JumpStart World 1st Grade

A couple of days ago, I installed JumpStart World (for 1st grade) onto my computer. I was sure that I would really love this program because we've had Jump Start products in our home before. However, I had issues getting the program installed correctly. My whole computer stalled.

But the next day, I tried again and succeeded in installing the program.

This game is an "evolving 3D learning environment full of whimsical lands, lively activities and friendly characters. JumpStart World's personalized learning system actually responds to your child's progress, so kids learn at their own pace and there's always a new challenge to keep them motivated." --from the package

My daughter (age 5) was interested in playing the game and might have done better than I did--kids seem to instinctively know how to manipulate computer games. I, on the other hand, didn't notice that I was supposed to use the arrow keys instead of my mouse and spent several minutes wondering aloud why my character wouldn't move.

The game includes 40 learning games and missions which involve 20 skills. The kids earn gems which they can use to "buy" things. I tried out a couple of the games which were fun enough, but I had an issue with the long lag time between games. (Thirty seconds or longer for the game to respond to a command can seem like forever when you are accustomed to high-speed internet responding immediately. I actually left my computer impatiently to clean up the kitchen while I waited for the game to move to a new area.)

However, the graphics are cute and the game quite comprehensive.

Which almost makes me overlook the fact that within hours, I got the Blue Screen of Death, informing me that a new software program had caused a serious problem on my computer and that Windows had shut down.

Yikes! So, I uninstalled the game before my daughter got a chance to play it. I have no idea what went wrong and I have read only glowing reviews from other blogger, so I assume my problem was an exception to the rule.

I will try this game again, but on the kids' computer where the Blue Screen of Death won't be quite as devastating. (My computer ended up working fine, once I removed this program from it.)

Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2007

Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium is the most remarkable product for students (and parents of students). The Amazon website details the features of this product which

"provides students with integrated homework tools and content. Features include online math homework help, a graphing calculator, Microsoft Office templates and tutorials designed specifically for students, foreign language help, and a Web search companion with trusted Encarta content to help them achieve academic confidence and success."

I downloaded the program (which took a couple of hours) and showed it to my teenagers. All of us kept saying, "Oh, cool!" and "Wow!" Have an equation you can't quite solve? You can plug in the problem and the program will solve it for you . . . and show you the all-important steps.

The language section includes templates so your student can easily come up with a character study or plot timeline. If only I'd had this product when I was a student. Look at it and you will say the same thing.

Now, aside from the homework helps (which are impressive), and the projects section (which is amazing), you'll also find a section called "Discover and Learn" where you can explore Encarta by subject, check out College and Career and play with "Games and Fun Stuff." A special area for kids called Encarta Kids is intended for kids from ages 7-12.

I really love this product.

It is worth every penny of its $40.00 retail price. (Really, scroll down and read the list of features on the Amazon page.) Did I mention that I love this product?

Book Review: The Right Words at the Right Time

I really enjoyed Marlo Thomas's new book, The Right Words at the Right Time.

Publisher Weekly says:

"Thomas follows up her bestselling inspirational volume, which collected stories from luminaries describing times when well-chosen words impacted their lives, with this collection of personal essays from more than 90 'ordinary Americans' selected from thousands of submissions to a national contest. From the experience of a naval officer who comes to a major career decision in a Burger King to a woman's epiphany at a Zen Buddhist Monastery in Japan, these simple, touching stories highlight the moments when the right phrases or comments made a life-changing difference. Divided into thematic sections like "At a Crossroads," "Taking Chances," and "Letting Go," Thomas's new title may be a little Chicken Soup-esque, but this is no canned concentrate-this is genuine, home-cooked comfort food. Proceeds benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital."

This collection includes 108 stories, each about two pages long, by different unknown authors who share how hearing or reading the right words at the time time made a difference in their lives. This would be a great book for the bathroom (don't you love to read in the bathroom?) or for the coffee-table . . . each story is a quick read, a little morsel of inspiration.

I'm probably going to pass my book along as a Christmas gift (it's the thought that counts, right? not the amount of money spent?). I really enjoyed it and I know someone in my family who will enjoy it, too.

Two thumbs up!

Entertainment Software Rating Board

My boys are huge fans of video games. The 14-year olds push the limits, as teenagers like to do, and ask for games unfamiliar to me. What's a mom to do when she wants to protect her children from inappropriate images and sounds?

That's when I rely on the rating systems provided by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Each game is rated into one of six categories (ages 3+, 6+, 10+, 17+ and 18+). If you have children and you are concerned about what they see and hear, you can check out all the information provided in the links above. I know I will be educating myself more on this issue.

