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From: kevint@hpsad.HP.COM (Kevin Taddeucci)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: software for preschooler
Message-ID: <730017@hpsad.HP.COM>
Date: 20 Dec 90 01:42:11 GMT
References: <1990Dec7.020450.8408@infonode.ingr.com>
Organization: HP Signal Analysis Div - Rohnert Park, CA
Lines: 61


     My son is now four years old and began using the amiga at three years 
     of age. The following is the list of programs he has and a brief 
     discription of his responces to them.
     
     ABZoo - This was his first program. At first he played it often (it 
     was the only program he had.) but now he rarely plays with it. He did 
     play with it for about six months and learned to use the amiga's 
     keyboard and mouse interface. He also learned most of the letters of 
     the alphabet using this program. I would recommend this program for 
     very young children. 
     
     
     The Dinasor Discovery Kit - This is the program that my son now plays 
     with the most. He loves the match game and the story builder. He also 
     plays this program with his friends since two people can play the 
     match game. Highly recommended.
     
     
     Barney Bear Goes to School - My son plays with this one now mostly 
     for the coloring program. It is very easy for young children to use. He 
     became board with the other activities relatively quickly and they 
     seem to have limited educational value. (Not interactive enough to 
     hold my sons intrest.) The drawbacks to the paint program are that 
     you cannot save a colored pictures. The eaisy to use coloring program
     and the opening sequence, which my son still enjoys, is probably worth
     the $23 I spent on this one.
     
     
     Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles coloring book - I may not have gotten the 
     title exactly right on this one since we just bought it last night. 
     So far my son loves coloring the Turtles which appear at historic 
     landmarks. The coloring book controls are eaisy for him to use and it 
     offers a pallet of 22 colors as well as the colors all dithered by 
     any one of the 22 colors. It also allows the user to change each of 
     the colors. This program allows printing and storing of the pictures.
     It is also supposed to allow printing of banners, calenders, 
     descriptions of landmarks and user messages with the pictures 
     although I have been unable to get this feature to work. (can't find 
     the required fonts.) I have called the company and they were unable 
     to verify the problem but were willing to send me a new copy if I 
     returned the original. If the printing features really work this one 
     is worth the $13 I paid for it. This program is the same as the 
     Dianasors are Forever program except it does not have sound effects 
     and it has 30 Turtle pictures to draw.
     
     Most of my comments here have related to how my son has reacted to 
     each of these programs which I think is the bottom line but if
     anyone wishes to send me detailed reviews on other educational
     programs I will send detailed reviews on any of these, including my 
     own personal grips and praised. 
          
     
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      | Kevin J. Taddeucci          | e-mail: kevint@hpsad.hp.com        |
      | ATE Software Supervisor     | HPDesk: Kevin TADDEUCCI /HP5300/A0 |
      | Telnet: 794-4192            | HP Mailstop: 1UR-M                 |
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