System Requirements

PC / Mac Price Survey

Product Support

School Zone Publishing, makers of a well known, print workbook series, has created a winner with Transition Math K-1. This program uses the top-quality content of School Zone's workbook series and incorporates it into an engaging and easy to follow interactive program.

Transition Math has clear instructions, full color illustrations, cute animation and helpful audio guidance. Skills are introduced sequentially followed by immediate feedback and instant grading. Game breaks and personalized printouts provide motivation and rewards for work completed. In addition, a hardcopy version of a workbook with different practice pages is included with the software.

The program doesn't waste a lot of time with fancy introductions. Instead, it jumps right into skill based practice activities in the form of colorful, illustrated electronic workbook pages. Activities are introduced in sequential fashion with the beginning pages focusing on Numeration progressing to more difficult pages featuring Addition and Subtraction as well as the concepts of Less Than and More Than. The program does not extend into the realm of critical thinking activities or open ended math challenges.

Transition Math is appropriate for accelerated Kindergarten and/or First Grade students. It succinctly covers a variety of math skills such as Numeration, Sets, Shapes, Patterns, Visual Discrimination, beginning Fractions and Telling Time to the hour. There are just enough problems on each page to practice skills, but not too many to overwhelm young learners. Important math terms are introduced simply and are reinforced with bold print. These terms include: How Many, Greater Than, Less Than, Before, Between and After.

The format successfully addresses young learners' needs by having large text and appealing graphics throughout the program. Basic mouse skills are also demonstrated and game formats are reviewed before beginning the program. Progress is recorded and the opportunity to correct is given on every work page. As students complete a page, shoes change color to either green or red corresponding to the child's correctly completed work. Red shoes may be clicked to return to a page which needs to be completed or corrected. Well earned game breaks are cute and clever. However, some games require more mouse coordination skills which Kindergarten students might find difficult. Overall, this is a straightforward, thorough program which covers the critical math skills for K-1 learners.

The graphics, characters, audio guidance and music captivate and engage young students. Kids will like Transition Math K-1 because they can work independently and feel successful while practicing their basic math skills. The workbook style format is similar to consumable workbooks which some children use in school, so it is familiar. The game breaks are a clever motivation tool and the personalized report card provides a reward for their hard work. Parents, teachers, and kids will like this program for its ease of use and well-thought out format. The only elements which are missing are critical thinking and problem solving math skills.

Transition Math can be easily installed, although K-1 students will need adult supervision. Navigation is a intuitive, due to the clear and well organized format of this program.

Transition Math is appropriate for K-1 age students. It addresses and practices essential math skills in a delightful and fun way. It helps make getting into the school zone a successful transition.

See SuperKids' comparisons with other kindergarten, 1st grade, and math software titles, and the Buyers Guide for current market prices of the PC and Mac versions.

PC: Windows '95, '98 or higher, 32 MB RAM, 640X480 16-bit color video, 16-bit sound card, Pentium or faster, 50 MB free disk space, 4x CD-ROM drive.

Mac: Mac OS 7 .6.1 or higher, 24 MB RAM, 640x480 16-bit color video Power PC 601 or faster processor, 50 MB free disk space, 4x CD-ROM drive .

Reviewed on:
-     Pentium III-500 with 384 MB RAM and 24XCD

---

Questions or comments regarding this site? webmaster@superkids.com
Copyright © 1998-2024 Knowledge Share LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy