RRP: £9.99
Price: £0.99
Review My First CD-Rom: Getting Ready For School / Dorling Kindersley:Get ready for school - Parent assisted learning at its best, these CDs are fantastically simple, encouraging pre-schoolers to think for themselves through play. Windows 95/98/XP, Mac. Dorling Kindersley has produced yet another outstanding and completely new interactive learning system- My First CD-ROM: Getting Ready For School-to help children develop key pre-school skills while providing parents with advice and information on child development. It has been written in consultation with Sue Robson, a renowned early years' teacher, educational consultant and author, who is a senior lecturer at the Roehampton Institute. Meet Zack, a Jack-in-the-box and friendly on-screen guide whose aim is to make learning fun. Hear his clear explanations and animated instructions on how to play the six easy games. Each one can be adapted to suit your child's level of understanding and their fine motor skills. For example, choices can be made between using the mouse or the keyboard, or selecting different speeds or levels of difficulty, choosing between hearing letters as phonetic sounds or as names, and so on. This flexibility enables games to be adapted over and over again as your child's skills develop, so building and developing a child's confidence. The package is designed for 3-5 year-olds, under parental supervision, or for slightly older children to use on their own. [+]Progress can be monitored and difficulty levels can be adjusted according to age and ability. The games aim to acquaint and help children with the key topics covered in the first year at school, and include number recognition, logic, counting, mathematical language, shapes and sizes, spatial awareness, speaking and listening, letter recognition and letter sounds. Work sheets can be printed out which can extend learning beyond the PC. Buy this package for your youngster, and lay firm foundations with its highly effective approach to parent-assisted learning. -Susan Naylor.
Price: £24.98
Review Speaking for Myself PLUS - HOME EDITION / Topologika Software Ltd:
RRP: £9.99
Price: £3.75
Review Jump Ahead Starting School (DVD Case) / Focus Multimedia Ltd 5031336013552:Starting School, aimed at children of four to five years old, is another first-class CD-ROM in Focus Multimedia's "Children" series, a range of fun and educational titles to entertain and encourage your children to develop important skills through play. The whole program exploits a child's curiosity by getting Hopsalot the Rabbit and his friends to take part in all sorts of activities using fun, music and games. These all teach essential skills for starting school, and this version (the original having been an award winner) features new graphics, extra phonics and the technology to assess skills. Children are encouraged to learn the alphabet, phonics, rhymes, word pairs, sentences, visual discrimination, numbers and counting, ordering and sequencing, shapes and colours, time concepts and listening skills. Throughout there are songs to learn and sing, as well as opportunities to earn gold stars as a reward and swap them for a trip to the Zoo. Progress can be monitored and a workbook can be printed out if desired. There is also a pamphlet that has basic technical and installation information, and this should be read before beginning. Obviously help will be needed as the program is aimed at four to five-year-olds, but it is well worth the effort as the rewards are significant. -Susan Naylor.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £8.15
Review Let's Discover the Jungle & the Sav / Knowledge Adventure:Let's discover the Jungle and the Savannahintroduces young children to numbers, shape identification and creative skills in a highly imaginative way. Adiboo Choo, the friendly little alien, invites children aboard his magical house, the Boocopter, which then flies to the jungle. Among the cartoon animals, there are a whole range of educational games to play. Each step of the way Adiboo Choo and his friends explain clearly what has to be done and are generous with their praise. For one of the jungle animal games, you have to guide a python and a wildebeest over a bridge so they can find water. As the game develops children learn to identify the different types of animals. There is a general introductory discovery session for each game and then you can opt to play at different levels of difficulty. For the ant carnival game, children have to put an ant on the path and click to lead it back to its nest. As you progress through the levels, you have to count the numbers of ants and select them by their colours. There are imaginative musical activities as well where children can click with their mouse buttons to hear different African-themed instruments. [+]To start with, it's probably best for parents to set children up with one game to concentrate on. They can then progress at their own speed to different activities. The title is easy to install and in this bright and colourful environment your children are bound to enjoy all the interactive educational activities. -Justin Hunt.
