Date: Sun, 1 May 1994 21:26:19 -0600 From: lohrentz@macc.wisc.edu (David Lohrentz) Subject: Edu-Shareware-for-kids.txt --========================_15749004==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" This is the initial posting of a guide to educational shareware for children ages 2-12. A great deal of educational free/shareware for kids is available on the internet, with more appearing all the time. However, not all of it will meet the needs of individual parents and educators. Moreover, these sources are scattered in various locations. Parents and educators could more easily benefit from these freeware and shareware educational sources if they knew what they were looking for and where to find it. The purpose of this guide is to make educational free/shareware on the internet more accessible by reviewing recommended shareware sources, and showing where to find them. I think it should be posted in /info/software. -- David Lohrentz lohrentz@macc.wisc.edu --========================_15749004==_ Content-Type: text/plain; name="Edu-Shareware-for-kids.txt"; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="Edu-Shareware-for-kids.txt" **GUIDE TO CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL SHAREWARE FOR THE MAC** David Lohrentz Internet address: lohrentz@macc.wisc.edu 1 May 1994. Distribution: Please share this document with others and feel free to post it freely. However, do NOT distribute a modified or incomplete portion of this document. Disclaimers: I represent nobody but myself. I am not responsible for problems, damages, or dissatisfaction with software mentioned in this document. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Purpose of this Guide Intended Audience for this Guide Review Criteria Reviews of Recommended shareware List of Sources Info-mac Umich Other Places to browse Bibliography and Resources INTRODUCTION This document is a guide to children's educational freeware and shareware for the Macintosh. While searching for educational software for my own children, I discovered the helpful document K-5 Edu. Software Guide (Info-mac: /info/Software/k-5-ed-software-guide.hqx). However, this document only reviews commercial software. After finding a number of educational freeware and shareware sources I realized that I ought to share what I had found with others. Thus, I decided to put this guide together. I realize that this is not an exhaustive list. If you know of other sources not listed here or would like to review educational free/shareware not yet reviewed here, please email your information to me at lohrentz@macc.wisc.edu. PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE A great deal of educational free/shareware for kids is available on the internet, with more appearing all the time. However, not all of it will meet the needs of individual parents and educators. Moreover, these sources are scattered in various locations. Parents and educators could more easily benefit from these educational sources if they knew what they were looking for and where to find it. The purpose of this guide is to make educational free/shareware on the internet more accessible by reviewing recommended shareware, and showing where to find it. INTENDED AUDIENCE FOR THIS GUIDE This guide is for parents and educators with Macintosh computers who would like to acquire educational freeware and shareware for children ages 2-12. The sources in this document will be of use to those with internet access and the ability to download files from archive sites by ftp. If you already have internet access but do not know how to download, decompress or debinhex files, please ask a friend who is a computer dweeb, read a book on the internet, or attend a seminar on the internet. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ME WITH A REQUEST FOR HELP DOWNLOADING OR DE-BINHEXING FILES. If you do not have an email account with access to the internet, this document will be of little use to you. REVIEW CRITERIA The user interface for children's educational software should have the following characteristics: simple for a child to operate without adult supervision, quick responses, clear sound where appropriate, color graphics, and above all should be challenging but lively and entertaining (K-5 Ed. Software Guide; see sources at end of this document). Hypercard stacks which lack color constitute a significant percentage of the available educational shareware. Educational software should foster creativity, problem solving, positive self-esteem, and the "whole language" approach to learning. Quite frankly, I am disappointed that so much educational software emphasizes rote memory and a fragmented approach to learning (for example, memorizing spelling of words or numbers out of context). I don't recommend software that merely strives to assist children to memorize letters, addition or multiplication tables. REVIEWS OF RECOMMENDED SHAREWARE: Listed alphabetically. I hope to gradually add more reviews. ANIMALS+SOUND Info-mac: /app/animals-n-sound.hqx Target Ages: 1.5-4 freeware/shareware fee: free Each card in Animals+sound is a picture of