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Software and Games : GSP : Reference : Children's Reference
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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
Bear and Penguin's Big Reading Adventure is another excellent program developed by Dorling Kindersley. It is aimed at children aged 5-7 years old and helps to develop a wide range of literacy skills through four fun games.There are very clear instructions and each game is initially demonstrated, so children will quickly be able to develop confidence and independence. The games, which can be played at three different levels, have been carefully developed to practice the skills that children are learning as part of the literacy hour in school; for example, spelling words by choosing the missing sounds and putting words in the correct order to create a sentence. There are also two storybooks that children can choose to read together or alone. If children want a break from the games there is also an excellent printing section where children can make their own stationary and create lists, cards, writing paper and signs. This is a brilliant way to encourage children to write for a range of different purposes.
As children play the games they collect snowflakes and they are then rewarded with a sticker for their sticker album. When all the stickers have been collected they can print out a certificate and listen to the reward song.
There is an excellent guide for parents that discusses the skills the games are developing. The child profile shows parents how many times children have played each game and at what level and also suggests follow-on worksheets that can be printed out and used with children.
Bear and Penguin's Big Reading Adventure would be an excellent buy for parents or teachers to use with children aged 5-7 years. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Become a Science Explorer is another excellent CD-ROM from Dorling Kindersley aimed at children aged 6-10 years old. Children will love the challenge of going on a mission and trying to become a Science Explorer.Fizz, the helpful ball of energy, guides children around the different environments where children can carry out activities, answer questions or look at information screens. The graphics are excellent and there is a wealth of scientific information for children to find out in a variety of interesting ways. Children's learning is also cleverly extended when they're given further explanations once they have answered a question.
Children are rewarded with prizes, badges, stickers, rosettes, medals and the ultimate prize of becoming a Science Explorer. They can use their Science Workbook to make scientific observations, answer questions and collect stickers--guaranteed to turn any child into a budding scientist.
There is a range of science experiments that can be printed out and undertaken. These would be ideal for parents to go through with younger children using the comprehensive parents' guide. There are also some very good worksheets, which would help to consolidate children's learning.
Become a Science Explorer is a fantastic CD-ROM that really supports the science curriculum in schools. This would be an excellent buy for parents or teachers of children aged 6-10 years old. --Amanda York
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Avanquest Software
Baum's original tale of the Wizard of Oz is adapted to create the story of Oz. The story is made up of 18 beautifully illustrated pages of a book, each being depicted on the screen with the words, and the animated characters coming to life as the story, is told.With the aid of this storybook options can be set to either have the tale read to the child, or for the child to read themselves with the text being highlighted along the way. As the story is completed on each page the characters come to life and act out a short scene before a new page is opened.
The storybook has the facility to be fully customised to your child's ability. Early readers can have just a few words to each page, and this can be increased as their reading capacity grows. With clear text, and bold, bright animation the child's interest is captured making reading an enjoyable, fun pastime.
A comprehensive glossary allows new words to be investigated and knowledge to be expanded, and observational skills are also developed by working through the screens.
With the capacity to develop as reading skills grow, and the friendly characters you will meet along the way, this truly is a magical way to learn! --Mandy Wood
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Young children love going to parties and with the help of this new interactive CD-ROM, they can now go to a fun party with the likes of Goldilocks, Humpty Dumpty and Little Bo Peep.Based on Janet and Allan Ahlberg's best-selling story books, The Jolly Postman's Party is packed with games and activities to keep children (aged four to eight years) happily entertained for hours.
They can create joke pictures of themselves and their friends and sign them into a guest book. Bake cakes by clicking on the right ingredients. There is also an opportunity to play testing memory games. When the lights go out in a room, you have to remember where the objects were and when they come back on again, click on the ones that have moved from their original positions.
This is an ambitious CD-ROM with enchanting illustrations. Probably one of the most entertaining games is helping the Jolly Postman to burst balloons with his catapult so he can find the letters hidden inside.
Compared to other children's software, The Jolly Postman's Party is a bit difficult to install and some of the games are fairly complicated. But you can adjust the levels to make them easier and there is plenty of good technical support available if you do get stuck.