RRP: £12.99
Price: £9.99
Review Let's Discover the Countryside / Knowledge Adventure 3348542090446:In the Adiboo Choo Countryside Adventure CD-ROM the cheerful alien invites young children to jump aboard the Boocopter, his colourful flying house, to fly them to the countryside for interactive fun. Travel with Adiboo Choo and his friends to visit the Guessing Barn where you click on animals to hear the noises they make and guess what they are. In addition to teaching skills such as recognising sounds, Adiboo Choo Countryside Adventure also encourages children to show consideration for others. There's a game in which you help a lost little rabbit find its mother by clicking and dragging with the mouse. Huge red cartoon-like hearts appear in the sky when they are both successfully reunited. If they tire of being in the countryside, children can explore Adiboo Choo's magical house. Simple clicking triggers off all kinds of entertaining learning activities-a click on the rocking horse starts a cowboy game and you have to fetch a hat for Adiboo Choo. And when they go into the toy box in the corner of the room, children can hear well-sung nursery rhymes and learn the actions that go with them. Adiboo Choo Countryside Adventure is a well-structured and entertaining CD-ROM for children aged 2 to 4 and has been developed in collaboration with nursery school teachers to ensure basic skills are taught. Some parental supervision is required but parents are likely to enjoy themselves as well. [+]Also available: Adiboo Choo Seaside Adventure. -Justin Hunt.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £0.80
Review My First CD-Rom: Dictionary / Dorling Kindersley:The superb, interactive My First Dictionary from Dorling Kindersley has been purposely designed so that very young children can use it to learn along with their parents, or alternatively, older children can use it alone. The age range therefore is quite broad, but it is aimed primarily at 3-7 year olds. Older children can use it to great benefit to practice specific areas which may need extra work. It's been proven that a child's learning becomes fun when it is presented in an entertaining, instructive and structured way (so they often learn without them even realising). My First Dictionary CD-ROM follow these rules. The easy-to-use games and activities, with more than 1,000 word definitions, are accompanied and supported by brightly coloured and appealing animations and narrations that will engage and interest children who are just learning to read, as well as those who have more advanced reading skills. Using this CD-ROM will help your child to learn the meaning of words, to practice spelling, to develop an awareness of relationships between words, to build vocabulary, to learn and extend PC skills (particularly mouse control), to acquire knowledge and practice alphabetical order, to recognise phonetic sounds, and to gain good, solid foundations in reading and spelling. There are four easy-to-use word and sound games: "Spell It", "Alphabet Scramble", "Guess What?" and "What's That Noise?", all accessible via the menu. Particularly entertaining is the "Surprise Me!" game, accessible via the tool bar. In addition, dictionaries can be personalised, entries can be copied and printed, stars can be earned as rewards, stickers can be collected, and the spelling activities have three levels of difficulty. [+]The package is not accompanied by an instruction pamphlet, but simple instructions for installation are displayed on the CD-ROM itself and excellent help for parents on every aspect of the package can be accessed via the tool bar. Explanations and animations can be switched off for older children. -Susan Naylor Learn to spell - Parent assisted learning at its best, these CDs are fantastically simple, encouraging pre-schoolers to think for themselves through play. Windows 95/98/XP, Mac.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £1.61
Review Top of the Class Preschool / Avanquest Software 5016488106474:
RRP: £4.99
Price: £0.33
Review Noddy - Let's Get Ready for School (PC) / BBC Multimedia:
RRP: £9.99
Price: £0.99
Review My First CD-Rom: Number / Dorling Kindersley:Dorling Kindersley has produced an excellent series of interactive parent-assisted learning packages designed for young children, of which My First Number is one. The CD-ROM is aimed at children aged 3-5 years and is especially useful for pre-school children or those needing more practice in early learning number skills. The package has been specifically designed to give youngsters an introduction to counting and sorting, and to help them gain confidence in using a computer. The games have been developed to allow children to play them on their own, but help may be needed initially, until youngsters get used the format. Make the sessions happy and relaxed, helping your child to learn with lots of fun. When playing alone, the fun will continue as they make decisions for themselves, and so their learning carries on without them even knowing. Game speeds and levels of difficulty can be altered, progress can be tracked and measured and help is automatically adjusted according to a child's responses. There are five easy games to play and they have been designed to be played in order. Meet Little Penguin and White Bear, appealing and humorous characters who use lots of songs, rhymes and animations to give practice in counting, number recognition, colour, and recognition of 2-D shapes, ordering numbers to create correct counting sequences, and practice in developing problem-solving skills. The CD-ROM is easy to install (instructions are on the disc, and there are comprehensive support notes for parents with full explanations about the games and activities that are accessed from the parent icon on the tool bar). [+]This is a valuable introduction to key mathematical concepts capitalising on the natural eagerness young children have to learn. -Susan Naylor.