| My 9 year old son has had a lot of fun form a program called Fun
School. It comes in 3 different variants for different age groups.
There are 4 programs covering logic, mental arithmatic, word logic,
etc. which both he and I found quite stretching!!
I think you can buy it for about 15 pounds in the UK.
Also there is an outfit called George Thompson Services up in Broddick
Scotland that put PD packs together. I know they have a 5 disk Edu
pack for about 12 pounds. If anyone has obtained this, perhaps they
could post a quick review.
Steve
PS If your kids are like mine, they will probably be better at logic
than you!!
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8 and 11 you say... just happen to have a one of each myself.
We have found a few things you might be interested in.
Discovery Math and Discovery Spelling are pretty good. You buy
one (or the other) with a game disk and the other as an add on.
Both use the same format; Members of a disabled space ship must
search the ship for "Power Crystals" while avoiding being "stung"
by escaped creepy crawlers. Traveling through the ship they come
upon locked doors. The only way to proceed is to answer a math
(or spelling) question. Although I can't say the action is real
exciting the graphics are very good and the music has a catchy tune.
My kids like the math version best. One nice feature which takes
getting used to (if your not a child) is the way in which math problems
must be solved. When a problem is presented which (for addition)
requires a carry, or (for subtraction) a borrow, the program requires
they enter the carried or borrowed digit in the appropriate column.
Example, the problem will look like this-
9
+ 9
-----
The cursor will first appear under the bottom 9. If you try to
type in "18", you will be wrong. You must type in the "8" (remember,
"put down the 8 and carry the 1"), after which the cursor will
appear just above the ten's column (in this case a blank column).
You enter a "1" here and the cursor then appears at the bottom of
the ten's colum, where you must enter the "1" again. The result
looks like this
1
9
+ 9
-----
18
This looks strange, but is exactly the way it is taught in school.
There are several levels of math, which should keep both kids
challenged. And I believe there are higher level math disks and
other topics available. The 8 year old likes it. The 11 year old
thinks it's boring.
The spelling disk is also good, but it uses the Amiga speech synthesis.
Sometimes it's hard to understand the word you're being asked to
spell. There are ways (not documented) to add you own spelling
lists, as long as your handy with an editor.
One of the best games we've found for the 11 year old is "Where
in the World is Carmen SanDiago". They also offer a Where in the
U.S.A., Where in Europe, and Where in Time. They are all excellent!
Unless your 8 year old is an exceptional reader, this one is better
suited to 10 and up (to adult). With Where in the World" you get
a World Almanac as a reference source. The first three of the series
are primarily goegraphy oriented. The last (Where in Time") combines
geography with history.
We also have Amiga Logo for our 11 year old, as they teach that in
school. I'm pleased with it, though it's a little expensive, it's
a great way to introduce kids to computer programming concepts.
There is a PD version availabe, though I have no idea how good or
complete it is.
Lastly, Unicorn Software makes some nice stuff for the 5-8 range.
Read & Rhyme is one we have. They also have Aesops Fables, and a few
others which I don't know much about.
Hope this helps
Mike
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| > The spelling disk is also good, but it uses the Amiga speech synthesis.
> Sometimes it's hard to understand the word you're being asked to
> spell. There are ways (not documented) to add you own spelling
> lists, as long as your handy with an editor.
What files do you have to edit , and can you customise the Phonetic
interpretation of those words...
There is a place in Southend in the UK that does Software exchange
aimed at the educational market. They have some interesting titles
I'll find the booklet and post some titles and the Phone Number
Pete
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I'll have to check on this for you. I think it's the lesson file,
but I'm not sure. I originally found out about this from a note
in this conference. You might try a dir/title="*education*" and
see what it turns up, otherwise I'll have it here in a couple of
days.
You can (in fact must) customize the phonetic spelling. The file
which contains the words requires both the spelled word and the
"spoken" version, seperated by a "/" (or a "\", I can't remember which).
The instuctions in the note I read suggested you use the "Say" utility
to play around with the phonetic spelling to get it right before
you entered the words.
Mike
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