enables character dialogue, gives clues to play games, allows the child to practise reading after the narrator and so on. These fun, refreshing aspects arouse the curiosity of the child, enabling a new learning experience through a combined sense of touch, sight, hearing and cognitive thinking.

How it works: 1) Switch on, 2) Tap pen on selected book cover, 3) Ready to read! It's that easy!


Benefits of Pen Pal Whizz:

1) Provides an additional dimension to traditional book reading
Enables child to engage in visual and audio learning simultaneously.

2) Set your own pace
You and your child can decide and customise your pace of learning.

3) Portable and convenient
Allows learning to take place anytime, anywhere.

4) Embedded games and character dialogue  
Arouses curiosity, encourages exploration and increases attention span.

5) Unique and personalised
Voice recordings, selection of books and MP3s make each pen one of its kind.

6) Promotes self-learning
Great way to engage a child when adult supervision is not possible.

It makes me relieved to know that my girl can now learn by herself when Mummy is busy
As of now, Pen Pal Whizz is already compatible to over 100 English and Chinese titles which are in line with our local curriculum. Popular titles such as BLEAGH! by Leana Lyn Doray and award-winning series by local author Emily Lim now come in Pen Pal Whizz compatible editions and the characters can even 'talk'. (Review and giveaway on selected titles will be coming up end of the month)

New books are also continuously added to the JLB library collection every month and users can download them for free. In fact, JLB provides customization service and can make your favourite book come alive. Every pen comes with a 4GB in-built memory, is shock-resistant, child-friendly in design, re-chargeable and can even function as a MP3 player.

Now, there are more reasons than one why this pen can really be a great pal to have.

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Additional materials

Apart from the books, we also wish to share with you two added features (sold separately) which we absolutely love. First is the Magical Music Card, which with the use of Pen Pal Whizz, a piece of paper transforms into a --- PIANO! Now we can have a music lesson anytime, anywhere, even when we are on holiday.

Now, this has to be the lightest and most compact piano I have ever seen
The second is my personal favourite - Voice Recordable Stickers. You can easily record your voice or your child's voice into every individual sticker, peel it off and stick it anywhere you want! I can already imagine all the endless possibilities, from customizing our favourite but non-compatible story books, adding audio captions in travel albums, making learning charts more interactive for instance adding English/Chinese names to Parts of My Body, or even recording the hubby's voice so that he can still tell the girls a bedtime story when he is out at sea.

The stickers are sold at S$9.90 for 11 sheets of 40 stickers each. You can re-record every of them and to avoid messages from getting accidentally erased, you can just peel off and stick the 'Play' portion
Now, are you as amazed as I am by the sheer magic of Pen Pal Whizz? To give you a better idea of how it works, Angel and I have even come up with a demo video just for you! Well, you are welcome!



As you can see, I am having as much fun as my girl is with our newly found Pen Pal. In fact, we even recite poems and have singing contests just so we can keep recording our voices over and over again. Listening to your voice is one of the best ways to improve on your pronunciation and achieve good enunciation, isn't it?

Mummy! Look, I have so many new books and a great friend to accompany me in reading them!

Lastly, I have to remind you that no educational tool should ever replace the role of a parent and it is always important that we spend quality time reading, listening and learning with our children. Every. Single. Day. Yes, parents are the best teachers so here's wishing all of you a HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY!

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What better way to celebrate Teacher's Day than to hold a giveaway and encourage readers to be the best teachers to their kids?


Terms and conditions:

1) This giveaway is open to Singaporean residents only.
2) Winner can choose between a blue or pink Pen Pal Whizz (1-year warranty included) and will be required to self-collect the prize at JLB office.
3) Winner will be notified and must respond within 72 hours, or prize will be redrawn.

Simply follow the below steps to enter. Best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Update
If you are keen to try out the product physically, you can do so by visiting the retail stores stated here. Alternatively, you can also purchase it directly from JLB. Currently, the Pen Pal Whizz bundle (with the 18 books) is retailing at a promotional price of S$188 with free delivery. Consumers can contact JLB at 6776 6787 or email to enquiry@jlb.com.sg for orders. 

Disclosure: We received a Pen Pal Whizz bundle and supplementary materials for the purpose of this review. No monetary compensation was received in writing this post or filming the video. All opinions, voice-over and off-key singing are our own. 

58 comments:

  1. This is certainly a fun way for kids to read.

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  2. I find that teaching Chinese is the hardest for me.

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  3. I feel maths is difficult for me to explain and teach.. then again. I am still stuck at English!

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  4. Mandarin is hardest for me... Actually Math too! :)

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  5. This is a useful tool to have! It is nice to still be able to listen to hubby's voice even when he is overseas!

