Educational Insights Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set Review & Giveaway

Summer is over & it's officially Back to School in our household! Even though the Lil Divas are both in school (PreK & K) - the learning never stops in our house. I am always looking for fun ways to enrich, reinforce and review what the Lil Divas are learning in school. So I was beyond excited to be able to share Educational Insight's Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set with them.

The Lil Divas are very familiar with Ace (the Talking Dog Pen) since we had the opportunity to previously review Ace and Hot Dots Jr. Phonics Cards so they were excited to try the new set right away.


What's in the Box?
The Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set comes with 1 Ace Talking, Teaching Dog Pen, a Lesson Guide and 80 two-sided interactive lesson cards.

There are 5 card sets in the box-
Set 1 - Shapes
Set 2 - Colors & Patterns
Set 3 - Let's Learn Numbers
Set 4 - Learning the Alphabet
Set 5 - Uppercase & Lowercase Letters

Our Thoughts & Experience w/ the Getting Ready for School Set:
Educational Insight's Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set is geared for ages 3-6 and grades PreK thru 1st. The Lil Divas are in PreK & K/ages 4 &5 and the set really is perfect for them. It reviews and reinforces letter recognition, counting, number and number word recognition, shapes, patterns and colors.

I really like that the card sets target multi-levels. Both of Lil Divas were able to use different cards in the set to review and reinforce things appropriate for their age/level. For example, while the Littlest Diva counted items pictured and identified the correct number the Oldest Diva worked on number words. While the Littlest Diva focused on color matching the Oldest Diva worked with color words.  This offered wonderful reading practice/sight word recognition for the Oldest Diva and she had lots of fun while practicing.

As a busy mom I really appreciate that the set is self-correcting and child directed. This would be a wonderful addition to a classroom, homeschool or any home with young children. This is definitely something that children can work on independently, one-on-one with a teacher or parent or in a small group (i.e. class center activity). The card sets would be great to reinforce things being taught, review skills learned and check mastery. They can be incorporated into themes and units at school, be used as games or simply be a fun learning toy.

Ace the Talking, Teaching Dog Pen is a fun interactive tool. He lights up, barks in excitement and provides lots of positive reinforcement. When an incorrect answer has been chosen he encourages the user to try again. Both Lil divas LOVE Ace and they get so excited when he tells them they are correct!

Overall, as both a mom and an educator I was very pleased with this set. The only thing I would change is that there should be additional sets sold with supplemental material. I can see this getting too easy after repeated use since the material would be familiar. I would love to see additional sets sold. I know there are additional boxed sets for Hot Dots Jr. but I really like these larger cards with more questions on them.

The Lil Divas are enjoying Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set and this is definitely something that will be used a lot in our home. The Littlest Diva even takes her Ace pen and cards in the car for play/work on the go.

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Buy It: 

Purchase Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set 

at Educational Insight's website. (Retail Price = $39.99)

Win It: 

Educational Insights has graciously agreed to giveaway

One (1) Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set

to One (1) lucky Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Reader!

How to Enter:

**Contest ends on 9/8/11**

 One (1) lucky Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas reader

(US Residents Only!) is going to receive:

a Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set kit

Mandatory Entry:

Visit Educational Insights website & tell me what you would like to review and/or learn with the  Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set and who you would like to win it for. 

Please include your email w/your comment so I can find you if you're our winner!

**Mandatory Entry must be completed for extra entries to count**

Extra Entries (Optional)

Please leave a separate comment

for each entry &

please include your e-mail

so I can get back to you if you win! 

*If you are already a follower leave a comment that counts as an entry*

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7. Vote for me on Parents (Best Craft for Kids Blog)
8. Make a comment on any non-giveaway post on Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas Blog and leave a link.  You can do this for up to 5 posts but please note that comment must be dated after the start date of this post - not valid on previous comments. (+2) leave 2 comments
9. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a link - can be done once a day
10. Tweet: #Win @ed_insights Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set w/@Momto2PoshDivas end 9/8 http://goo.gl/f #giveaways #homeschool #preschool

Giveaway Rules:

Giveaway ends 9/8/2011 at 11:59 (PDT)

Winner will be chosen via random.org. 

& contacted via email if an email is given .

Winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize.

Please note any entries that can not be verified will be disqualified.

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Disclaimer: I received The Hot Dots Jr. Getting Ready for School Set for free for the purposes of trying it out for this review. That being said, this review is my 100% honest opinion of this product - I  am not paid for my reviews or optinions! They are 100% mine! Please remember that your opinions and tastes might differ from mine. 

Good Luck,

Bern