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £3.79
Review Jump Ahead French (PC) / Focus Multimedia Ltd:
RRP: £9.99
Price: £0.98
Review Learning Ladder: Pre-School / Dorling Kindersley:Learning Ladder Preschool is an excellent CD-ROM packed with a wide range of activities for 3-5 year olds. Woody the Pencil guides children through the different activities, which are very well explained. Children will enjoy becoming familiar with the mouse and navigating around the room making toys move and change. They will also enjoy doing the different activities such as painting the colouring book, having a go at recording their voice, listening to a story, doing puzzles and much more. By clicking on the different bears children can carry out activities related to words, numbers, time, directions/space, shapes and nature/objects. Each of these areas contains 18 different games for children to play, so there is plenty to keep them occupied. There's also a good range of activities, many of which support the Early Years Curriculum at school. For example, there are activities that work on identifying sounds in words and on ordering, counting, matching, etc. Children are rewarded with stickers when they complete an activity correctly and they will love collecting these in the sticker book. This would be an excellent buy for parents who want to introduce their child to using the computer in a fun and educational way. [+]-Amanda York.
RRP: £4.99
Price: £1.49
Review Rainbow Fish Interactive Storybook / Dorling Kindersley 5016488103855:Bring the underwater adventures of Rainbow Fish to life on your PC with this wonderful interactive children's CD-ROM. With an assortment of charming characters and a huge variety of games, musical fun and activities children aged 3 to 7 years will be instantly spellbound. Poor Rainbow Fish has had his scales stolen and only you can help. Solve the puzzles and complete the challenges to find the thieves and make him beautiful again. You'll meet friends along the way such as Head and Toe (the twin fish) and there are numerous games and activities to keep young minds entertained while teaching valuable skills such as recognition, problem solving, experimentation, logical thinking and creativity. A print shop lets you colour pictures on screen or print for later, and two difficulty levels make sure that younger children are able to join in the fun. Easily installed, the simple interface ensures that navigation is a breeze (vital for younger PC users) and the help menu is available at all times. Use of the mouse and cursor will help develop computer skills and hand-eye coordination, and the print applications available will provide additional PC skills. With the educational benefits you would expect from Dorling Kindersley, Rainbow Fish will surely become a child's favourite. -Amber Harbour.
RRP: £9.99
Price: £2.99
Review Big Cook Little Cook : Feast of Fun (PC) / Avanquest Software:
RRP: £19.99
Price: £0.45
Review Paddington The World Mystery Tour / Mindscape:For parents who grew up with Paddington Bear it may be a bit of a shock to see him coming around again for a new generation, but brace yourselves-Paddington The World Mystery Tour CD-ROM makes him a multimedia personality, in an educational adventure game suitable for children aged four years and up. Paddington has gone to Peru to visit Aunt Lucy who is turning 100 years old. When he gets there he finds she has gone missing, and he sets out to locate her. He has to travel the world in his search, learning as he goes. Paddington is armed with several tools to help, including a camera to take pictures (which are then stored in a photo album) and a magnifying glass, which is handy for finding clues. Mr Gruber, his friend from the original TV series and books, accompanies him and provides hints and advice, but ultimately it is up to you to solve each of the puzzles in this linear adventure. In places the game is rather too complex and difficult for children aged four to play alone-a parent definitely needs to be on hand. The first task, for example, is to locate a major city on a world map. Some of the game controls are a little odd as well-you need to choose the marmalade jar from the inventory to change the game settings for example. Still, Paddington The World Mystery Tour is a neatly produced CD-ROM, and you don't see many linear adventures for very young users. [+]-Sandra Vogel.
