Reader Rabbit Learn to Read With Phonics Review

This is a great educational game shh don’t tell the kids its educational. My son begs to play it everyday. I give him half hour at a time and when time is up it is hard to pry him off!!!! What he doesn’t realize is he is learning letter sounds, sight words, and reading. Don’t tell him!!!! Best of all there is no fight to get him to study because to him its a fum game!

Reader Rabbit Learn to Read With Phonics Overview

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Reader Rabbit Learn to Read With Phonics Specifications

A diaper-clad rhinoceros, a troupe of Incredible Performing Hamsters, and a mambo-dancing moose are just a handful of the many light-hearted elements that make Reader Rabbit: Learn to Read with Phonics an engrossing early-reading program that puts some much needed fun in phonics.

The program starts with Mat the Mouse singing a complaining song because she can’t read well enough to take full advantage of the carnival she wants to attend. This alone is a stroke of genius: it’s easier for kids to relate to poor confused Mat than some know-it-all character who already knows how to read (that would be Reader Rabbit, but he serves a purpose as Mat’s guide). When her wish for “no more words to read” comes true, Mat realizes a world with no words simply won’t work, and sets out on a journey to decode a message that will allow her to make a counterwish and get words back.

The occasionally flat animation is remedied by the volume and variety of early-reading activities. Two approaches to the program help customize it to your child’s learning style: Road to Reading is the more structured approach, where kids lead Mat on a path to 26 different lands associated with each letter of the alphabet, and help decode her counterwish. Pick and Play is a nonstructured method of exploring the program that allows kids to directly access the various activities found along the alphabet path. Word Factory is another program element that has nothing to do with Mat’s quest, but introduces four more word-building and memorization activities to an already brimming program.

Designers paid attention to details that are important for learning: characters meticulously pronounce words and sound out letters in clear children’s voices. Each activity can be played on five different levels, and kids can check their progress and print study words. The program introduces sight words for memorization as well as words that must be constructed by sounding out. Some of the virtual books in this program are more entertaining and engaging than actual phonics texts we’ve seen. Even the Parent’s Guide information was useful, and taught us a thing or two about how kids learn to read. Perhaps most importantly, this CD-ROM’s clever wordplay and constant comedic surprises will keep kids interested as they develop the nuts-and-bolts skills that will lead to a lifetime of enthusiastic reading. (Ages 3 to 6) –Anne Erickson

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Feb 27, 2010 02:09:24

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Reader Rabbit Playtime for Baby and Toddler Review

I purchased this software for my niece who is 3 years old. She has never gotten on a computer before trying this software. I am a school teacher and very much into technology. It disappointed me that my niece had no idea of how to use a computer. This is probably because my brother and sister-in-law have zero technological skills aside from using Microsoft Word. So, I reasearched and found this baby and toddler software. I cannot say enough great things about it! I sat with my niece for 10 minutes, showed her how to move the “hand” (instead of the usual mouse arrow) around the pictures and games; off she went on her own selecting what she wanted to play. She soon told me that she didn’t need my help anymore and that she could do it herself. The first time she used this software she sat at the kitchen table on my laptop for 1 1/2 hours. She was so excited about what she was doing and that she was doing it on her own. She continues to ask me if she can play the computer. She loves it! This game does not require your child to use a mouse to click on any items, they only need to move and place the “hand” on the item they are selecting. Once they place a the hand on an item a star appears. If they keep the hand/star on the item 5 dots slowly appear in each corner of the star. When all 5 dots appear the page then changes to whatever the child choose to play. It is that simple. My operating system is Vista and the program works fine. I would definitely purchase this item if you want your child to begin learning how to use a computer and get the hang of manipulating a mouse.

Reader Rabbit Playtime for Baby and Toddler Overview

Two programs in one! Includes: Reader Rabbit Playtime for Baby – a stimulating and playful environment filled with toys and much more! Plus, with Reader Rabbit’s Toddler kids can travel to a fantastic world!

Reader Rabbit Playtime for Baby and Toddler Specifications

It had to happen: software is now being bundled for your little bundle of joy. Reader Rabbit Playtime for Baby & Toddler will never be a substitute for the tactile joys of real life, but this software does manage to capture infants’ and toddlers’ attention with bright, happy images and a format that responds well to chubby, not-so-coordinated hands.

In Playtime for Baby, a game of tag between Reader Rabbit and Mat the Mouse ends with Mat hiding in a toy box. With Mat’s help, each of the 10 toys in the box leads the baby into a new experience: singing, manipulating shapes, playing hide-and-seek, discovering body parts, reading storybooks, and (oh joy!) rummaging in drawers to make music. Your baby controls the action by hitting any key on the keyboard (or just hitting the keyboard, as they are wont to do) or simply moving the mouse. No clicks are required. The cursor is a big fat star that leaves a trail of twinkles. Brushing it against an object onscreen will elicit anything from a childlike giggle to a kerplunk to the appropriate animal noise.

The only critique of this CD is that the artwork is simplistic. It would be nice to see more depth and smoother movement, if only to make the program more enjoyable for the adults who must guide their babies through it. Other than that, by developing cupboards with no locks, personalized storybooks with pages that don’t rip, and farm animals willing to engage in endless games of hide-and-seek, the creators of Playtime for Baby have managed to tap into a baby’s wildest dreams.

Playtime for Toddler has a lusher look than Playtime for Baby. Again, mouse movements or keyboard pokes inspire action in nine activities that include things that send most toddlers into fits of joy. One of the better games is Bubble Castle, where your toddler “pops” bubbles with animals in them, and the freed creatures gallop into a castle and peep from the windows. This simple payoff engaged one 2-year-old tester for many minutes, shouting “Bye-bye, animal!” each time she liberated a critter. Pop and Play Place teaches matching and music as toddlers activate three jack-in-the-boxes until whatever pops out matches, upon which they are rewarded with a song (”We are mice, we are nice. We say please when we want cheese!”). In Follow Me Theater, Reader Rabbit acts out hand-motion hits like “Eensy Weensy Spider” and “I’m a Little Teapot.” Other activities include a puzzle and color tutorial called Sky Shapes; Peekaboo Jungle, where kids investigate animal noises with a flashlight cursor; a Musical Meadow; an ABC Train that teaches letters with the help of slick animation and audio; and Baby Basket Bingo, a cute bit of business that requires toddlers to reunite baby animals with their parents based on the tiny roar or peep that comes from the creature hidden in the basket. Rainbow Rock is the only loser in the bunch, a coloring program that doesn’t even attempt to teach colors.

One of the best features of Playtime for Toddler is that younger babies can bang on the keyboard and automatically get “correct” results, while older ones can use the mouse to drag the cursor in a mode that involves more trial and error. Both options are available at once; no settings need to be changed. Clicking does nothing here, which may puzzle some tykes who have already discovered that clicking gets results in grownup programs. Overall, this is a decent bundle for babies, with Playtime for Toddler being the stronger, more realistic offering of the two. (Ages 1 to 3) –Anne Erickson

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Feb 02, 2010 16:38:58

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