My First Amazing Science Explorer

This is one of only a handful of quality science programs for younger children. My First Amazing Science Explorer is geared toward children ages 5-9. It covers subjects which would be touched upon in any elementary school curriculum, in a way that your children will find much more interesting than a science textbook. While not as interactive as Zap!, this is a top notch science program.

Your children will have to have a fairly good grasp of the English language, although they do not have to read. They will need to be able to understand text, such as the following, which is read aloud:

"How do suction cups work? When a suction cup is pressed against a flat surface, all the air is forced out of it, making a vacuum inside. The air around the cup pushes on it, squashing it against the surface, and this holds it there firmly. If air leaks into a suction cup, it will not work, because it no longer contains a vacuum. Suction cups can even work upside down! "

If your child is not a good auditory learner, this program may be a bit too much. While the information is invaluable, there is a lot of talking.

The goal of this program is to gain enough stickers, prizes, and badges, to become a 'science explorer.' Your children will do this, by listening to explanations, completing interactive activities, and answering questions about what they have heard and learned.

The information can be accessed from a chart, which allows your child to search for questions which interest him. For example, one may say, "How do straws work?" or "Why do rivers flow downhill." Clicking on these questions brings up a text box such as the one to the right.

This same information can be accessed informally, but exploring several 'science worlds,' where clicking on interesting pictures links to the same information.

You will also find some easy experiments to do away from the computer, a science workbook complete with quizzes, and space for writing ideas, as well as a gameshow-type quiz. You can access a progress report at any time. Because so much of the information is presented orally, it is hard to tell if your child has grasped the material completely. This is a good one to do alongside your child, or at least ask them what they learned.

Your children will be learning about electricity, forces of energy, heat, light and sound, living things, materials, reactions, simple machines and space. For a child who does well listening to information, this program is fantastic.