Educational Insights Hot Dots Jr. Let's Master Kindergarten Reading Set with Interactive Hot Dots Audio Pen, Ages 5-6

Perfect to help little ones learn to read on their own.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the pen gives the WRONG ANSWER on several items. This educational toy is intended to help children learn letters, but it's just going to confuse them. Do not buy. I'm guessing ALL of them are like this, and most parents just haven't sat with the book long enough to discover it. DO NOT BUY. THIS ITEM WILL STUNT YOUR CHILD'S READING DEVELOPMENT.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] My daughter loves all the Hot Dot sets. We are definitely going to buy more!

First, let me say that there are no instructions required for this to work. When it's working properly the pen should automatically respond correct or incorrect accordingly when a dot in the notebook is lightly presses with the black tip. I was pulling my hair out and convinced we were doing something wrong until I read on here that many people were having the same problem with the pen always responding that the answer is incorrect. Read below for the quick fix. I took the pen apart and discovered the black tip was sticking out way too far for it to function. There's a contact pad (similar to a remote control button) that the tip must contact for it to work properly. Ours was sticking out almost 1/4" when we got it. If yours is like this, the tip needs to be pushed in until it's sticking out only 1/16"-1/8". The way it's designed, you can't just push the black tip in, but luckily you don't need to take it apart to fix it either. Just wedge a very small flatblade screwdriver between the tip and the plastic on the front (dog's face) side. You MUST insert the screwdriver on this side or the opposite side of the tip for this fix to work. Then, gently push the screwdriver inward (up toward the dog's head) and push on the black tip at the same time in the same direction. You'll know when to stop because the tip will bottom out. You may need to remove the batteries to reset it, but it should be working correctly once you put it the batteries back in and try to use it again. I hope this helps someone else!

This product is perfect for my kindergartener! She is starting to identify her letter sounds and associate it with words/pictures and her progress has improved because of this! She loves that the pen makes fun sounds and loves the interactive element of it. Highly recommend!

We are absolutely loving this little set!! I love that my kindergarten boy can use this on his own during quiet time! He thinks it's so fun to use the little dog pen, and I love that he is learning!! Little sister (age 3) can even do some of the first book (it came with 2). This is a great addition to our homeschool resources!!

My kids love this! I even love the packaging how it's so kid friendly and they can open it up themselves. I bought an extra pen so that both my kids can utilize the books at the same time. My kids love the dog pen's reaction. There are two books provided. The first book is easier so it's great for my younger and the book 2 is a bit more challenging so it's great for my older one. Book 1 focuses on the letters and book 2 focuses on phonics and also incorporates math with shape and math words which is great! I'd definitely recommend this product for children ages 3-6.

The Hot Dots Jr. Kinder reading set is so engaging and fun for my kids! Both my 3 and 5 year old really dove into them and had so much fun doing each page. The pen talks to you and lets you know if the answer is correct or wrong. My younger one really likes the dog pen that was included with the set, while my 5 year old enjoys the sleek silver one that I purchased. Having two pens allows both kids to use the set simultaneously. I love how the kids can independently do busy work. I wish I had known about this product at the beginning of quarantine! I will definitely be purchasing the subsequent reading and math sets.

We wanted something to supplement remote learning and this is a good option that is easy to use. Our kindergartner can do this on his own once we get him started. I like the spiral notebook because it makes it lie flat unlike other workbooks. This is a good way to use technology that doesn't involve a screen.

We've been using workbooks this Summer to prepare my son for Kindergarten this Fall. I just ordered this set to use to break up the monotony of doing workbooks and worksheets. My son loves it! He can do it on his own and the interactive pen makes it fun for him. As soon as he saw me opening up the package, he wanted to give it a try. He went through the first book pretty quickly and is using the second book now. The later sections of book two will be good practice for him once he starts school, as they are the more difficult lessons in the set. It's a fun teaching tool that is easy for kids to do on their own and a great supplemental activity.

We are LOVING this Hot Dots reading set!! It cones with an interactive dog shaped pen and 2 books to interact with. One book is easy for my kindergartener (but perfect for my almost 3 year old). The second book is right at his level. I love that he can do these independently during quiet time or in the car without needing me- and he's learning!! I highly recommend this set!!

We love this pen and book! My 5 year old can do this independently for about 30 minutes and she loves it. She loves that she can take it anywhere she wants to. I love that it teaches her how to read and she doesn't need/want me to help her with it. Only reason why I took off a star was because of the pen. The pen itself is super cute but the battery part is kind of hard to open and it took a while for the pen to sync with the book. The first couple minutes of her playing with the book, it would tell her she was wrong when she got the correct answer and she was right when she was wrong. But after a while, it was doing it correctly. Overall, this is a very good "toy" to have around the house! 😊

My 5 year old son loved this educational toy! We have never tried Hot Dots before, but we will definitely be trying more of these products. The pen makes it fun and interactive and there was very minimal instruction he needed to figure out what each page was asking. It's also great in the car!

This is the perfect product to help prepare kids for kindergarten language arts skills. My 5 year old loves doing hot dots sets and I feel they have really helped her to keep learning at home in a fun way! This set includes two books with 100 lessons on language art skills like upper/lower case letters, beginning consonants, ending consonants, short/long vowels and sight words. I really like how the Ace pen provides immediate feedback so she can do these lessons on her own as well as with me. Hot dots are the perfect alternative or addition to workbooks and work sheets. Personally, I think my 5 year old is too young still to only be doing work sheets/work books (because learning should be fun at this young age!) so I love how hot dots provides a fun way to learn! I'm so glad we got this for my 5 year old because she will be more than ready for kindergarten in the fall!

easy and well priced

My children loved the item until the pen stopped working and was saying everything was incorrect. It was very frustrating for my son with special needs because "he knew" it was right.

Loved it until the pen started saying "incorrect " to everything.

Hot Dots Jr. Reading has been fabulous for my Kindergartners. They use it independently with very little help from me. They like that it tells them if they are correct or incorrect. The skills are tied to our Learning Objectives and are age-appropriate. I have two children work on the Hot Dots Jr. together during centers time. It really is a "Top Choice" in my classroom.

I dont know about you but there are so many Kindergarten work books out there that tend to waste a ton of paper. I bought several for my daughter but since she was practicing I didn't want her permanently marking the pages. That is why i now prefer this reading set. It is essentially similar to the typical K reading workbooks, but rather than mark the pages, your child just has to touch the pen to the answers. My daughter has been learning so much, and it is surprising me so I am thankful to have this easy to use set!! Plus, the blue puppy is really cute! It requires 2 AAA batteries that are not included.

The Hot Dots Jr. Let's Master Kindergarten Reading kit from Educational Insights is a definite buy for any incoming or current Kindergartener. As a Kindergarten teacher, my students absolutely loved this kit. The kit comes with two, durable, high quality books and a talking, teaching dog pen named Ace! I use the reading kit in my daily classroom centers. My students love the automatic feedback Ace gives when they identify the correct answer. The students enjoyed the Hot Dots Jr. so much that they often think they're just playing a fun game, but little do they know, they're learning too! This kit is a great independent center activity that works on many of the skills taught in Kindergarten. I absolutely love how this kit provides 15 challenging reading lessons for advanced learners too! The books provide a lot of letter and sound recognition that is great for beginning readers. It is easy to transport and can easily fit into any bag, purse, backpack, etc. for great activities on the go! Overall, I would highly recommend this kit to any parent, teacher, or child. My students were so eager to learn with the Hot Dots Jr. Reading Kit and I love it too!