JumpStart Advanced Preschool 2003

Rating:
Summary: CD are easily destroyed
Review: One annoying hidden "gotcha" is CD copy protection. You can not make a copy of the CD for your kid. Even worse you can not install the game to the hard drive. Each time you want to play the game you must insert the original CD into the CD player. None of this is disclosed on the box.

Bewarned if your kids are young and do not fully understand how to properly handle CDs. With our tile floors the CD was very badly scratched within days.

The very idea that the game can not be installed on to the hard drive for quick easy access while the original is kept safe makes this a one star product. Look at other games that are friendly for parents and their children.

Rating:
Summary: Jump Start Advanced 4th Grade
Review: As with many of the older versions of Jump Start, this product doesn't seem to work on Macs running OSX in classic mode (despite their claim on the box) or virtual PC mode. I had contacted Vivendi Universal regarding a 2000 version of JS 3rd grade that I own only to hear, "we don't support that version any more," so I purchased a new copy of the 4th grade version (since that's the grade level I needed most for my kids) to find that I have the same problem with the "new" version. Ironically the version of JS in the 2003 package was created in 2000. Are they simply repackaging old products? My husband and I are extremely knowledgable computer users, so our problems aren't a user issue and so far this issue has only occured with our Jump Start products. If you're a Mac user runnning OSX, I would strongly recommend finding another product. I also want to add that the company isn't very supportive of their products on the customer and technical support side. However, it's only fair to mention that when we were to be able to use the games running on the old versions of the Mac operating system, my kids really enjoyed them and we were pleased with the educational content of the games.

Rating:
Summary: Jumpstart typing is not for beginners
Review: I ordered jumpstart typing to teach my child to type. It seems it is only for practice. Immediately they have your child practice combinations of letters, and never introduce them one at a time. The children can not access the games until they demonstrate a certain level of competancy (they need to type letter combinations over and over- even I was bored and I can type.) I thought the games were supposed to help them learn. I am very disappointed in this software and do not recommend it to anyone

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing but I am not sure she is learning anything.
Review: My 3 year old daughter will sit for hours playing with this software. I do not, however, see or hear the results of their accomplishments together. The language cd offers 3 other languages but I have yet to hear her say a word in any other language. She has already mastered the alphabet which is good because this really does not teach the alphabet just arbitrarily some letters throughout the game. I do not really think it is worth the $29.99. I gave it 3 stars because she seems to like to play with it and 1)it is better than tv and 2) I am sure she is learning something.

Rating:
Summary: A must have for parents and educators
Review: My two year loves this program! They regularly play it at her daycare and in the six weeks she has been there she has learned to count to nine and she can sing the whole ABC song. I think this program is wonderful for children and it is in an easy to learn format. The songs are great too, music is very important and kids love it!