For anyone who has read and enjoyed the original books--and plenty of young children have--this new CD-ROM will definitely help to bring the stories back to life again. --Justin Hunt
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
The New Way Things Work is a CD-ROM packed full of information about machines and the scientific principles behind them. Children can learn all about the latest technology and take a look back in history to find out how things work.Children will enjoy, for example, navigating their way around the warehouse or choosing from the A-z of machines to extend their understanding of how things work and discover the science behind some great inventions. They can look at information screens with excellent text, diagrams, animation and video clips. They can also find out about some of the great inventors who created these amazing machines. There is a useful progress tracker to show children which screens they have visited and which screens are left for them to look at.
Children can also use their new-found knowledge to face the challenge of the science test and try to win a master, an expert or a genius certificate. Children can look back at information screens or take a look at the research answers if they are struggling.
The New Way Things Work would be a good buy for inquisitive children of 8 years and over who love to know how things work. It's particularly useful for helping children who are struggling with homework or doing a project, as it covers a huge range of scientific principles. --Amanda York
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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
How much of the last century do you remember? As a dramatic chronicle of human life, the 20th century is difficult to beat. Two World Wars broke out, the communist political system in the Soviet Union suddenly collapsed, Nelson Mandela was set free, historic trips were made to the Moon, England actually won the World Cup and Charles and Diana were married before a global TV audience. Dorling Kindersley's 20th Century Day by Day brings the century alive again. You're invited to experience events as they happened. The conflicts and scandals that shocked society, the ideas that turned the world upside down and the people who made it happen. As you enter a 3-D virtual newsroom and click on photographs and typewriters you are led back into the decades of the 20th century. In the 1960s you can read about John Lennon, follow the events of the Vietnam War and hear Martin Luther King talking of his dream of a new kind of society. In the "Twentieth Century in Focus" section, you can re-live breakthroughs in space exploration. Watch videos of rockets taking off and see Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. Throughout the CD-ROM you can search for famous people and places; follow a story of events through from start to finish or simply browse the headlines and biographies.This is a highly stimulating and exciting multi-media chronicle of the 20th century. More than 34,000 days of history are played back like breaking news stories. It will be difficult for dusty history textbooks to compete with this entertaining record of a rollercoaster century. Parents, grandparents and children will love it. --Justin Hunt
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
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Avanquest Software
Children are fascinated by space, the planets, and the idea that there is "something out there". This CD-ROM is a great introduction for younger users, and covers almost everything you can think of to do with space and astronomy.There are 3-D models of famous space craft for you to look at, and interactive areas in which you can put together a rocket ready for launch or land a module on the moon. But this CD is largely a database of information organised in lots of different ways. There are sections on the famous people of space exploration, the history of astronomy, and the different kinds of astronomy that exist today. You can find out how stars are formed and how they die, take a detailed look at all the planets in our solar system and learn about the history of the space race.
You can also take a trip to the Star Dome, which shows what you can see in the night sky from anywhere in the world on any date. Then, when darkness falls, pop outside your own house to see what you can see with binoculars, telescope, or the naked eye.The Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Space and the Universe is packed with information, and presented in the usual Dorling Kindersley easy to use style. It is ideal for any budding astronomer.--Sandra Vogel
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Avanquest Software
Bear and Penguin's Big Maths Adventure is a fun and easy-to-use program designed to develop young children's addition and subtraction skills. This program would be excellent to use with 5-7 year olds.There are five different games to choose from, all of them clearly explained so that children can develop their independence when using the computer. The games, which can be played at three different levels, have been carefully developed to practice the skills that children are learning as part of the numeracy hour in school. It is advised that the games are played in the numbered order so that there is a progression of skills development. The maths adventure involves, for example, filling in the missing numbers on the maths machine and painting a picture by answering addition and subtraction sums. After playing all of the games children are allowed to play the Super game which helps to consolidate the skills that they have been learning with mental arithmetic against the clock. Some more able children may find the maths a little easy, but for most children this would be an excellent way of developing and consolidating addition and subtraction to 20.
There is an excellent guide for parents which discusses the skills the games focus on. A range of very good worksheets can be printed out and used with children to consolidate the maths that they have been doing.
If children fancy a break from maths, there is also an excellent printing section where children can make their own stationary and create door signs, birthday cards, letterheads and invitations. This is a brilliant way to encourage children to write for a range of different purposes.
Bear and Penguin's Big Maths Adventure is another excellent Dorling Kindersley program and would be an excellent buy for parents or teachers to use with children aged 5-7 years. --Amanda York