Leap Frog reply

A few weeks ago, March 1 to be exact, I sent LeapFrog an email about the word "war" that came up in my daughter's word whammer. I questioned the appropriateness of that word for preschoolers, as I happen to think it's a concept that would be difficult for a three or four year old to grasp. Here's my response from LeapFrog:

Dear LeapFrog Customer,

Thank you for contacting LeapFrog support.

Thank you for taking the time to express to us your concerns regarding LeapFrog’s Word Whammer Fridge Phonics Set.

Several factors are taken into consideration when choosing words for the database of a particular product, including age range, state and national curriculum standards, and educational content references, such as The Children's Writer's Word Book. Please be assured that our including 'war' and 'gun' was based on these criteria, and was in no way intended to make a political statement about the concepts these words represent. This product was designed solely to teach letter names, letter sounds, and three-letter consonant-vowel-consonant words.

We understand that this issue is important to our consumers, and we are reviewing our word database to ensure that the learning experience we provide is enjoyable and appropriate.

We believe the learning experience offered is valuable; however, if you wish to return the LeapFrog product, we will kindly replace your Word Whammer Fridge Phonics Set for product of equal or lesser value, or provide a full refund for the product and postage costs incurred.

Again thanks for contacting LeapFrog support.

So, there you have it. They chose the words "gun" and "war" for their preschool product. Actually, gun doesn't necessarily strike me as strange, as kids know plenty about them. They see them enough on TV, use them in games and they are common toys. War just seems a little more difficult to explain, but whatever. If they think that is appropriate, then who am I to question the "experts"? I'm just a mom!