Last weekend, I heard Kim Komando on the radio advise parents to avoid five particular new video games. Click and read what she has to say about them.

As I tell my children, "you can't unsee things," so be careful what you allow them to see in the first place.

Care.com

Finding a trustworthy babysitter is one of the tough tasks of parenthood. My husband and I tend to rely on my mother, paying her handsomely to hang out with our children. We used to have a fantastic sitter, but she had the nerve to go to college. So, I found the idea of Care.com intriguing.

Care.com is "an innovative new website which helps busy Moms connect with trustworthy caregivers matched specifically to their family's needs. We'd like to offer you the opportunity to sample this site with a complimentary 3-month premium membership (a $60 value!).

Hiring a new caregiver can be fraught with anxiety. With significantly more services and security than you would find on a virtual bulletin board like craigslist.org, Care.com offers you peace of mind by posting extensive information about each caregiver-age, certifications, education level, and years of experience. Care.com helps to ensure that you find someone qualified and trustworthy by providing you with references from other clients and free driving record and criminal background checks for anyone you're considering for a job."

Care.com is not just for finding a babysitter, either. They also have categories for pet care, tutoring and senior care. You plug in your zip code and category, and up pop provider names with information. And to safeguard everyone involved, you'll find background checks and references as well as other information.

I personally have not found a childcare provider using this site (my lucky mom!), but I am happy to know about this website. Excellent idea!

BOB Books

I've always wanted to own a set of BOB Books. They're reputed to be among the best for children learning to read, so I sat down with my own little guinea pig today (my 5-year old daughter) and read her as many as she'd permit.

I'd finish and book and she'd say, "That was short!" And she resisted my attempts to get her to sound out the words, but hey, we can't all be Reading Superstars, I guess. But here are some cool features of these books:

* A few letters are added in each sequentially ordered book, with only five sight words introduced in the whole set (12 books per set);
* As the books progress, all letters of the alphabet (except Q) are introduced with consistent sounds throughout.

I love these books! And my daughter did, too, though she wanted to go outside and play (read: bug her brothers) rather than read. I know that we'll be reading them frequently over the next year as my daughter (who missed the kindergarten cut-off by a day!) learns to read.

You can purchase these books on Amazon. There are several sets: Set 1 Beginning Readers, Set 2 Advancing Beginners, Set 3 Word Families, Set 4 Compound Words and Set 5 Long Vowels.

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I was compensated for this review with an Amazon gift card, but the opinion expressed is entirely my own.

Book Review: The Splendor of Silence

This book, The Splendor of Silence, is the third novel by Indu Sundaresan. (You can find an interview with her by clicking here.) Here's what Publisher's Weekly had to say about it:

Sundaresan (A Feast of Roses) returns to her native India for a sprawling story of forbidden love set against the backdrop of WWII and the struggle for Indian independence. U.S. Army Capt. Sam Hawthorne comes to the small kingdom of Rudrakot in the Sukh desert of western India, ostensibly to recover from an injury suffered during a rescue mission behind Japanese lines in Burma. Sam has secrets, however. He's a spy, a member of the fledgling OSS, and he's looking for his brother Mike, who disappeared while serving in a local regiment, the Rudrakot Rifles, where "even his name was false." Complicating matters, Sam has a brief but torrid affair with Mila, the daughter of the kingdom's Indian political agent, who is betrothed to the local prince. As Sam plots to free his brother from a nearby detention center, Mila's brother Ashok becomes involved in a nationalist plot to bomb the car of the local British representative in Rudrakot. The myriad subplots and some overwriting detract, but Sundaresan renders Rudrakot vividly and the sympathetic (if doomed) characters generate enough friction to keep the pot boiling. (Sept.)

And so I started this book with high hopes and interest. I'm not an avid fan of historical fiction in particular, but I do love good writing.

About three chapters in, I realized I was really laboring to read this book. I struggled to stay awake. I looked ahead to see how much longer the chapter lasted. I wanted to love this book, but Sundaresan's fiction was sometimes convoluted, forcing the reader to stop and say to herself, "What? What does that mean? What is she talking about?"

I hate to say this, wondering if Sundaresan (who is practically my neighbor, living in Seattle) will read this and feel the sting of a negative review . . . and it's not that I hated the novel, just that it might have benefited from additional editing. I love the idea of this novel--exploring the history of your parents' relationship--but I haven't yet finished it because reading it was such a chore. (I'm about halfway through and I read the last chapter.)

Now, I have to point out that most recently, I read Elie Weisel's Night and before that, Mark Helprin's amazing A Soldier of the Great War. In light of these excellent books, most any novel would pale in comparison.