Curious George Preschool Learning Games

Reviewer: Cheryl Tyler
Special Education Teacher, Tennessee
netyler@bellsouth.net

Curious George Preschool Learning Games
Houghton Mifflin Interactive
http://www.sunburst.com/

Dual Platform:
Windows 95, 98: 486/66 MHz or higher. 12 MB RAM. Double speed CD-ROM drive. MPC2-compatible sound card (22 Khz, 16-bit), SVGA display (256 colors). Mouse.
Macintosh: 68040/33 MHz or higher (including Power PC). System 7.1 or higher. 8 MB RAM (12 MB recommended for Power PC). Double speed CD-ROM drive. Color display capable of 256 colors. Mouse. Designed for a video display setting of 800 x 600. Ages Listed: 2-5 years.
Tried with teenagers with severe disabilities and 4th, 5th and 6th graders with mild retardation or learning disabilities. Plus a three-year-old at home.
Rating: 10 on a scale of 1 to 10, Way Cool!

Curious George Preschool Learning Games is a great item for younger children or kids with disabilities. You can make puzzles, play games, sing, and learn words like bigger-smaller, different-same by using very colorful prompts and easy skill levels. It does not work as well for a two year old, but is great for a three year old. It is probably difficult for youngsters with severe disabilities.

The only negatives are: 1) requires a little reading, so an anxious toddler will not be patient while you explain specifics. 2) You will need to make an alias icon on the desk top so children can easily access the program because it is housed in the hard drive.

With the puzzles, for example, you have many puzzles to chose from, and three levels of difficulty. Once you complete the puzzle, then George will fly around for entertainment.

The rocket blaster is great because so many times the interactive games where a child wants to play are just too hard. This is not, and uses prompt like "Shoot the yellow square" so the child is learning colors and shapes.

A great game for any child! Would be good for high school Life Skills classes.

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