Q Steps v. 3.0

Win, Mac

Teaches: English, Spanish

CTR Review

We originally reviewed this language title in 1998, and from what we can see, there is only one significant improvement in this upgrade. Billed as a bilingual edition, this version allows children to receive the directions for the program in either English or Spanish. The content teaches English as a second language. The 2 CD set is a real mixed bag in terms of quality, with both strengths and weaknesses. Children begin the experience at the main menu, which shows a map with eight destinations. When kids click on a place, a little car and driver zip to the building and the lesson, which is taught by a penguin, begins. For instance, if kids choose to go to the paint store, they watch the penguin introduce five colors. Kids can click through the brief lesson if they like, and segue right to the activities on the page. In the paint store, children are asked to identify colors, and they can record themselves saying the words. They can also play a cash register game and a bingo-like game that reinforce color and number words. There are several activities and layers of content in each location on the map, with vocabulary covering clothing, colors, the family, numbers, the body, food, school and feelings. The focus is on listening and speaking-- not reading and writing-- and the games, songs and activities are plentiful and educationally solid. Unfortunately, there are some design flaws that interfere with the learning process, for example, when it's time to switch CDs, kids have to exit the program and begin again. Other flaws include the omission of record keeping or progress tracking mechanisms.