Jumbo Jumpstart Workbook: Pre-K (Jumpstart)

Rating:
Summary: good activity book
Review: I notice that all books in this series share their reviews. This one is for the 2nd grade book. It was a great ride for my child. He likes the activities and learned a lot in the process. The colorful pictures and rewards attracted his attention. He seldom does anything for that long. Maybe from 2nd grade, I feel such activities should be consolidated with some curriculum material (such as the weekly topics at Beestar.org). The two sides combined make a solid, systematic learning. As an interest-provoking activity book, this one does a fine job.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I've been aware of this line of products for some time. Recently while cruising one of the large area booksellers I purchased this for my 3 1/2 year old son. -- I liked the format of having all of the activities in one large book which I could store safely in our book case, instead of having to search amongst the coloring books for the smaller single subject books. -- My son delighted in the book from the first time we worked on it together. -- I read the instructions and he is able to complete many of the activities. Just enough of the concepts are beyond his abilities right now that this will be able to provide months of engaging challenges for him. He seems to really enjoy figuring out the right responses 'all by himself' and the look of pride and satisfaction he gets is just priceless. -- The pages are also perforated, so just last week I took several pages with us on an airline flight. My son was content for the entire trip. - As we were leaving the airplane a woman seated in front of us complimented him on what a bright and well-behaved little boy he is. It made both of us feel great.

Rating:
Summary: Fun step-by-step learning
Review: Me and my todler really love this book,the activities really tests the childs I.Q and also teaches him or her alot in a fun way.The child doesn't feel pressured.Most of the activities are really very simple and easy to understand,the child immediately picks up what he is required to do instead of being told or explained.The book is very colorfull which attracts the child most.One thing I and especially my toddler love about the book is that he gets rewarded every time he finishes the task by picking specific stickers and sticking it in the basket or the certificate when he finishes a section.All in all, the book is a treasure, and a fun way of teaching the child, the basics.

Rating:
Summary: Fun step-by-step learning
Review: My almost 4-year old daughter just received this workbook (the 1st grade edition) as a present from Grandpa. She enjoys completing the excersises, with a little adult help to make sure that she is following the directions correctly. I like that the book progresses in difficulty as the lessons get completed. My daughter is already learning how to read with a Phonics method, so the phonics excercises were at the right challenge level. The workbook did help her pick up new sound combinations in the middle of words, which she had not covered yet in her Phonics class. I was surprised that she seemed to be able to handle the beginning Math without much trouble, such as grouping and counting by tens, and how two and three digit numbers are constructed, since before this workbook she was only counting up to twenty, and adding very small numbers. My daughter really likes the animal characters, and of course, the stickers. I plan on buying her some of the kindergarten books and as soon as she finishes them go back to this workbook.

Rating:
Summary: All Gimmick
Review: My daughter recently received this book for her 4th birthday. This book is way over her head. She is trying to learn the alphabet, for which purpose this book is ill-suited. The first three pages instruct the child to trace the letters of the alphabet. From there, the child is expected to do a number of exercises requiring mastery of the alphabet. The directions make little sense if one doesn't already know how to read, which is unreasonable for anyone to expect as background knowledge for the Pre-K level. Often, it is not even obvious to me what the creators of the curriculum intend by some of the exercises.
Furthermore, the colorful cats, etcetera are distracting. I ripped out the "reward" stickers and gave those to her right away, after I noticed that she was rushing through the page in order to hurry up and get the sticker. I think they are damaging to my attempts to instill in her the intrinsic value of learning.
This book may be useful for children who already know how to read somewhat as a review of the alphabet and numbers, but I do not recommend it for even the most advanced 4-year-olds.

Rating:
Summary: All Gimmick
Review: My daughter recently received this book for her 4th birthday. Not to brag, but she has very advanced verbal and math skills for her age, so I consider her to be appropriately classified as Pre-K. That being said, this book is way over her head. She doesn't know how to read. She is trying to learn the alphabet, for which purpose this book is ill-suited. The first three pages instruct the child to trace the letters of the alphabet. From there, the child is expected to do a number of exercises requiring mastery of the alphabet. The directions make little sense if one doesn't already know how to read, which is unreasonable for anyone to expect as background knowledge for the Pre-K level. Often, it is not even obvious to me what the creators of the curriculum intend by some of the exercises.
Furthermore, the colorful cats, etcetera are distracting. I ripped out the "reward" stickers and gave those to her right away, after I noticed that she was rushing through the page, doing unacceptable work, in order to hurry up and get the sticker. I think the stickers are damaging to my attempts to instill in her the intrinsic value of learning.
This book may be useful for children who already know how to read somewhat as a review of the alphabet and numbers, but I do not recommend it for even the most advanced 4-year-olds.

Rating:
Summary: A Fun Way to Learn All the Basics in Second Grade!!!
Review: My six-year-old sister (Rhiannon) is in the 1st grade and she is having a little trouble with her math skills. I recommend this book as a tutor to help her out in all the second grade subjects. I bet others will treasure this workbook as an aid to help out their child aged six through nine either in 1st grade or 2nd grade. When I first browsed its pages, I found out that CJ and Edison loved having adventures with help from children working hard and earning reward stickers for their hard work, just like earning reward pieces for carnival rides in Jumpstart Artist. Of all the books I have read and found really cool, adventurous, or even funny, this workbook is the best!

Rating:
Summary: We loved it
Review: My son has developmental disabilities. He first played the computer game for a few months and by the time we got the book, he was completely familiar with the characters! He has a fixation on trains (he possibly has AS) and works hard to earn those train stickers! The book is so colorful and fun to work with. It gently prepares him for the next level in a challenging and fun way. We love it!

Rating:
Summary: My neice can't put this book down!!
Review: This is probably one of the best presents my 4 year old neice got. The first day she got it she did 55 pages in one day!! Now her mom has to tell her to take a break because she'll work on this book for hours! She's had it for a few months and its surprising that she hasn't gotten bored with it unlike her other books.

Rating:
Summary: 100% worth the money!
Review: Utilizing frequent positive reinforcement techniques, this workbook has become my 6 year-old son's most frequently requested book. He just loves to do the activities. Each section is separated by levels, with the child earning a money sticker for each level completed and a special certificate reward sticker when the whole section is completed. The directions are simple and easy to understand and gives the child understanding into the many nuances of the english language, such as how to recognize long vowel sounds vs. short vowel sounds and when to utilize the silent "e". Handwriting is heavily practiced, as are mathematics, time, money, reading and spelling among other subjects. This book is truly a gem and intensely helpful for summer vacations to keep your child's mind active during this scholastic "down time". All activities are made into games with colorful pictures and puzzles - all pages are fully colored, no boring black and white. It is 100% worth the money and I fully intend to buy all the other jumpstart workbook as my son progresses through school.