|
19 August 2009
It's not such a long time ago that
educational software was a
very new kind of product, and yet now it has become universally accepted
both at school and on the home computer. These days educational software for
children can help with topics from maths to music, from literacy to learning
a new language. There are, to be sure, hardly any subjects that cannot be at
least in part learned with the aid of the computer.
To assist in the
important process of becoming literate, a huge variety of kids educational
software packages are produced which give children spelling practice, some
give them the chance to develop their writing skills, some are intended to
expand a child’s vocabulary, and of course there is an extensive range of
excellently written interactive books on the market to encourage them with
reading.
For early readers there are some very useful phonics packages and there
are special word processors designed for children too. Many schools now have
their own website and children can publish their work on the web which is a
great motivation for them to get writing. Maths seems the most obvious
subject to be taught using suitable software, and educational software for
young children is available to help with counting, other packages give
children the chance to learn to identify and name
2D and 3D shapes such as
squares, triangles and cuboids, some help them learn the vocabulary of maths,
words like ‘bigger’,’ smaller’, ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘many’ and ‘few’.
As children grow older, educational software packages have been developed
to help with learning their times tables, which is perhaps an improvement on
simply reciting ‘six sixes are thirty-six’ and so on, by rote! Software
exists to help with mental arithmetic, learning about
spreadsheet modeling, money, time and 2D and 3D shape geometry.
Children enjoy using computers and educational software can give them an
entertaining way to learn, with the advantage that a child can go over the
same thing until the cows come home, computers don’t get bored! Using an
education package adds a bit of spice and excitement to the time spent
practising skills, reinforcing things taught by the teacher or learned from
books. Also parents are always keen to give their children every advantage,
and acquiring suitable educational software for their kids to play with on
the home computer is one way they can make a difference to their child’s
education.
Kids educational software can help improve learning in a huge number of
areas; there are packages covering almost every conceivable topic. For
example, Art. Young children are used to drawing with crayons, felt tip
pens, paint and paper, and drawing and painting programs give a whole new
dimension to the creation of images. Most children adore Wallace and Gromit
and the range of Disney animated films, and now there is a way to create
their own animations using special software, that’s an achievement which
gives them a real thrill!
There is an absolutely prodigious number of software packages designed to
assist learning. Some software enables children to become young composers,
and there is an educational software which can sharpen up a child’s ‘ear’
for music. There is at least one cookery package, and that’s not even
mentioning all the packages relating to history, science and geography.
There is even kids educational software which helps them learn about the
Moon, an excellent software is SpexWorlds!Lunar a Moon base game from Aspex
Software. This intriguing program gets kids involved in building an
on-screen Lunar base, which contains pods that fit together, space vehicles,
space men and even an alien being! The colour of the lighting is changeable
from white to red to purple and by adjusting the lighting, kids change the
location of the base to Triton or Io or the fantasy world of Krypton. They
will also learn of the original 1969 Moon landing, as the software is
provided with a Moonlander and they can take an on-screen Moon walk!
SpexWorld!Lunar Moon base game is for kids aged 6 plus and is available
FREE for a limited time. Download SpexWorld!Lunar
here, and there you are, on the Moon!
|
