Albert's House, from Resource Education, is an exciting program with delightful graphics and animation. The character in question, Albert, is a mouse who lives with an ordinary family and a cat. Albert's accommodation consists of a room behind a skirting board that has a matchbox bed, a chest of drawers and a 'Kat Kit', that is a kit that can save him from the cat.
In this program, the idea is to explore the house and to rescue Albert whenever necessary. The program consists of five options designed to enrich topic work on the theme of 'My House'. Additionally, each option aims to help develop and extend the children's computer skills. The options are also accompanied by challenging activity suggestions that link the program with other curriculum areas, such as literacy, design and technology. The additional classroom materials can be used to make word and picture cards to support early readers. Albert's House is priced from 35.
* Telephone 01509 672222
A new edition of the Oxford Talking Infant Atlas is now available, based on the popular Oxford Infant Atlas. This program introduces young children to basic geographical skills, such as distinguishing between land and sea, and identifying countries and cities. Five sections can be accessed via the contents screen: the earth; maps of the world; Europe; the British Isles and the United Kingdom, and there are 12 interactive activities to check and consolidate learning. The graphics have been updated, and we found them very clear, while the atlas is fully narrated with highlighted text, to ensure access for all reading abilities. There is a Teacher Option that allows the atlas to be programmed to meet individual needs, and the Infant Atlas can be successfully used by individual pupils, small groups or with a whole class. Quite simply, a 'must have' geography resource. Priced 31.50.
* Telephone 01536 741171
Reader Rabbit from Mindscape received with great enthusiasm - everyone was clamouring to have a turn, and the children found the graphics and characters particularly appealing. Reader Rabbit and Sam the Lion are your guides as you explore the magical land of Spark a Lot, and your task in this exciting adventure program is to solve puzzles and help Reader Rabbit and Sam to collect Brillites. One particular strength of this program is that each puzzle can be accessed and solved independently, and we also found the map icon very helpful. This enables you to access the different key places of the adventure. You can also access the various program options from the map - for example, you can receive a progress report or adjust the level for each activity. The complete collection of Reader Rabbit adventures spans the entire infant age range. Priced 19.99.
* Telephone 01293 651300
Also from Mindscape is Arthur's Triple Pack, which provided hours of fun for my class. Many of the children recognised the character of Arthur from the TV series. Each CD contains a number of activities, including measuring, calculation, story telling and spelling. I personally enjoyed using 'Arthur's Camping Adventure', which helps develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. And the reception and year one pupils were really delighted with their progress certification. The program contains a number of features to help children to remain engaged, for example, personalisation, auto levelling and a goalchecker. Arthur's Triple Pack is sure to appeal across the entire Infant age range. Priced 20.
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