Customer Reviews

Jumpstart Advanced Study Helpers V2.0

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although the Study Helpers has only 3 games on each disc, they allow you to enter your own math problems and spelling words. I find that the children learn their spelling and math memory problems much faster when they are able to play games which they already know. The beauty of having a computer game is that the child has to respond quickly and thus is really learning to be able to remember what they are trying to learn. This is especially helpful with the multiplication facts as some children try to skip count their way through the testing process and find themselves in trouble later on.

Hi, I'm StoryMaker, a JumpStart fan. Once, I got JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster from the library. I liked it a lot, so I asked my parents for the JumpStart Advanced Study Helpers 2-disc set, which comes with both Math Booster and Spelling Bee, for Christmas. As you might be able to guess, I got it. It isn't perfect, but it's worthwhile without a doubt.

Math Booster: This is the better of the two discs. Frankie the dog introduces kids to 3 fun, arcade-styled math games. It is also sold individually as JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster. You can choose a level and a subject to practice, or you can even use your own math problems and construct lists using the editor. This means that this CD-ROM is good for a large variety of ages. (It's best for Grades 1-5, but can adjust to higher grade levels.) Since there are only 3 games, they bore after a while, but they still are pretty fun for a pretty long amount of time. I'd say that this is a fun, good way to practice math. Unfortunately, in one otherwise-very-fun game, "Galactic Pinball", obstacles often can send you zooming to wrong answers, which can frustrate kids easily. Also, the custom lists you create in the editor only are available on the user name they were made on. Despite the few downsides, this is a very fun & worthwhile way to practice math, no doubt!

Spelling Bee: Spelling Bee is fine, but definitely not as good as Math Booster. It is similar to Math Booster in various ways - again, Frankie the dog introduces kids to 3 arcade-styled games, and you can choose a level & topic OR you can use the editor to make custom lists - but there are a few points that make this not as good. For one thing, two of the games just require you to spell ONE LETTER of a word. Luckily, you can click on the Gameplay Options button and set the gameplay difficulty harder to make it require you to pick 2 or 3 letters, but A) this also makes the games longer and B) they still don't teach a whole lot. The game which I think is the most fun and educational enough is called "Fish Frenzy", and requires you to catch falling fish that have correctly and incorrectly spelled words on them. Of course, you try to get the ones that are spelled correctly. This is educational enough, I think. However, another bad thing is, when creating custom lists of your own spelling words, you must also type in 3 incorrectly spelled versions of each word. This can be a real pain. Some of the reviews on the individually sold version of this (JumpStart Study Helpers Spelling Bee) say that the voice that tells you the words is hard to hear, but I don't really think so. Overall, this is good for a little spelling fun, but as a teaching tool, it's not very good.

Overall, JumpStart Advanced Study Helpers is definitely would be worth the money, especially since you can get it for less than ten dollars. I'd say this is good educational fun for ages 6-12. Signed, StoryMaker. "Gotta trust the kid's review!"

I was excited to find a study helper that could be customized and this product allowed me to choose spelling words and arithmetic problems that my son should have been able to manage. Although the theme was fun and very much like a game that it kept my son interested, I found that choosing the answers was too fast paced. My son became anxious about missing his answers, rather than spending time working out the answers. If there was a way to reduce the speed, I'd be a happy mom.

Hola, soy Chocolateperro! (Hello, I'm Chocolatedog!)This product is fairly good, the math disk is quite fun and educational, but the spelling disk's game design isn't very creative and for the most part you just fill in a few letters in each word.
In both disk there is three games, the math part has a activity were you blast the asteroids with the correct number on them, a game in which you drop down "digihogs" to make equations, and Galactic Pinball, were you use the arrow keys to guide the Frankie Ball through a slippery field of opsicles to get to the numbers (Sometimes the opsicles throw you into a wrong answer witch will show up on your report card). In the spelling disk, you catch falling fish with the correctly spelled word on them, click zooming crabs with the letter that fills in the blank in the word you are spelling, and play a sort of racing game that I'm not sure you can lose.
One of the best parts is that you can put your own math problems and spelling word into the game. However you must also put incorrect spellings of the word you put in.
Math: Fun: B+,-on the higher side.
Education: A+ -Terrific, and you can put in your own problems.
Music: C -Err... it's fine. I don't really care.
Overall: A -Very good game!
Spelling: Fun: B- -Gets pretty boring after some play.
Education: B -Fine.
Music: C -Err... it's fine. I don't really care.
Overall: B -Disappointing for a JumpStart game. Go ahead and get it, but only along with Math Booster.

This is a great CD. My son uses it for his spelling words weekly. He likes the math too.