JumpStart Baby

Rating:
Summary: Do yourself a favor, Check it out first
Review: I would strongly urge anyone to check this product out before buying it.... This is one of the first we bought. It is very slow. Our bright enough baby was unable to establish any relationship between mouse movement and what happens on screen. The characters talk to the baby and tell her or him what to do. Babies do not get it. Our baby is now a toddler and this softwere is still useless. I suggest Reader Rabbit Baby, Reader Rabbit Toddler, or Sesame Street Baby and ME. Stay away from Sasame Street Toddler. It is very old, probably a Windows 3.1 progrem that needs a lot of updating.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first software
Review: I'm a bit baffled by the negative reviews listed here. I used JumpStart Baby with my first son (now 4) and found it to be an excellent introduction to the world of computer software. The "dress teddy" and "color train" games provided months of fun. The fact is, babies can't mouse around (as in JumpStart Toddler) -- the best they can do is hit the keyboard and that is exactly how the games are designed to function: to respond with the next logical action when the keyboard is pressed. The comments regarding "waiting" are off-base.... if you think children hate to wait then this game is not nearly as frustrating as LeapPad products which are all "sit and listen" and very little "interact." I have just begun introducing the game to my 7 month old and he loves it! But's it's only appropriate in small doses at the beginning... still, with this softare, even before age one your child can learn that playing with computers is fun and that "something happens" when he/she presses buttons on the keyboard. What more do you want from a baby? (Note: I never encountered any of the installation problems mentioned by other reviewers.)

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first software
Review: I'm a bit baffled by the negative reviews listed here. I used JumpStart Baby with my first son (now 4) and found it to be an excellent introduction to the world of computer software. The "dress teddy" and "color train" games provided months of fun. The fact is, babies can't mouse around (as in JumpStart Toddler) -- the best they can do is hit the keyboard and that is exactly how the games are designed to function: to respond with the next logical action when the keyboard is pressed. The comments regarding "waiting" are off-base.... if you think children hate to wait then this game is not nearly as frustrating as LeapPad products which are all "sit and listen" and very little "interact." I have just begun introducing the game to my 7 month old and he loves it! But's it's only appropriate in small doses at the beginning... still, with this softare, even before age one your child can learn that playing with computers is fun and that "something happens" when he/she presses buttons on the keyboard. What more do you want from a baby? (Note: I never encountered any of the installation problems mentioned by other reviewers.)

Rating:
Summary: Perfect first computer experience for my 19 month old
Review: Jump Start Baby is such a hit with my 19 month old son; I can't turn on the computer without him pointing to the Jump Start Baby CD. Being a former high school, Computer Applications teacher, I found this software engaging, easy to follow, and appropriate to the targeted age level.

Rating:
Summary: J.Start Baby is more than I expected
Review: Jump Start Is Great! My 17-month old daughter enjoys the music, Teddy, and most of all the barnyard animals. After just a couple times playing it together, she knows what to do by herself now. It's not only for the younger kids, but my 4 year old likes to play it too! He enjoys the star drawings, he likes to guess what it's going to be before it's done drawing. Music is great, animation is great and my kids love it!

Rating:
Summary: Limited Fun for Baby, Nightmare for Mom
Review: JumpStart Baby Deluxe Edition was the first CD-ROM that I bought for my daughter when she was almost a year old. She found it fascinating the first handful of times that we played it together, but it seemed to get old pretty fast for her. She did learn basic cause-and-effect via keyboard banging, but she lost interest in the games quickly and some were actually quite confusing.

As lapware, this was not a fun program to use. With lapware, the child sits on the parent's lap while they both attend to the game. It's a way for the parent AND child to interact together so that the computer doesn't act as a babysitter per se. However, I found the graphics very stilted and unappealing. Teddy was much too talkative and the animals were downright scary-looking. The baby performing fingerplays and dancing in the song section was nightmarish. I don't know what the JumpStart team was thinking when they released this version of JumpStart Baby.

Rating:
Summary: A true easy to use baby software
Review: Like many other reviewers my son started watching this game before he could talk, probably around 10 months. We would sit in front of the screen and watch the animals. I would push a key and the animal would make a noise. Cause and effect. Immediate gratification. He got it...fast. This is a great piece of software to introduce your child to the computer. Talk about the keyboard and the keys. Sure, she may not understand the words but she will soon learn. These games are very simple, but what else would you want for your baby who can only say moo or baa? The Jump Start and Reader Rabbit series are perfect for babies and toddlers. If your child is not interested, don't push. Try another cd or just wait. Your child will probably soon develop an interest. Highly highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: too slow to load and stop the songs,didn't like the graphics
Review: my 18 month old daughter likes best the Reader Rabbit series:baby and toddler (since she was 1), and Sesame Street for babys. Gets bored easily with "jumpstart baby".

Rating:
Summary: not enough interaction
Review: My 18 month old is very bored with the program. He loves Reader Rabbit Toddler and was used to the rich graphics and having lots of input into the activities.

When we tried Jump Start Baby he liked some of the activities, and the cute bear, but was frustrated that he couldn't choose the sequencing of events. For example, he liked the idea of putting clothes onto the bear, but he wanted to pick what to put on next and the program forced him to go in their order. This type of program flow frustrated him in all of the games.

The graphics are disappointing as well.

Rating:
Summary: I can't keep my daughter off our computer!
Review: My daughter points to our computer all day long and says "baby" when she wants to play. It is set up so that it is so easy to use. The graphics are wonderful and she just loves all the games she gets to play. She is learning animals sounds, colors, objects and songs. I enjoy sitting with her because it is so well done.