Jump Ahead Starting School (DVD Case)

Great Games and Accessories for the PC.

Starting School, aimed at children of four to five years old, is another first-class CD-ROM in Focus Multimedia's "Children" series, a range of fun and educational titles to entertain and encourage your children to develop important skills through play.

The whole program exploits a child's curiosity by getting Hopsalot the Rabbit and his friends to take part in all sorts of activities using fun, music and games. These all teach essential skills for starting school, and this version (the original having been an award winner) features new graphics, extra phonics and the technology to assess skills.

Children are encouraged to learn the alphabet, phonics, rhymes, word pairs, sentences, visual discrimination, numbers and counting, ordering and sequencing, shapes and colours, time concepts and listening skills. Throughout there are songs to learn and sing, as well as opportunities to earn gold stars as a reward and swap them for a trip to the Zoo. Progress can be monitored and a workbook can be printed out if desired. There is also a pamphlet that has basic technical and installation information, and this should be read before beginning. Obviously help will be needed as the program is aimed at four to five-year-olds, but it is well worth the effort as the rewards are significant. --Susan Naylor