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  6. This is sure a fun and interesting way to teach my kids.
    I am sure I am able to get their attention now. LoL
    Mummy Belin

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  7. I would certainly love to try this out! And it's so useful that it is bilingual :) definitely helps to compliment when the parent is not strong in one of the languages.

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  8. I dunno how this may work out, but I entered anyway!

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  9. For me I would feel is Math because when I try to use my method to teach them, they might seem to understand all the time.

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  10. I feel that chinese is the most difficult especially the writing part.

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  11. Chinese is definitely a "struggle" for me! :P This would be useful!

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  13. Speaking Chinese is not hard - it's learning to recognise the characters and remembering how to write them!

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  14. Teaching him everything is hard!

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  15. It's a great tool for self learning !
    Lyn Teo

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  16. Teaching Chinese is the hardest.
    Lyn Teo

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  17. Woo sounds like a good learning tool. Would like to try it for my girl :)

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  18. Teaching English phonics is probably the hardest.I have not learnt that in school. And of course, English since it is one of my worst subject.
    Thanks for the giveaway!

    Lilium

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  19. ooo... this is really innovative! pick me please =)

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  20. ooo... this is really innovative! pick me please =)

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  21. I think written chinese is the hardest!

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  22. You used to teach at Berries! Noey is at Berries now, as I write this comment :) I have trouble with chinese, mainly because my own Chinese isn't good! It used to be decent in school but I've returned it all to my teachers :P Noey has the Tag pen, which works on the same concept, but this is better if it has Chinese books too.

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  23. Languages are the hardest to grasp!

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  24. WOW! This is great to start my boy on reading, learning proper mandarin!

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  25. Looks interesting to spark kiddo's interest in learning Chinese, wld love to test it out :)

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  26. This is a good tool to use! I'm already imagining myself at home working on my laptop.. and I can have my 5year old "at work"with this pen next to me too! ~ Alicia Wee

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  27. My boy will love this! He has been pestering me to get one of these "talking pens" as his school uses something similar.

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  28. This is a great tool! My kids can learn Chinese using this pen!

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  29. Chinese and Maths are probably the two most difficult subjects to teach.

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  30. Thanks for hosting the giveaway. I feel that English phonics is the hardest for me to teach my kids as I have never learnt phonics before!

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  31. I think English is the hardest subject to teach. Esther Liow

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  32. Chinese is really not easy to teach and it will help if there are more such interesting and useful tools around !! :)

    Evelyn Lim

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  33. This will keep both Ayra and her grandparents busy and in a great learning way!

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  34. Teaching English is tough for me as I am not as good in English as my wife is.

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  35. This will be useful for me to teach Sophie Chinese. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  36. Dana would fall in love with this Pen Pal Whizz. She's always asked me to read Chinese storybooks to her so this can occupy her when I'm away at work :) Thanks for organizing this giveaway.

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  37. I find it hardest to teach Mandarin because I myself have always struggled with the language. In fact I always get stumped whenever J asks what is a certain word in Chinese :( This pen looks like a useful and interesting tool for kids to learn!

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  38. Wow thanks for sharing! Love it.

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  39. Mandarin is the hardest subject to teach simply because we don't speak enough of it.

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  40. This seemed very interesting and useful.

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  41. great stuff! like it love it, want it!!

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  42. Finally a solution to my woes to make my son learn his chinese! Thanks for sharing

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  43. I think teaching languages is the hardest, whether it's English or Chinese.

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  44. Amazing & Innovative. Nice way to get more attention & share a quality time with the child. Special bonding time which makes both happy as its a FUN Learning. Who will say Noo...

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  45. I find English hardest to teach as I'm not good at it as well.

    Xgg Chan

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  47. I find teaching maths quite hard because while she can understand counting to 100, it's tough to teach concepts.

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  48. This will aid in teaching my sons!

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  49. both me and hubby have bad Chinese language... this is sure going to help us!

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  50. I find English hardest to teach as English Grammar is very confusing.

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  51. Teaching English language is tough where we have to start from young and have to learn alot of grammar, vocabulary, pronouncation and stuff.

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  52. i find chinese the most difficult for me.. i totally can't make it myself, let alone teach!

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  53. Chinese is the hardest for me because I don't know Chinese myself. So we are basically learning together !

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  54. I find Chinese hanyu pinyin the hardest as its often confusing with English phonics! I hope I can have some help with the Magical Hanyu Pinyin from Pen Pal Whizz! :))

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  55. My kids sure learn well with this! :)

    Regards
    Jeslyn

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  56. It would be a fun way for my son to learn.

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  57. woah!! I am super impressed and fascinated with this pen pal, especially the voice recording sticker function!! just cant wait to try this with my boy!!!

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Yoohoo, thanks so much for reading my blog and leaving your comment! I am feeling the love! (^.^)