an animal which when clicked moves or makes the appropriate sound. I recommend this for a young child new to the Mac, esp. for those with black & white Macs. My three year old child learned to use a mouse with this stack, but lost interest after she became familiar with it. BETTER U.S. MAP Umich: /hypercard/education/betterusmap2.0a.cpt.hqx author: Terry Spivey, 3809 Blackberry Lane, Lexington, KY 40514-1537 Target Ages: 6-10 freeware/shareware fee: $4 Current versions: demo 2.0a; shareware 2.3b The main view of B.U.S.M. shows a map of all 50 US states. In the registered version, B.U.S.M. speaks the name of the state when clicked and shows the name of the state and the state nickname on screen. Option clicking shows census data and official state birds, songs, etc. Command clicking zooms in on the state. Three quizzes are available in the registered version. The online version is a demo; it lacks sound and other key features available in the shareware version. CANADA MAP GAME Info-mac: /Game/canada-map-game-hc.hqx Target Ages: 8 up freeware/shareware fee: free Canada Map game is a geography quiz on the locations of Canadian provinces and their capitals. It has two modes, capitals and provinces. In either case the player is presented with the Canadian map. Depending on the mode the game shows the name of a province or capital on the screen and the player is given two chances to click on the correct province. After two mistakes the correct province is hilited. The lack of sound reduces the value for early readers. However, this is a handy tool for learning to recognize Canadian provinces. COLORING BOOK Info-mac: /Game/coloring-book-201.hqx author: Jim Allison, RR 2, Box 44, East Road, Bennington, VT 05201 Target Ages: 2-8 freeware/shareware fee: $16 Current version: 2.01 online file size: 1,180K B. Schwomm writes, "Coloring Book [is] the slickest-looking shareware program around; in fact it is gorgeous. . . . The pictures are very attractive and contain surprises; for example, when you [color] the door of the house, a door bell chime [rings]. The most current version has more of an educational dimension. In one area, it allows you to create pictures out of geometric shapes." As the name implies, you need color to appreciate Coloring Book. When you send in the shareware fee you choose either (a) an expanded version with twice as many coloring pages, including the new ones with the educational dimension, or (b) a small screen version. INIGO GETS OUT Umich: /hypercard/education/inigo.sit.hqx Target Ages: 2-7 freeware/shareware fee: free Creation date: 1987 online file size: 180K Inigo is a hypercard stack that will teach a young child to navigate with the mouse and to explore the unknown. Inigo, a cat, goes outside and has exciting adventures, depending on what button is clicked. Some cards have multiple options; others have only one path to the next card. Inigo has entertainment value, especially the first several times when you have no idea what lurks behind seemingly safe objects. KID PIX Info-mac: /app/kid-pix.hqx Target Ages: 2-7 freeware/shareware fee: free Current version: 1.0, 1/19/90 Before you spend any money for a child's paint program you should take a look at this early freeware version of Kid Pix. Author Craig Hickman writes that his three year old quickly learned to use a commercial paint program, but got into trouble by clicking on the desktop or randomly choosing menu items. Although this version of Kid Pix lacks color and has a tiny screen size, Hickman has solved the user interface problems. My kids really enjoy Kid Pix and manage fine on their own. LAURA'S LETTERS Umich: /hypercard/education/letters.sit.hqx Target Ages: freeware/shareware fee: free online file size: 245K In the opening card of this hypercard stack, Laura's Letters shows all the letters of the alaphabet, and speaks the name of the letter when it is clicked. A second card shows numbers 0-9 and speaks their name when clicked. Subsequent cards show words with an appropriate picture and speak the individual letters in the word when clicked. This is the best freeware letter teaching tool I have seen so far. MY LITTLE KITCHEN Info-mac: /Game/my-little-kitchen-hc.hqx online file size: 584K Target Ages: 3-8 freeware/shareware fee: free My little kitchen is a hypercard stack full of surprises, including an Easter Egg hunt. It will teach a child to explore, and it does have entertainment value. The hypercard format will make it seem rather dull when placed next to slick graphics on a color monitor. Yet, it does seem to have real kid appeal. SOUND MATCH Info-mac: /game/sound-match-10.hqx author: Bob Uskali, 1504 Coventry Rd., Schaumburg, IL 60195 Target Ages: 4 up shareware fee: $5 Current version: 1.0 Sound Match is "like a traditional matching game, except that you hear sounds rather than see pictures. Many of the sounds are similar to one another--for example, guitar riffs with different rhythms. . . By playing this game with my son, I've found that both of us are becoming more discriminating listeners" (B. Schwomm.) Young children may become frustrated at the difficulty, due