Rating: 
Summary: This is great software for teaching mouse use and variety
Review: This is one of our favorites. It has a large variety of skills to master, colors, matching, letters, shapes, songs, and mouse use. It is easy to guide as you don't have to click the mouse to pick up things-just move it over. I really love this game.
Rating:
Summary: Time tested with many grandchildren
Review: This is the first time I have taken the time to write a review, but must let others know that this is the best software for 3-5 year olds I have ever had. Even the older grandchildren enjoy it. 2 year olds have fun with it. After a few sessions, they are proud to be able to choose their own place, of seven, to visit. One teaches shapes and colors, by moving them into slots, like a puzzle, creating a picture which becomes animated and musical; another lets them press a large button to pop up animals from 3 jack-in-boxes, which sing and dance, and get counted when they are all matching; one where the child matches a baby animal with his Mom or Dad. My favorite is the train which arrives with 3 doors which the child unlocks with the proper letter key, then an item which starts with that letter "comes alive." A letter may be an orange one time, and an owl the next, grass or goat, doll or drum, etc.. The graphics are first rate and the the music catchy. The first thing my 3 year old says when she arrives at my house is "puter" and runs to the computer to play Reader Rabbit Toddler. ....Grandma of 9 with lots of programs for them to choose.
Rating: 
Summary: Too much advertisement and lacks parental controls
Review: This is the most educational of the programs I've found for the preschool set, but there are still disappointments. I wish they would do more with the alphabet - they need more variety of words, a combination of small letters and capitals. My three-year-old mastered the top level within a few weeks, simply because he memorized the words they were using, and then quickly grew bored. The musical numbers are cloying and irritating. But the rocket counting game is terrific -- a real help teaching small kids the meaning of numbers. Overall, I've yet to find better, but I hope the designers of the Reader Rabbit series keep trying.
Rating: 
Summary: They've got it almost right
Review: This is the most educational of the programs I've found for the preschool set, but there are still disappointments. I wish they would do more with the alphabet - they need more variety of words, a combination of small letters and capitals. My three-year-old mastered the top level within a few weeks, simply because he memorized the words they were using, and then quickly grew bored. The musical numbers are cloying and irritating. But the rocket counting game is terrific -- a real help teaching small kids the meaning of numbers. Overall, I've yet to find better, but I hope the designers of the Reader Rabbit series keep trying.
Rating:
Summary: good for preschoolers if you want them using the computer!
Review: This program doesn't teach anything special that is not easily taught outside of a computer game. Success at the game will be had most quickly if the child already knows the skills needed to play the game (see below, i.e. already knows their basic shapes). If you want your child using the computer during the preschool years then this is a safe and good bet. If your child doesn't know everything this program covers already then they are sure to learn it quickly if they like the game and are not discouraged. There is much more to phonics than this program covers, of course.We held off introducing our son to the computer until he was almost 4.5 years old. We strictly limit what he can do on the computer and he does not use it much, sometimes going 2 months or so without using it. We purchased this program when our oldest just turned 5, at which time he already could start up the computer, open a program, change CDs and close the entire system down all by himself. I thought it best to buy an easier Reader Rabbit game and see how he likes it rather than start off with the Kindergarten or the phonics Reader Rabbit. If you have a 3 or a 4 year old (or even a 2 year old) that you want using a computer game then this one is great (see section on phonics for a possible difficult part though). Being unfamiliar with children's computer games I was surprised that much of this is almost like a video on television, there are songs that seem to be about 3 minutes long and very graphic and long introductions to the program every time it is started and before each game. The characters on screen tell the user what to do. I was disappointed it did not come with written instructions, as when my son needed help there was nothing I could turn to. Goodness knows I am not sitting with him all the time watching him play, so I miss the already-spoken instructions for the overall game. Instructions for the mini-games that they play can be repeated by simply clicking on a certain character on the screen. I sat down to play it as a new user and we played for over an hour. I was annoyed that the instructions are not clear. Specifically, the program has the user doing a little job to earn a gem called a brillite. They wanted 5 yellow brillites to start. We did all the jobs but there was a missing brillite. There was no instruction as to how to get this missing brillite so we re-explored every area on the program's map and began repeating jobs because we didn't know what else to do. That began earning us different colored brillites. It is a little unclear to me as to how to win this game, they say to gather brillites but we really don't know how many of each and how to exactly get them except play in a random manner repeating the games. I'd much prefer them to say "repeat all the games to earn the blue brillites in order to earn the missing yellow brillite" or some other such informative instruction. This is truly geared for preschool age (3 or 4) or for any age that already knows the 6 colors of the rainbow, circle, square, oval, triangle, diamond shapes, if they can count to 10 and follow oral directions. The hardest part of the game, which may be difficult for preschool aged children and may cause frustration, is the phonics portion. An object comes along on a raft and there are 3 sparkle shakers above it and the user must choose which sparkle shaker (with a letter on it) represents the first letter of the object. The first go round has the word written under the object (i.e. violin) but after that round is won the object comes out without a word. Shame on them for showing a giraffe and giving both a g and a j as options! Bad choice for beginners to phonics! The user will be told if they make an incorrect choice and they can narrow it down by process of elimination. The game with the train and matching the object shape is more of a fast paced game to improve hand and eye coordination and fast mouse-usage than a true matching game-if they pick the match right after the fast changes they are doomed. On the box it says this does drawing and coloring but that is a stretch: the kids are told to paint a certain shape a certain color and they simply click once on the proper color and click once on top of the shape and it is instantly colored in. There is nothing about drawing going on there! The only math here is counting up to 10 (it is advertised as having math on it). There is nothing offensive or questionable about this game, the language is clean, etc. This is a fun game for preschoolers (I found it too easy for my just turned 5 year old). It is very entertaining in that it has interludes in between games and songs with a few minutes of on screen entertainment. The songs are catchy. The graphics are very good compared to the old days of Space Invaders and such!
Rating:
Summary: My son loves this software!
Review: This was my son's first software program and he loves it! We have now had it for over a year and he still likes to play it. This software helped him learn numbers, letters, shapes, animal sounds and matching skills. Completing an activity quickly rewards the child with a fun song or visual graphics, so it keeps him very entertained and motivated to keep playing. We've tried several other software programs and this one was definitely the most popular one we've tried, and also the one from which he learned the most.
Rating:
Summary: My 22 month old son loved this software
Review: This was the 1st educational software thatI bought for my 22 month old son and he loved it. The graphics are excellent. I bought Seasame Street Toddler software from Encore and it was horrible, the graphics was bad, plus the seasame street characters talk too much. My toddler did not have the patience to listen to them.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best toddler software!
Review: This was the first software I bought for my 2-year old grandson. He took to it immediately. I really loved the fact that he could just tap on the keyboard and get results, no matter which keys he hit. He didn't know how to use the mouse when he started using this software but has started using it now to switch from one activity to another. Now, he's starting to use the mouse more to work the activities. I should add that after we tried this software I got several other Toddler software programs but found the others not to be as well thought out for this age group. Reader Rabbit Toddler is the best!
Rating:
Summary: great for toddlers
Review: We bought this for our 2 year old and she loves it. In a short period of time she has learned to use it on her on ( with our supervision). She can change games and play on her on.
Rating: 
Summary: Too easy!
Review: We bought this game for our 2-1/2 yr old last week and found that the games are too simple, the long instructions are annoying and can't be turned off, and you can't operate it without the CD. All the games are very easy, more geared towards 1-1/2 to 2 yr olds. Activities include matching letters, popping bubbles, matching animals. Although they are good for teaching mouse control, they are not intellectually challenging and our daughter is already bored with them.
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