Educator's Choice 1st And 2nd Grade Excelerator

by TOPICS Entertainment

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005LPYW
• Item model number: cs-092
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 5, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,586 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
  • #68 in Software > Education & Reference > Writing & Literature
  • #70 in Software > Education & Reference > Secondary Education > Math
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

This affordable multiple-CD set from Topics Entertainment strikes a wonderful balance between education and entertainment, pulling together four already proven titles that cover everything from math and problem-solving skills to art and reading.

Edmark's Mighty Math Zoo Zillions lets kids practice counting and number grouping in a colorful animated zoo, while Eurotalk's Spanish Vocabulary Builder offers simple illustrated games that reinforce basic Español. Simon & Schuster's Curious George Paint & Print Studio is a freeform art program that lets kids decorate monkey-related scenes with thousands of stamps and drawing tools. Finally, School Zone's Beginning Reading 1-2 offers two interactive books, plus an audio dictionary and a Create-a-Story program.

All four use intuitive visual interfaces that kids shouldn't have any trouble tackling, and all provide at least some open-ended interactivity. Beginning Reading lets you explore all the different items on each storybook page, for example, and Zoo Zillions lets you fiddle with math problems as you go. Some of this is a little complicated--Zoo Zillions lets you flip-flop quickly between structured questions and unstructured play--but adults will likely find themselves more confused than kids. Also, most of the programs feature vocal help in the form of purring tigers or head-nodding Curious Georges.

A nice bonus: all of the programs except Beginning Reading run right off the CD, so no installation is required. And even if you're not interested in all four titles, the price is hard to beat. --Paul Hughes

Amazon.com Product Description

1st & 2nd Grade Excelerator is packed with more than 40 individual lessons and 200 activities on a diverse set of skills and subjects designed to entertain as they teach and provide hours of engaging activities. This four-CD-ROM set is comprised of Mighty Math Zoo Zillions, Curious George Paint & Print Studio, Spanish Vocabulary Builder, and Beginning Reading 1-2.

• Mighty Math Zoo Zillions is filled with otters and armadillos that really know their math. Counting coins and dividing digits is as easy as a walk in the park. Cartoon friends provide evaluation and assistance as children leap from one problem to the next. Activities include Otter Twins 3-D Geometry, Gnu Ewe Boutique, and Fishy Story Problems.
• Curious George Paint & Print Studio lets kids draw pictures and design landscapes with George and his studio full of tricks. Thousands of stamps, colors, and templates will inspire your child's creativity. Write a story or paint a picture. When the kids are finished, they can save and print their creations for family and friends.
• With Spanish Vocabulary Builder, kids will join a cast of cartoon characters on a stage set for language learning. Click on pictures to hear words spoken in Spanish and choose from an enormous library of verbs and nouns, including colors, places, and professions. Nine different games will challenge your memory skills.
• Beginning Reading 1-2 features two animated tales that build reading basics. "A Different Tune" teaches that individual talents make us special. "It's Magic" features a clever rabbit with an idea that will steal the show. Rhyming and repeated words, audio guidance, and picture clues ensure reading success. Children will also discover creative writing with pictures, art, and words in Create-a-Story.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Buyer Beware - Very Poor Quality Software, May 16, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Educator's Choice 1st And 2nd Grade Excelerator (CD-ROM)

The software included in this set is of very poor quality. They will change your screen colors since they need to be run in 256 color mode. The games themselves are flawed with bugs. The answers to some of the questions were incorrect. I have an advanced degree in medicine, but even that did not help to address these shortcomings. I have also purchased the middle and High school math and Middle school math excelerator software and all of them are from the same company - TOPICS ENTERTAINMENT. I would recommend not to purchase ANY of the Excelerator titles, for not only are they a waste of your time and money, but they include two programs that are the same in both the Middle School and Middle School Math, which are the Pre-Algebra and Algebra programs. You would be better off buying another title from a different company....Buyer Beware!!!

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars speed up my 1st to a 2nd grader, August 29, 2001

By 

Lina Fuentes (seattle, wa United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Educator's Choice 1st And 2nd Grade Excelerator (CD-ROM)

This software was pretty good the zoo zollions I think was the best my daugther enjoyed the changellen, the print shop curious george was good also, the spanish was very good and to my surprise it was easy to change to a different language. But when it came to the reading part of it. it was borning and not that much changellen only in the creating your own story the dictonary was good. Only 3 stars because I wanted something more out of it for my 7 year old going into the 2nd grade.