to the large number of sounds (24 pairs). And the computer opponent either chooses randomly (when set to easy opponent) or remembers everything (challenging opponent). Still, the sounds are high quality and the interface is slick. I recommend Sound Match. WORD FIND Info-mac: /Game/word-find-10.hqx Target Ages: 6-10 freeware/shareware fee: free Current version: 1.0 Word Find automates the creation of word find puzzles with the words hidden among rows and columns of letters. Word Find provides settings for fonts, level of difficulty, show answers, puzzle size, and "teacher mode" so that a title and name blank can be added. The interface is simple for an adult, but difficult for an early reader or Mac novice. Those who enjoy puzzles will like Word Find. Word Find is nearly identical to an older (1989) freeware puzzle, Word Search (Umich: /game/board/wordsearch.cpt.hqx), which still works fine on my Mac. LIST OF SOURCES =46ollowing is a list of freeware and shareware Macintosh educational sources, some of which are reviewed above. Most can be found at one or both of the two major Macintosh archives, Info-mac and Umich. The main archives are often impossible to access because of the large number of users. However, these archives have several mirrors with less traffic. If you can't log in anonymously, try a different mirror. Several mirrors are listed below. Using gopher to download files also minimizes internet overload. SOURCES AT THE INFO-MAC ARCHIVE Use an info-mac mirror such as: ftp.hawaii.edu: /mirrors/info-mac grind.isca.uiowa.edu: /mac/infomac ftp.funet.fi: /pub/mac/info-mac /app/animals-n-sound.hqx /app/kid-pix.hqx /app/preschool-primer-10-hc.hqx /Game/alphabet-bee.hqx /game/andys-letters-10.hqx /Game/canada-map-game-hc.hqx /game/coloring-book-201.hqx /Game/creepin-critter-math-hc.hqx /Game/find-the-missing-word-12.hqx /Game/first-lessons-in-math-15.hqx /Game/first-lessons-of-multiplication-10.hqx /Game/hungry-frog-counting-eaters-20.hqx /Game/hungry-frog-equation-eaters-21.hqx /Game/hungry-frog-integer-eaters-20.hqx /Game/hungry-frog-ion-eaters-21.hqx /Game/math-20.hqx /Game/math-bee-12.hqx /Game/math-school-12.hqx /Game/math-stars.hqx /Game/my-little-kitchen-hc.hqx /game/sound-match-10.hqx /Game/talking-spelling-bee-25.hqx /Game/word-find-10.hqx SOURCES AT THE UMICH ARCHIVE Use a mirror such as: wuarchive.wustl.edu:systems/mac/umich.edu src.doc.ic.ac.uk:packages/mac/umich /hypercard/education/alphabet2.02.cpt.hqx /hypercard/education/betterusmap2.0a.cpt.hqx /hypercard/education/dinosaurs.sit.hqx /hypercard/education/erniethebat.sit.hqx /hypercard/education/inigo.sit.hqx /hypercard/education/inigobath.sit.hqx /hypercard/education/fingerspel.sit.hqx /hypercard/education/letters.sit.hqx /game/board/wordsearch.cpt.hqx /misc/astronomy/planetfacts1.6.sit.hqx /util/organization/timeteacher1.1d1.cpt.hqx OTHER SOURCES crab.rutgers.edu:pub/mac/hypercard/storybook.hqx crab.rutgers.edu:pub/mac/hypercard/louie-toons.hqx anarres.cs.berkeley.edu:pub/ucblogo/ucblogo.sea Space Station (a guide to the universe) email to: DRLIT@vax1.mankato.msus.ed= u PLACES TO BROWSE: US Department of Education's gopher at gopher.ed.gov Umich archives: /hypercard/education Thanks for reviews and helpful suggestions: Barbara Shwom and Roger L. Rainwater. BIBLIOGRAPHY AND RESOURCES K-5 Edu. Software Guide Info-mac: /info/Software/k-5-ed-software-guide.hqx A guide to commercial software and discussion of issues in selecting software for children. Highly recommended. Goodman, K. S., Bird, L. B., & Goodman, Y. M. (1991). The Whole Language Catalog. Santa Rosa, CA: American School Publishers. A guide to the whole language approach to learning. Doyle, Claire. (1988). Creative Applications of Computer Assisted Reading and Writing Instruction. Journal of Reading. Dec 1988. Argues that most software specifically designed to be educational in fact inhibits creativity and real learning. Doyle suggests that educators should make more use of word processors, databases, and spreadsheets which allow for unstructured, creative learning. She encourages the following activities: writing letters and electronic mail; writing journals; writing stories; free play with word processing; chain writing with others; using spreadsheets or databases to categorize objects. National Home & School Macintosh User Group "a nonprofit corporation and Apple=AE registered user group with international membership. The group promotes the entertainment and educational qualities of the Macintosh=AE by offering support for game enthusiasts, educators, parents introducing their kids to computers, and shareware authors seeking convenient distribution of their software worldwide. The bimonthly disk-based magazine, Home & School Mac=81, publishe= d by group, fills a niche that the corporate oriented magazines neglect." Each issue contains 100-150 pages of reviews and info plus 1200K of newly released game and educational shareware. Annual membership: North America $15; other $21. National Home & School MUG Post Office Box 640641 Kenner, LA 70064 USA 70521.1327@compuserve.com --========================_15749004==_--