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Software and Games : GSP : Education : Pre-School & Nursery
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Avanquest Software
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
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Avanquest Software
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
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Avanquest Software
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
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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
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Avanquest Software
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
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Avanquest Software
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
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Avanquest Software
Great Games and Accessories for the PC.
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Play and Explore Toddlers is a fun and easy to use CD-ROM aimed at pre-school children. There are eight games that can be played at different levels. The instructions are very clear and there is always help available, so as children become more confident, they should be able to begin to work more independently on the computer.There is a good range of fun activities tailored towards young children. While developing their control of the mouse and ability to follow instructions children can, for example, create a picture, put together jigsaws or compose a tune.
There is also a good guide for parents which lists the skills that children will be developing and suggests other very good activities. You can also print out sheets to go with these activities.
Play and Explore Toddlers would be a good buy for anyone with pre-school children who wants to introduce their child to early computer skills in a fun and simple way. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Play and Explore Starting School is a fun CD-ROM aimed at children aged 3-5 years. It presents a good range of activities that are clearly explained and very easy to follow.There are nine different games for children to play, most of which can be played at different levels of difficulty. Children will enjoy, for example, leading Timmy through the maze, finding the hidden elephants and creating a monster picture. This CD-ROM is a good way to introduce children to simple and fun computer games that involve listening to instructions and becoming confident at controlling the mouse.
There is also a good guide for parents which lists the skills that children will be developing and suggests other very good activities. Sheets can also be printed out to go with these activities. --Amanda York
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BBC Multimedia
Farmer Rumtum's Letter Fun is a very good CD-ROM for younger children and helps to develop early reading skills. It is fun and easy to use. Children can choose from seven different games and are rewarded with mega-hops at the end of each activity. They can keep track of their score and also print out a certificate.Children can listen to, read and fill in the missing words when playing the excellent games "Hey Diddle Diddle" and "Little Miss Muffet". There are also games to develop letter and word recognition where children have to decide whether the letter or word matches the picture.
"It's a Goal" challenges children to spell three-letter words by identifying the missing vowel. "Kick Off" moves on from that, requiring children to identify long vowel sounds. (For example: to spell "train", is the missing sound a or ai?) A lot of young children would find this a very challenging activity.
"Animal Magic" doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the games but it is a fun activity that involves answering questions and sorting animals.
There is an outstanding guide for parents, that lists the skills children will develop in each game and shows how parents should approach the activity with their child. Ideas are given for follow-up activities and there are even materials that can be printed out and used with children to consolidate and extend the activities.
Farmer Rumtum's Letter Fun is a fun and very educational CD-ROM for younger children. It is excellent value for money and parents are given a wealth of information about how to get the best out of the activities. --Amanda York