by KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE
Platform:
Windows, Mac
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Children explore three areas of a school (a classroom, a cafeteria and a playground), where they find a variety of playful animations and 15 activities. Clicking on the teacher's desk leads to a report card feature, providing a snapshot look at each child's progress (activities played and percent correct). Our testers loved the program and delighted in the wide range of activities. The multiple difficulty levels are able to successfully hold the interest of most children, and the activities are generally highly engaging. In Serving Up Fractions, children race a timer to fill as many lunch trays possible with just the right amount of food, as requested by a line of students ("1/2 pudding, 1/4 chicken, please"). The more trays filled correctly, the more points earned. Children change the level of difficulty simply by clicking on a level gauge located in the corner of the screen. Points can be used to earn milk caps (or Pogs), which are used in a trivia-style game out on the playground. We had to work for 40 minutes to earn just one cap (there are 30 possible). Other useful activities include the Time Game, which is a board-style game where children practice reading a clock to advance, and a game called Frankie's Dog House, in which kids must follow spoken clues to dig up buried answers to math and reading questions. Our test families felt that the set of short stories with accompanying comprehension questions is limited in design. Sentences, not words, are highlighted, and the quality of the animations are poor compared to a Living Book. Overall, however, this is a very well designed, useful set of activities that make an excellent supplement to any 1st grade curriculum for school or home.
Teaches: addition, subtraction, reading, money, time, music, art, following directions
Age Range: 5, 6, 7 Copyright © 2000 Children's Software Revue
In this interactive classroom filled with animation and song. Take field trips to the beach and zoo. Read 50 illustrated stories from 8 interactive books with the help of Ms. Flores your teacher. In all, discover 18 activities teaching geography, science, early math, reading comprehension, music and more!