SuperKids frequently looks at programs targeted at kindergartners. Parents and software publishers consider this a prime market for the introduction of educational software. We continue to be pleasantly surprised to discover programs that delivered impressive educational value in formats that were appealing to our kid testers.
Leapster Pet Pals [for ages 4 to 7] from LeapFrog features a wide range of age- and skill-level-appropriate games for its young players. Good entertainment value, and a fun way for kids to do a little brainwork. As a purely educational tool, it is probably best for the pre-school set.
JumpStart Advanced Kindergarten [for ages 4 to 6] from Knowledge Adventure, is a well-designed program, packed with practical and fun activities applicable to a typical kindergarten curriculum.
Jay Jay Earns His Wings [for ages 3 to 7] from The Learning Company is a sound educational program for preschoolers and kindergarteners, covering numbers, patterns, sequences, and simple math.
Reader Rabbit Kindergarten Bounce Down in Balloon Town [for age 4 to 6] from The Learning Company, is an all new title designed to reinforce and build on basic classroom curriculum for kindergarten age students, in and adventure quest setting.
Transition Math [for ages 4 to 6] from School Zone Publishing, is appropriate for accelerated Kindergarten and/or First Grade students. It succinctly covers a variety of necessary math skills.
Franklin the Turtle Goes to School [for ages 3 to 7] from Knowledge Adventure, offers activities that focus on strengthening early learning skills in letter recognition, letter sounds, alphabetic order, beginning and ending word sounds, beginning reading and spelling, rhyming, counting, addition, subtraction, patterns and sorting by attributes. The characters are likable, the activities novel and program installation and navigation is simple enough for a preschooler to handle without assistance.
Disney’s Winnie the Pooh Kindergarten [for ages 4 to 6] from Disney Interactive, returns Pooh and friends to the 100 Acre Wood, where users choose from six learning activity areas, ranging from letter recognition and math, to sorting and following directions. Familiar characters and a wide variety make this one of the better choices.
Disney's Mickey Mouse Kindergarten [for ages 4 to 6] from Disney Interactive, provides kids with an enjoyable interactive experience with the computer and increasing familiarity with computer basics.
Little Bear Kindergarten Thinking Adventures [for ages 4 to 6] from Creative Wonders, features Maurice Sendak’s tranquil young bear, his friends and his family, in drills for simple thinking skills, like directions, comparing, and sorting. A nice story, although activities are fairly lightweight.
Arthur’s Kindergarten [for ages 4 to 6] from Creative Wonders, uses a famous and popular character to present age appropriate skill drills, like letter sounds, counting and simple math. Unfortunately, its activities tend to be tedious and overly repetitious.
Reading Blaster for Kindergarten [for ages 4 to 6] from Knowledge Adventure, is a complete revision of Reading Blaster 4-6. It offers five different levels of five different early reading activities, in the classic "Blaster" style.
JumpStart Kindergarten 2.0 [for ages 4 to 6] from Knowledge Adventure contains 18 activities aimed at fundamental skills including letter and sound recognition, counting and early math concepts, language arts, time concepts and the calendar. With its classroom exploration design, users with short attention spans will find much to do and reason to return.
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