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This page is a compilation of information gleaned from the chat on April 16, 1998 and subsequent messages posted on the General Homeschooling Message Board.
*Please read comments at the end of this article about The Learning Company's intolerance for Christian values. Many Christian families also choose to avoid Disney products.
Tips on buying:
Make a wish list and wait a month before buying. Watch the sale flyers.. This
waiting period will help you think about whether this is a want or a need, and
also usually means you'll buy your software on sale. Some great sources for
inexpensive software are: Sam's Club, Price/Costco, BJ's and Target. Software
can vary in pricing significantly. Check around. I have also found that
with my kids, new software has a 3 week period of "newness." That's
exactly how long our library loans CD ROMs! When I buy several titles, I try
to space them out for maximum "value."
Many software companies are repackaging and renaming older programs. I've noticed
this before with "Classic Editions" being old versions,
but here's a new trend: Kindergarten Success Starter from Broderbund contains
activities from James Discovers Math and The Playroom. Edmark has repackaged
several titles into Millie & Bailey's Kindergarten.. This one has activities
from Bailey's Book House, Sammy's Science House and Trudy's Time and Place.
For those of you who don't know the definitions, freeware is software that is
usually on-line that you can download for free to keep. Shareware is usually
something you can buy cheaply or download to use for free for a trial period,
on the honor system that if you like it, you will pay to register it (usually
anywhere from $10 to $20 from my experience).
A great source for shareware/freeware is:
ZD Net
This Web site has tons of shareware, rated and described and waiting to be downloaded. You can search this enormous Site by age/subject here.. This is a very clear and easy to navigate Web site..Here are some of the software favorites that came up during the chat.. If you would like further info about any of these titles, please feel free to post a message on the General Homeschooling Message Board and see who will answer..
History & Geography
Oregon Trail by MECC/The Learning Company *
Castle Explorer by DK-Dorling Kindersley
Ancient Lands by Microsoft
Carmen San Diego by Broderbund
Trudy's Time and Place House by Edmark Ages 3-7
Reading/English
Spell it Deluxe/Spell it 3 This site offers additional spelling lists which can be downloaded from the Internet)
Reader Rabbit by Learning Company*
Bailey's Book House by Edmark
Amazing Writing Machine (for older elementary) by Broderbund
Storybook Weaver Deluxe by MECC
Foreign Language
Triple Play by Syracuse Language
All-In-One Language Fun by Syracuse Language Beware: SoftKey puts out single language versions of this one. It's only a few dollars more to buy the full version from Syracuse that contains 5 languages.
Jump Start/Knowledge Adventure Software Knowledge Adventure has just released a Jumpstart Spanish CD, but I know nothing about it.
Science
ADAM (Software about the human body, recommended use while sitting with kids or after introducing the facts of life).
Explorapedia by Microsoft You can make adjustments for little kids. Very cute.
Sammy's Science House by Edmark. Great for ages 5-8.
Magic School Bus freeware at Microsoft Kids
Magic School Bus by Scholastic
Math
Mighty Math by Edmark.
Millie's Math House by Edmark.
Chalkboard Math (Shareware without glitz. This one has nice drills...I need to find the info on it)
Math Workshop by Active Mind
James Discovers Math Broderbund-several of us liked this one
Math Blaster (Personally I could do with less arcade and more drill)
Logical Journey of the Zombinis
Bit Bot's Math Voyage (my favorite...some arcade, but enough drill) by Sanctuary Woods/Theatrix
Don't miss our Math Page of Links on our Information Links Page
Miscellaneous/general
Knowledge Adventure/Jump Start Software
Trudy's Time and Place House by Edmark. Great for 5-8 age
Humongous Putt Putt, Freddi Fish, and Pajama Sam
Toy Story by Disney (This is one title purely for entertainment that 4 year old has played with for a solid year)
GeoSafari Animals & Platinum
Zane/Amway: As a distributor, I sometimes get questions on these.. Zane has taken many public school textbooks and combined the info to come up with these inexpensive CDs that are very well done. They lack the glitz of Jumpstart and other commercial CDs, but are strong on the "meat" of the subject. Some families have some disagreements with some of the statements in the science CDs. I would compare these CDs to a packed slide show with narration and music, nicely divided into chapters. Almost no information is added to your hard drive as this "Power CD" program runs almost entirely from the CD. See your local Amway distributor for more info. The money back guarantee is hard to beat and the prices are already very low. Ages 4-adult. We personally have 10 of them including elementary history, science and some composers.. If you plan on buying a large package, you will save even more by signing up as a distributor.
The group's general consensus:
Brands you can't seem to go wrong with (most of the time, anyway):
Edmark
Broderbund
Humongous
DK-Dorling Kindersley
Knowledge Adventure (Jumpstart & 3D programs)
Brands that can go either way:
Sierra (I've had some great and some so-so)
SoftKey is a branch of the Learning Company*, and they seem to be sold as the low-end line. Beware that sometimes they will do CD's with PART of a title that is available on another complete CD at a slightly higher price.
Brands I avoid like the plague: Expert. The Learning Company* (for reasons listed at the end of this article. Anyone care to add?
Here are a few software review Web sites that you might find helpful:
World Village School House Software Reviews
SuperKids Educational Software Review
Kids Domain Software Reviews Reviews, shareware & freeware
Please let us know if there are any corrections or additions to be made that would help our group! Please e-mail Site Administrator.
*Comments about The Learning Company's intolerance of Christian Values.
In June 1998, The Learning Company (which is in the process of buying Broderbund) announced that it was blocking the American Family Association's Web site with it's "child-protection" software, "CyberPatrol." Their reason was that they felt the AFA's Christian Web site was intolerant of the homosexual "lifestyle." CyberPatrol reportedly does not block several Gay/Lesbian Web sites. I choose to boycott The Learning Company's software. As far as I know, the following product/companies are owned by The Learning Company. Please let me know if there are any errors or omissions!
Mega Munchers, Treasure Seekers series, Clue Finders series, Storybook Weaver Deluxe, The American Girls Premiere, Ultimate Writing and Creativity Center, Trail Adventure Collection (Amazon Trail), Ultimate Children’s Encyclopedia, Reader Rabbit series, Body works, Logic Quest, The Oregon Trail series
Comptons Encyclopedia series (Atlas, Deluxe, Interactive Atlas, Interactive Bible NIV)
Creative Wonders software including: Sesame Street, Madeline, Schoolhouse Rock, Slam Dunk Typing, The Babysitters Club, Abc Word Reference and Photo Creations
SkillsBank products including CornerStone series
Mindscape products including Mavis Beacon, Geo Bee, Universe Beyond, Chessmaster, LEGO Island, Dogz and Catz series.
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