Reviews (1)

Buyer Beware
The product description does warn customers of any compatability problems with windows versions. The copy I recevied is only good for Windows 95-98, yet its called the 2004 reference libray.
I am very dissatisfied! ... Read more

Features

• Kids will go on multimedia problem-solving adventure with Rocket Reader, and learn to speak Spanish with Multimedia Spanish
• Talking Math & Kids' Science Fair introduce kids to new ways of thinking and playing
• Explore the universe with Guide To The Galaxy
• Multimedia Algebra, Phonics 4 Kids, and Talking Typing teaches crucial learning skills in a way that's easy and fun
• 3D World Atlas and Top 30 Games For Kids help kids learn, explore, and grow more intelligent!

Amazon.com Product Description

Wildlife of the World offers four educational and reference CD-ROMs. From the Alaska Wilderness to the California Desert, learn from interactive programs, extensive photographs, screen slides, movies, and more. Alaska: The Wildlife offers a look at the last frontier; Life in the Desert provides insight into the flora and fauna of the world's deserts; Wildlife in Danger: Threatened Species and Wildlife in Danger: Kids' Explorer explores the challenges our world's endangered species face. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Simon & Schuster's New Millennium Children's Encyclopedia makes a good attempt at providing an interesting resource for preteens. The subject area is broad, and the dialogue is understandable and concise. Any young reader would enjoy the interface: a space-alien motif dominates the main menu and subsequent navigation.

Getting around in the application is easy and clear. The Research Center, in particular, is where the user will spend the most time. Here you will find a search mode, a media gallery, and binders. Searching is precise: you can specify searching for content in titles, in the article itself, or using multiple query words.

One of the most useful features of the application may be the binders function. Collecting a variety of articles together, highlighting and noting in-text, and exporting them for printing or further studying is all very easy to do.

Unfortunately, the New Millennium Children's Encyclopedia falls short in several key areas. While the extensive options panel allows for a high degree of customization (including how to display hyperlinks and where to start from when opening the Research Center), some of the simpler things have been overlooked. All articles are displayed in an annoyingly childish font, which, with the exception of font size, is not adjustable and is difficult to read for more than a few lines.

While the media gallery and all media clips that we tried worked (and were excellent additions to the subject matter), we found that the articles themselves were often glitchy. Longer articles would not scroll, and trying to highlight text for copying and pasting crashed our machine.

An additional caveat is that the online resources are not functional; the sites that it tries to send you to no longer exist or are down. Likewise, we weren't happy with the claim that the package is "the ultimate source of never-ending information"--if you continue to buy Versabooks online (although again, we couldn't find any active site related to this package). --Emilie Herbst ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Very Disappointing
This has been a frustrating product for me, and my son has just given up. Both the registration link and the on-line help link are dead. The link that is supposed to lead to those great reference books ("many of them free")leads to a site that 'has not yet been developed'. I went directly to the S&S site to register and leave my comments. The registration failed and the comments were ignored. Without the touted additions and up-dates, this is simply a light-weight encyclopedia that is difficult to use. ...

An excellent resourcebook
This CD provides detailed information about everything students between the ages of 5-15 want to know. A great resource for homework and fun. ... Read more

Features

• Get behind the wheel for some fast and furious racing action
• Tonka Raceway--build your own courses with wild obstacles
• Lego Racers 2--explore exciting LEGO worlds
• Toon Car: The Great Race--a wild and wacky new racing game
• Race against friends, the computer, or the clock

Amazon.com Product Description

Kids Love Animals is a learning resource that takes kids on a fascinating exploration of exciting and interesting pets, while using interactive educational tools to develop needed critical thinking skills. With the CD-ROMs Lovable Dogs, Curious Cats, Majestic Horses, and Colorful Insects, children will discover amazing facts about their favorite pets. Observe the speed and endurance of the horse, uncover the mysterious lifestyle of the cat, study the wild ancestors of the dog, and be amazed by the remarkable ingenuity of insects. Including vibrant photos, animations, detailed illustrations, audio clips, and multimedia tools, this interactive, easy-to-use four CD-ROM suite is valuable for any curious child.

Ever wonder why dogs turn around in circles before sitting down? Well, they're not chasing their tails. They inherited this trait from their ancestors, who would repeatedly turn around to create a hollow of cool dirt to sit in. Lovable Dogs lets kids dig up other amazing facts about man's best friend. Being the most mysterious of all pets, cats will curl up on a lap one minute and sneak out for a nightly prowl the next. Curious Cats explores all the exciting characteristics of felines.

