JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten
© 2002 Knowledge Adventure, Inc.
In a kindergarten classroom-like setting, children find six early reading, math, music and art activities. Letters are sounded out and assembled in phonics activities, objects are added and subtracted via soda bottles in a numbers game, and a flower garden is used as a basis for a sequencing activity. The drawing and music activities are both excellent, although in these pleasant activities the verbal feedback from the characters is a distraction (this is interruptible, however). The goal of playing the games is to earn carrots which can be turned in for a somewhat anticlimactic bumper car-like activity (in up to six scenes) that earns jewels, points and placement on the high score list. The character selected at the start of the game (that children deem most like them) pops up with quick instruction after several incorrect answers. While much of the program is well-designed (terrific music, crisp graphics, strong responsivity), the game still suffers from significant flaws. Kids were confused, for instance, by the numerous steps in the bottle subtraction activity. Even after taking away bottles one at a time, most testers couldn't understand why the number of bottles on the tray didn't correspond with the starting number displayed beneath. The program's biggest downfall occurs when children think they've collected enough carrots to race a car. Prompted at startup to collect five carrots, as soon as they've played the games (at least an hour of play), testers eagerly go to the bumper car racing game. Instead of a driving scene, however, they end up at a vehicle "boosters" stop. After selecting a car enhancement, they are told that they don't have enough carrots to access the reward! And if that's not bad enough, they are never told how many more carrots they'll need (they discover by trial and error that the answer is five). When asked if they'd buy the game, our more experienced testers were doubtful while the newcomers thought they might.
$29.99, Win, Mac
Teaches: counting, addition, subtraction, creativity, music, sequencing, phonics