Helps users, esp. beginners, learn to type through a series of increasingly difficult drills and one minute “fluency” tests. Designed for students with learning disabilities, but usable by anyone.
Teaches over 450 vocabulary words in American Sign Language, using a combination of video demonstration, and illustrations. Good for anyone interested in expanding their ASL vocabulary.
A quasi-adventure/life-simulation game centered on the user helping Charlie Brown recruit and play a baseball game. Best for patient young children learning to play baseball.
Features a wide range of age- and skill-level-appropriate games for its young players. Good entertainment value, and a fun way for kids to do a little brainwork. As a purely educational tool, it is probably best for the pre-school set.
Beautifully illustrated and clearly narrated, with English subtitle and Spanish narration options. Lack of interactivity limits educational value. Best as a travel distraction for young non-readers.
A program for solving a large range of math equations frequently covered in algebra classes. Best for students with a good understanding of math principles, but need some help, or wish to check their answers.
This program allows you to create your own digital and printable flashcards, study sheets, multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank tests. Best for students who like to create their own study and review materials.
One of the best programs we have seen for teaching reading comprehension skills. But successful completion will require adult authority for all but the most driven young students.
A web-based, self-paced, adaptive, interactive program. Most of the educational content is presented in a practice or drill format, with progressively larger numbers, rather than in a teaching format, where concepts are first explained, then practiced. Appropriate for extra practice at home or school, or as the basis for a homeschooling class.
Focus on advanced language arts, including: Word Families and Patterns, Syllables, Antonyms and Synonyms, Homophones and Homographs, Classifying and Sorting, Prefixes, Root Words, Suffixes, Reading Comprehension Strategies, and Spelling.
Focuses on the dynamics of music, and how different styles of play produce different results. Best for those who really enjoy music and want to understand it better.
A puzzle game in which players are presented with objectives and parts. The parts must be placed/arranged in constructed formations that accomplish the objective. Younger players may need parental support.
Travel back in time to see and recreate historical examples of civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering at work, like catapults, pyramids, submarines and radar. Use the math, or click-and-guess to find optimal solutions.
A mathematical adventure that takes the user on a quest to rescue Sonic's friends from an evil villain. Saving them requires answering simple, age-appropriate math problems.
A fun program that combines elements of classic seach and exploration games. Best for young kids who like to build things, and/or to explore and solve puzzles. It is not designed to appeal to true video game players.
A strong drill and test vocabulary/spelling/grammar program, hidden in a modest search game. The educational component will be attractive to parents and teachers, as well as to those students who want to learn or challenge themselves.
Three fun stories, in three languages each, offer reading, listening, and speaking practice. Best for young, learning to read, native speakers in English, French or Spanish. Also good for early new language learners.
Does a reasonable job in introducing and providing practice opportunities for some basic Spanish vocabulary. Unfortunately, our reviewers felt that the range of material presented was too limited.
A simulation-style, problem solving program where the user is cast in the role of a small practice veterinarian. Patient, inquisitive students interested in pet health will find the program attractive.
A tightly focused educational software program, cleverly disguised as a captivating video game. Want to learn your times tables while playing a video game? Check it out!
Provides a broad-brush, multimedia introduction to whales for young children. Photos and short videos make the information clear and more interesting than many textbooks.
A nicely animated adventure program incorporating preschool skills practice for four and five year-olds. Younger children may need additional support to use and enjoy the program.
A searchable collection of factoids, tools and templates designed to bring helpful information on basic high school subjects into a single, easy-to-use interface. Not up to Microsoft's potential.
A homework helper tool for students (and their parents) looking to practice basic skills, or needing help solving problems and lacking access to other resources
A multimedia lesson on the history of whaling, through the perspective of a single ship -- the sole surviving wooden whaling ship in the world. Best for history buffs, homeshoolers, and classroom use.
A classic-style math drill program, wrapped in a soccer match disguise. Best suited for soccer-loving young math students who need to practice their basic math skills, but don't need additional instruction.
A collection of intriguing number concepts ranging from prime numbers to square roots, to Fibonacci numbers. Best-suited for 8-15 year-olds with at least some interest in math.
Sequenced series of lessons in hearing, reading and composing beginning piano music. Best for 4-12 year olds who want to practice beginning piano music.
Encourages girls to be independent problem solvers. Girls take on the role of the famous teen sleuth: exploring new places, questioning motives, collecting evidence and analyzing clues.
Offers a unique introduction to either or both Spanish and French. While solving a mystery, users play a series of games progressing from distinguishing sounds of letters and spelling words to deciphering simple dialogue. Best for kids with strong concentration skills.
A fun and educationally valuable musical jigsaw puzzle that teaches not only music listening skills, but also provides dollops of contextually relevant (and interesting) history.
Includes more than a dozen math activities covering a wide range of grade-appropriate skills, in real-world settings. Best-suited for students that are working at the indicated grade levels.
Covers a number of key math concepts for early learners. Best for children who already have some familiarity with basic math concepts, and with using a computer mouse and keyboard.
An interactive, animated extension of Andrew Griff's popular series of children's books. It is best-suited for lover's of the character and/or the topic, AND those children who have the patience for a quest-type activity.
A wonderfully animated task in observation and problem solving, from the founders of Humongous Entertainment. Best suited to home use by young users (5-6) with persistence.
An extremely simple and straightforward program featuring high interest, lovable characters. Best for parents and caregivers interested in including some software stimulation into their child's day of learning.
Geometry, trigonometry, graphing, solving equations and scientific notation in the context of astronomy. Best for students who need to review topics in math or have a particular interest in astronomy.
A combination interactive storybook, exploration/discovery program, video arcade game. Best suited for children in the older end of the recommended age range, or even a couple of years older
Addresses many skills covered in the second grade curriculum, while the music, graphics and secret spy mission make the program entertaining for young users.
Exploratory software that encourages users to be observant, decisive and mindful as they try to find secret passageways and hiding places. Fun, rather than intellectual challenge, makes this program best-suited for younger children.
Grade-appropriate bundles of previously released programs. The only way to find some golden-oldies, but beware: there are multiple bundles available under the same title.
A solid and fun introductory skills program, covering colors and shapes, numbers and counting, letter and sound identification, and sorting and grouping.
A complete keyboarding program covering letters, numbers and symbols, and keypads. Well-designed for classroom/computer lab use, and no-nonsense home learners.
A well-designed point and click, exploration mystery program for young users. Snoopy fans (and others) will enjoy helping Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Snoopy find the missing blanket.
Provides high school math students with tutorials, practice and homework problem-solving assistance. Best for motivated students, and parents who need a refresher.
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