From the treetops of tropical jungles to the moist underside of rocks, the planet is swarming with millions of insects. Take a fascinating journey through the amazing and colorful world of butterflies, stick bugs, grasshoppers, beetles, and more with the interactive CD-ROM, Colorful Insects. What do rhinoceroses and horses have in common? They're relatives. It may seem strange, but it's true. It is also believed that horses can feel the presence of a coming storm or earthquake. Majestic Horses uncovers all sorts of amazing tales about this beloved animal. ... Read more

Amazon.com Review

Encourage your child to use the dictionary with this CD-ROM package from Simon & Schuster. Grade-school students will find it attractive, easy-to-use,and fun. Kids simply scroll down a list of entries and click on the word they'relooking for. A click on the word elephant, for example, turns up a stillphoto of an elephant, a National Geographic-style video of an elephantrunning through water, and the following definition: "A huge mammal; the largestland animal now on earth. It has gray, wrinkled, nearly hairless skin, a longsnout called a trunk, and two long, curved, pointed ivory teeth called tusks.Elephants live in Asia and Africa." The publisher recommends this digitaldictionary for 8- to 12-year-old children, but it might be more appropriate forages 6 to 10. Younger children are likely to enjoy the graphics and still havelittle difficulty using the program.

Loading the CD-ROM is quick and simple--if your machine isn't equipped with Microsoft Explorer 5.0, the program will install it for you. (When using thedictionary, you'll be asked if you want to connect to the Internet. Despite thewarning message, you don't have to be online to use the program's basicdictionary feature--simply click on the Explore button to go straight to thedictionary.) The online component of this package is important if you want tofully utilize its various capabilities. Once online, you're automatically routedto a Web site where you can purchase and download other e-books to install inyour reference library. The Children's Dictionary is the only titleincluded in the package, but an encyclopedia and other references are availableas add-ons and are set up for reading through the same browser used by thedictionary. --Matt Kohut ... Read more

Product Description

The Multimedia Education Lab Pack provides you with a 5 pack (5 Copies of the Bird CD) so you can use within your classroom. Also included is a white 3-ring binder which will allow you to print out the information and keep the binder for a reference for your students. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great CD for both pre-readers and older kids!
My now 6yo son has had this CD for a year and navigates it every 2 days without fail. He has memorized huge amounts of information on birds and gained an awareness of this kind of scientific exploration.

The funny thing is, he has no specific interest in birds. The layout of the information on the CD is set up in such an intriguing way that he kept going back to it until the content caught his attention! It is simply a good quality layout - no bells or whistles or rewards - just beautiful graphics, an easy but interesting user interface, and the treasure of in depth knoledge that few homeschooled kids can resist.

I was especially pleased that the CD can be used completely by pre readers. There is nothing more frusterating than getting a CD for your 4yo and then discovering that they need you to read the directions....when what they really want is the ability to explore at their own speed! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

American Sign Language for Kids is an engaging way for children ages 3 and up to begin learning American Sign Language, the third most-used and fastest-growing language in the United States. Your child can join Paws the Dog as she leads him or her through five fun stories that teach vocabulary. After every story, your child can play three games that reinforce the lessons learned. Developed and child-tested by the Institute for Disabilities Research and Training, American Sign Language for Kids is an enjoyable way for your child to enter the exciting world of ASL.

Suitable for the deaf, the hard-of-hearing, or those learning to communicate with a deaf family member or friend, American Sign Language for Kids is a great way to get started. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Absolutely Awful
This product will NOT help you learn ASL. It does not even teach you one single sign. The signing is so out of sync with the narrator that even I, who knows basic ASL, was confused most of the time. The graphics are amateurish and seem to have been drawn with Microsoft Paint. There is little to no opportunity to interact with the program. Unless you have a child who already knows ASL and who likes to be signed a short boring stories, then this program is worthless. What a disappointment!

Out of sync
This program was hard to use. The interpreter signs very quickly and beginners will find it very hard to learn. Also, the speech is out of sync with the signs. I found this program worthless.

Easy to learn & FUN!
This program makes it so easy to learn sign language. They also have fun games in the program to help you to remember more. This is a good program, easy to use, and is full of fun learning. This products not only for kids, but for beginners also. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Atlas
This product is very useful. I used it many times, that I kept on using it again. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Middle School Excellence is designed by teachers for students ages 11 and up in grades 6 through 8. Filled with more than 330 interactive lessons, this six-CD-ROM set covers 15 subjects: U.S. history, world history, geography, pre-algebra, algebra, life science, earth science, physical science, grammar, reading comprehension, vocabulary, French, Spanish, and typing. All lessons are supplemented by detailed scope and sequence specifications designed to enhance learning. Plus, access to the New Millennium Encyclopedia along with downloadable geometry content from the Internet is free with purchase. ... Read more