3D Froggy Phonics
Ingenuity Works, Inc.	Ages 4 to 8

Rating Scale 5 = great,    1 = poor

Educational Value 5.0

Kid Appeal 4.5

Ease of Use 5.0

System Requirements

PC / Mac Price Survey

Product Support

This surprisingly entertaining reading software systematically introduces the user to each of the letter sounds, drills evolving skills through a series of fun games and activities, and finally tests newly acquired skills in a non-threatening and enjoyable manner.

3D Froggy Phonics' main menu offers 3 learning options: 'Learn', 'Watch' and 'Play'. Guided by a menagerie of 3D animal characters, users initially 'Learn' each letter of the alphabet, which are presented in upper and lower case with a number of examples using the letter in words. Each of these words appears on-screen in block letters, and can be sounded-out by passing the mouse over the letters. An animated illustration also accompanies each word.

The 'Watch' section of the program offers an animated short for each of the vowel sounds--both long and short. These "movies" include catchy, rhyming narration which also appears in written form at the bottom of the screen and highlights as it is read so that the user can follow along.

The final, or 'Play' portion of 3D Froggy Phonics includes 5 simple skill-building games, among them a paint activity, a memory game, a mouse skills game, a reading activity and a spelling activity. Users can also opt to test their skills, with a basic examination and evaluation section.

Educational Value

3D Froggy Phonics does an excellent job of introducing letters and letter sounds. The process of combining sounds to form words is also nicely presented, and essential review and drill opportunities are plentiful.

Kid Appeal

Considering the potentially dry subject matter, 3D Froggy Phonics is remarkably entertaining. Our testers were somewhat put off by the uninspired animal characters, which differ from the sophisticated animations found in many currently popular programs. They readily acknowledged, however, that the lessons are complete, the movies are worthwhile, and the games are surprisingly fun (and addictive!). Older siblings and parents even admitted to playing the games more often and with much more enthusiasm than expected.

Ease of Use / Install

3D Froggy Phonics can be easily installed on Windows machines by clicking on the "My Computer" icon, choosing the CD-ROM drive icon, and double-clicking on the "Setup.exe" icon. A PDF program manual is included on the CD, as is Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.01, which is required to read the manual.

Best for... / Bottom-Line

This early learning program has plenty to offer the evolving reader. It introduces letters and letter sounds, provides skill building games and exercises, and tests newly acquired skills. Best of all, it does all this in a pleasant and entertaining manner!

See SuperKids' comparisons with other reading software titles, and the Buyers Guide for current market prices of the PC and Mac versions.

PC: Windows 95/98, 90 MHz or faster cpu, 25 MB hard drive space, 16 NSERT MB RAM, 640x480 resolution at 16-bit color, 4x or faster CD-ROM, Soundblaster compatible sound card.

Mac: System 7.5.3 or higher, 100 MHz or faster cpu, 25 MB hard drive space, 4 MB RAM, 640 x 480 resolution at thousands of colors, 4x or faster CD-ROM.

Reviewed on:

PowerMac 6400/200 with 32MB and 8XCD

Pentium166 with 24MB and 12XCD

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