Jump Start World Wins
Courtesy of Parent Bloggers Network, I was given a chance to test out and review Jump Start World, which is a learning video game for kids in the kindergarten through grad two age groups. I knew I had to give it a try because 1) I love things that are fun but help my kids learn at the same time without drilling information into them and 2) Hayley loves to play around on the computer. She often uses George’s computer and loves to play games on various kid-friendly sites.
Installing the game wasn’t exactly the simplest process in the world but after some persistence, she was set up and ready to go. The game covers reading (Reading Arcade), math (Math Arcade), and an area for calendars and graphs and more (My Cabin). The reading area is particularly helpful for Hayley right now because although she’s been writing and recognizing capital letters for quite some time now, she has more trouble with lower case. Playing the game has really helped her in combination with the work she’s doing at school.
As for the math, Hayley loves math challenges (she doesn’t get that from me!) and has recently started practicing basic addition, so the game couldn’t have come at a better time.
The whole thing is laid out in a fun and entertaining kid-intuitive way, but it’s more than a game, it’s educational too and you can’t beat that. Every time they learn something new they earn little gems which they can use in the game’s store, they get to explore new worlds. She’s having such a good time that she barely even notices that she’s still learning. You can test it out yourself with a free trial download from the JumpStart website, and if you and your kids like it, you can purchase it for $19.95.