Customer Reviews

KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE JumpStart Advanced Toddlers (Windows/Macintosh)

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

 

 

I got this program about 1 1/2 years ago when my son didn't know how to use a mouse yet. The product info. said mouse-clicking wouldn't be necessary, so I thought Jumpstart Advanced Toddler would be a good starter program for him. My children have really liked it, but I have been a little disappointed. I would recommend Reader Rabbit Preschool over this program. Not only is it less expensive, but I think it is more educational and more fun for the kids. In short, here is a plus/minus list for this game:
+The kids like it.
+Fairly good graphics, fun songs, etc.
+Variety of activities with two different play levels.
+Mouse-clicking not required for many activities.
+For younger kids just learning this is a fun choice.

-Mouse clicking still required for painting/art activities, and on games where it is not required, the "feather" must be held over the chosen activity for several seconds or else it will not work. This doesn't work for children with a short attention span or who can't hold the cursor steady for a while. Sometimes I couldn't even get it to work myself unless I held it in just the right spot.
-Like some other reviewers have said, the duck's voice is a little annoying.
-WE seem to get a lot of errors with this game, especially if the kids leave it running and the computer changes over to a screensaver.
-The two levels of play have to be changed manually with each game. There is no "intelligence" in the game to move from one level to the other once the simpler tasks are mastered.
-There is no "point" to the game, so to speak. You just go and "have fun" at and around "grandma's house." It is the same every time and you don't build up to anything or "accomplish" anything like in Reader Rabbit where you are working toward a goal and advancing.
-Comes in a 3-CD set and CDs have to be changed to go from Art to Music to Schooltime. For little kids, this is a bit annoying or could possibly destroy the CDs if you have kids that try to do it themselves and aren't careful.
-Long annoying song/instructions at the start-up of the game every time, and also song and credits at the conclusion. Luckily these can be skipped by clicking the mouse. This may be standard with a lot of games for kids though.

My 2 year old loves this set of CDs. I found that it reinforces all the things we are teaching her.... shapes, colors, numbers the ABC. The duck that sings is very sweet to their ear. I found it sooo great I am buying it for my daughter's school so the other kids can benefit as well.

My toddler loves this product. There are games to teach him shapes, colors, letters, numbers, and even drawing. Each game has 2 levels. He loved the shape game and mastered it rather quickly. It was nice to have a 'level 2' option so he wouldn't get bored. It's easy for a child to navigate. The game allows the child to just let the mouse hover over what they want OR when they figure out how to click on things, the game will respond as well. It's hard to find things that keep my son's attention but this is a winner whether he's playing by himself or with one of his parents.

My two year loves this program! They regularly play it at her daycare and in the six weeks she has been there she has learned to count to nine and she can sing the whole ABC song. I think this program is wonderful for children and it is in an easy to learn format. The songs are great too, music is very important and kids love it!

My 23 month old son and I have great learning fun together. He thouroughly enjoys it and I'm happy to let him play it since he is learning his ABC's, 123's, shapes and colors at the same time. Thank you for a great product!

I have mixed feelings about this. We got it because it was supposed to be usable on our Mac, but its only if you have Classic 9 installed (we don't).

We had a previous version (JumpStart Reading and JumpStart Math) that we did use on our Windows 95 machine years ago, and our child then loved it. We had high hopes for our youngest, but it was disappointing regarding the platform compatibility.


If you have a PC, as I recall, it was a wonderful product for young kids.

My 3 year old daughter will sit for hours playing with this software. I do not, however, see or hear the results of their accomplishments together. The language cd offers 3 other languages but I have yet to hear her say a word in any other language. She has already mastered the alphabet which is good because this really does not teach the alphabet just arbitrarily some letters throughout the game. I do not really think it is worth the $29.99. I gave it 3 stars because she seems to like to play with it and 1)it is better than tv and 2) I am sure she is learning something.

We bought this as a Christmas present for our son that just turned 2. We were looking for an educational computer game for him and we already had Reader Rabbit Toddler (which he loves). When I first started Jumpstart Adv. Toddler I thought it was way too simple, then I discovered that most activities have 2 levels. Level 1 is pretty basic and doesn't require the kids to do a whole lot...my son was very bored with this. Level 2 is much better...in fact it is more advanced than Reader Rabbit. Most of the activities do not require toddlers to click on the mouse, but if you can click it goes faster. I was surprised by how fast my son figured out the activities. He can do most everything by himself, but he still needs me to help him navigate some. This package comes with 3 cd's - school time, song time and art time. THe song time cd has several fun songs that he just loves. Overall I really like this game and have found it to be very educational. As soon as my son has mastered clicking the mouse we will be getting the preschool version.

I've bought this game for my 27 mo old girl.I'm very disappointed,especially compairing to Reader Rabbit's Toddler which we love(both of us).Some games are way too complicated for the age mentioned on the box(18mo-3yo).Some are plain boring.In disk#2 we can only hear the songs,but don't have any picture.Also,too many unnesessary,confusing details for a 2 yo.In short,isn't worth any penny.

We have this game for our 2-year old. She loves it. She has enjoyed disk 2 for a long time. It helps teach basic mouse skills. Disk 1 she has grown into as her mouse skills have improved.

I strongly encourage for young children to a) buy a child's mouse and b) SLOW THAT MOUSE DOWN.