| My First CD-Rom: Starting To Read | 
 enlarge
| From: Avanquest Software
Category: Software
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £2.42
You Save: £7.57 (76%)
Buy New from £2.42
Avg. Customer Rating:   (4 reviews)
Sales Rank: 667
Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98
Media: CD-ROM
Reading Level: Baby-Preschool
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5016488100359
ASIN: B00004UCNK
Release Date: June 7, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
|
| Accessories:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Starting to Read is another excellent package in the "My First" series of CD-ROMs (and books) from the ever-popular publisher Dorling Kindersley--just the thing if you're looking to support your child's education at home. Meet White Bear and Little Penguin as they invite readers to take part in four easy-to-play, interactive games: "Rhyme Time", "Odd One Out", "Alphabet Scramble" and "Master Lunch", all of which use catchy songs and rhymes, clear and simple instructions, and appealing animations. Rewards are earned in the form of stickers and celebratory songs, and speed and difficulty can be adjusted. On-screen help will adjust automatically, also according to the responses given by the user. All these situations have been designed to help children develop key reading concepts: letter sounds and phonics, upper and lower case letters, alphabetical order, rhyming words and spelling patterns. The package will also help extend and develop their vocabulary and vocabulary skills. Listening skills and PC skills, both so important in the information world, can also be practiced and broadened. The package is not accompanied by an instruction pamphlet, but simple instructions for installation are displayed on the CD-ROM itself and excellent, extensive support notes for parents on every aspect of the package can be accessed via the "Parents" icon on the tool bar. It is also possible to print out various items, such as name tags, invitations, birthday cards and writing paper. My First Starting to Read provides learning experiences as games and activities that are exciting, lively, imaginative and fun, and will extend knowledge, confidence and skill, often without children realising. The package is aimed at 3-5 year olds who are starting to read, but it can also be used with older children requiring extra practice. --Susan Naylor
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Too many bugs November 6, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Agree with other reviewer - very annoying that you have to wait for the quite lengthy instructions each time you start the game, or have to return to the how to screen.
Game also freezes regularly, (as I have read in many reviews of other DK software products) and the only fix they can offer is to press alt+tab and return to the game each time it happens, which means that you have to sit with your child the whole time and not just let them get on with it.
DK's technical support is very frustrating, as the only way of contacting them is via email and you have to wait for them to reply (or eventually just ignore you, after they have advised you that they have no solution to your problem...)
It is a real shame, as the actual games and activities are pretty good and my little boy rather enjoyed them!
 Better than most August 23, 2005
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Useful parent section on this software enables you to monitor how your child progresses. Slow demonstrations, however I have found that my child appreciates these as they are animated. I have noticed an improvement in my child's listening skills since we have started this series of software.bad point is that the puzzles have a limited range of examples. We found that in the rhyming game the same question popped up approximately 15 times out of the 25 needed to complete the section.
Too slow! March 7, 2003
34 out of 35 found this review helpful
My three year old (just turned three mind you) enjoys the activities but finds that the speed of the games is too slow and the progression between stages of the games tends to be spoilt by long and repetitive voiceovers. Once you are in a 'how-to' screen you can't exit until the demonstration is complete, making for lots of time sitting waiting if your child tends to click randomly in an effort to hurry things up. He finds the activities interesting, but I don't see that this CD will hold his interest for very long once he has completed the games. That said, it does have the advantages of an 'English' voice, as opposed to American, and the instructions and sounds are very clear and legible. One other thing to note is that if you have your screen resolution set to anything other than 640 x 480 the game play area will be windowed. So if you have other things running at the same time there's the possibility that your child will 'overflow' out of the window into your work.
Review on my first starting to read cd rom April 3, 2001
65 out of 66 found this review helpful
I only rated this cd rom with 3 stars as i thought it was a little hard for my 3 year. I feel that to get the most out of this cd rom the child needs to have a good grounding in the alphabet already. The idea of this cd i thought was to help them learn the alphabet so the ideal age for this cd would about 4 years i think. Like the rest of dorling kindersley products it is very well thought out and a good investment to give your child a head start.
|
|
|