RRP: £9.95
Price: £7.98
Review Bridge To English Read Before You Can Walk Part 1 (PC) / Intense Publishing Ltd:
RRP: £14.99
Price: £8.97
Review Learning Ladder Pack: Preschool to Year 2 (Learning Ladder Pre-School, Learning Ladder Years 1&2) / Dorling Kindersley:
RRP: £9.99
Price: £4.11
Review My First CD-Rom: Starting To Read / Dorling Kindersley:Learn to read - Parent assisted learning at its best, these CDs are fantastically simple, encouraging pre-schoolers to think for themselves through play. Windows 95/98/XP, Mac. Starting to Read is another excellent package in the "My First" series of CD-ROMs (and books) from the ever-popular publisher Dorling Kindersley-just the thing if you're looking to support your child's education at home. Meet White Bear and Little Penguin as they invite readers to take part in four easy-to-play, interactive games: "Rhyme Time", "Odd One Out", "Alphabet Scramble" and "Master Lunch", all of which use catchy songs and rhymes, clear and simple instructions, and appealing animations. Rewards are earned in the form of stickers and celebratory songs, and speed and difficulty can be adjusted. On-screen help will adjust automatically, also according to the responses given by the user. All these situations have been designed to help children develop key reading concepts: letter sounds and phonics, upper and lower case letters, alphabetical order, rhyming words and spelling patterns. The package will also help extend and develop their vocabulary and vocabulary skills. Listening skills and PC skills, both so important in the information world, can also be practiced and broadened. The package is not accompanied by an instruction pamphlet, but simple instructions for installation are displayed on the CD-ROM itself and excellent, extensive support notes for parents on every aspect of the package can be accessed via the "Parents" icon on the tool bar. [+]It is also possible to print out various items, such as name tags, invitations, birthday cards and writing paper. My First Starting to Read provides learning experiences as games and activities that are exciting, lively, imaginative and fun, and will extend knowledge, confidence and skill, often without children realising. The package is aimed at 3-5 year olds who are starting to read, but it can also be used with older children requiring extra practice. -Susan Naylor.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £24.99
Review Living Books Triple Pack - Tortoise & Hare, Harry & The Haunted House, Little Monster / Mindscape:The race between the slow but steady tortoise and the fast know-it-all hare has been repeated countless times over the generations. But this CD-ROM version from Living Books succeeds in giving the classic fable plenty of new comic twists. The fable is entertainingly introduced by an animated tortoise who is abruptly interrupted by the hare who skids up to him and then races away leaving a trail of smoke. The illustrations are good throughout and the sound effects are impressive. While the story is told, words are highlighted so young children can easily follow them. The best part are the in-story games which help bring the fable to life. When you click on the tortoise's post box, for example, it starts to snore loudly, and the hare's post box immediately shouts at it and throws a letter to wake it up. The Tortoise and the Hare is one of the titles in this triple-CD-ROM pack which also includes Little Monster at School andHarry and the Haunted House. Young readers can step into the little monster's world and click on drawings in his room to watch them dance, or click on individual words to have them read out aloud. Trouble starts in Harry and the Haunted House when Harry D Rabbit hits the ball into a spooky building. [+]When you click on the house scary-looking clouds appear as an omen of things to come. All these titles are aimed at children aged three and above. Any one of them is likely to keep youngsters fully occupied for hours. -Justin Hunt.
Price: £19.95
Review Fizzy's First Numbers (Home User) / Sherston:
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.95
Review Reader Rabbit's Preschool / Mindscape:
| Models & Brands:
Dorling Kindersley, Topologika Software Ltd, Focus Multimedia Ltd 5031336013552, Knowledge Adventure, Knowledge Adventure 3348542090446, Dorling Kindersley, Avanquest Software 5016488106474, BBC Multimedia, Dorling Kindersley, Focus Multimedia Ltd, Dorling Kindersley, Dorling Kindersley 5016488103855, Avanquest Software, Mindscape, Intense Publishing Ltd, Dorling Kindersley, Dorling Kindersley, Mindscape, Sherston, Mindscape |
