                               Talking Tutors
                            Review by Doug Reed

Beginning Reading- Early Math- Spelling Jungle- Spelling Blizzard-Kid's Typing
 
        Sierra has designed a series of "edutainment" titles designed to
both educate and entertain children. These programs run under Windows 3.1 on
a 386 or better PC-compatible, and Macintosh versions are also available.
All 5 of the programs reviewed have a DOS program look; they are appear to
be DOS programs run under Windows and no multi-tasking can be done while
running these programs. I would imagine that this was done primarily because
it is easier to teach a child how to open the Brightstar window and
double-click on the game of their choice than to try and type in a DOS
command.
        These programs feature one-to-one instruction with animated
characters (the "Talking Tutors") who guide and teach your child. I've seen
many games with characters whose lips failed to move properly with the words
they were speaking, and the effect is usually quite humorous. These
programs, however, contain a patented feature called "hyperanimation",
whereby animated characters have facial movements in perfect synch with
their voices. "Hyperanimation" works perfectly; the only humor in these
games is that intended by the programmers. My hat is off to Sierra; it is
about time somebody got this right, and it really makes the overall platform
very, very impressive.

                           Early Math (Ages 3-6)

        Early Math is designed to teach young children basic concepts of
math including counting, addition and subtraction, and recognizing geometric
shapes and patterns. The program covers areas established by the Curriculum
and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics from the National Council of
Teachers and Mathematics. Loid, the central character, uses a number of
different exercises on his asteroid to teach these skills, which are
designed to emphasize problem solving by analysis and not rote memorization.
        Exercises include such activities as counting sheep at nap time,
feeding fish in an aquarium, and arranging geometric shapes to build a
bridge so Loid can cross and get an apple. Loid praises correct answers and
waits patiently until the child gets the answer correct; if the child
becomes stuck, they can go to other exercises and come back and try again
later. The program also provides a "Parents Screen" where parents can mark
the progress of their children. Overall, I would give Early Math an A.

                        Beginning Reading (Ages 4-8)
 
        Beginning Reading contains two characters, Bananas and Jack, who use
a number of different exercises to teach children how to read. Extensive
help is given in all of the exercises, the point being that it is more
important that a child learn to recognize words, letter combinations, and
sounds than that they guess correctly the first time. Eventually they will
complete each of the exercises and move on. Completion of each part of the
exercise is rewarded with an animation surprise, which when clicked on will
do interesting things. The program consists of 6 exercises that are in
separate "rooms" that can be chosen from the main hallway.
        In the Wooden Blocks room, Bananas teaches recognition of sounds
that are made by combinations of two letters. In the Wooden Tiles room,
Bananas recites six random words and a key word. Your child must identify
one of these random words that sounds like the key word. In the Puzzle
Pieces room Bananas uses puzzle pieces containing parts of words to teach
how to build complete words. Jack teaches sight recognition of often-used
words (called sight words) in the Stacking Blocks room. In the ABC room,
Jack teaches your child how to alphabetize. Finally, in the Storybook room,
Jack reads a short story. Words from the sentences in the story drop to the
bottom of the screen and children must place the words back in their proper
places. This technique is used to help move your child from memorizing text
to actually reading it. Beginning Reading also gets an A.

       Spelling Jungle (Ages 7-10) and Spelling Blizzard (Ages 9-12)
 
        These two programs are lumped together because they are designed so
that one precedes the other, and they use the same premise and exercises to
teach spelling.
        Yogi, a benevolent and wise wizard, and Crackers, his parrot, are
the central characters in this title. In the first title, Spelling Jungle,
the child's character, named Wali, is sent out by Yogi to raft down river
and find out what is causing the river to flood their homeland in Africa.
Progress is marked on a map that shows where you are and lists the top ten
'explorers' and their scores.
        Two basic exercises are used; the first consists of having the
player collect, in order, stones with letters on them in order to spell a
word for Yogi. Animals such as lions, tigers, and rhinoceroses can block
your path or force you to start the word again There are also such obstacles
as hot coals and mud, and tricksters which shoot fire, wind, or darts at
you. The child must avoid these obstacles and use elements of the terrain
(such as boulders or apples) or magic (protection from tricksters) to
collect the letters. Once the word is spelled, Wali proceeds down river to
the next exercise, the Spell Down. In this exercise, Yogi says a word which
the player must spell correctly in order to continue; as the child proceeds
down the river the number of words increases, as does the complexity. Once
the Spell Down is finished, another screen appears in which Wali must again
pick up letter stones to spell a word.
        Spelling Blizzard is for older children but 'play' proceeds in
exactly in the same manner as Spelling Jungle. This time Wali is sent out to
find why the glacial river is flooding his homeland in the Arctic. Instead
of lions, tigers, and rhinos, now there are wolves, polar bears, and killer
whales. Mud is replaced with ice, and boulders with snowballs, and so forth.
The Spell Down is exactly the same. Overall, these two programs do a good
job of teaching spelling, and the increase in complexity as the child
proceeds is gradual so as not to immerse them over their heads quickly. It
is sometimes difficult to understand what word Yogi is asking you to spell,
but you can ask him to repeat it as many times as necessary. Both Spelling
Jungle and Spelling Blizzard get an A.

                          Kid's Typing (Ages 7-11)
 
        This last program has Spooky the ghost teaching key positions, basic
typing, and speed typing. Children help Spooky scare away the family that
lives in the same house as Spooky. As they continue, text is created to help
improve weak areas, and the primary goal of the program is to increase both
accuracy and speed.
        Spooky leads the player through five different game rooms (the
Kitchen, Living Room, Dining Room, Tammy's Bedroom, and Timmy's Bedroom). As
the child types, strange and unusual things occur in each of the rooms. For
example, in the kitchen Spooky turns on the blender, and as the child types
faster and faster the blender accelerates wildly and goes faster and faster.
In between rooms, Spooky takes the kids to an attic to learn new keys and
work on weak keystrokes. The attic is also where children can enter or quit
the game, and provides access to the library.
        The library is the most unique portion of this program. It contains
a number of children's tales from Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers
Grimm, as well as Aesop's Fables. Children can type the text to these
stories to improve their skills. Also included is the encyclopedia set,
which allows children to work on specific letters of the alphabet.
Indicators during the game inform you of your speed and accuracy, and others
tell you the amount of text you have typed and the time remaining in timed
sessions. Between rooms and the attic, Spooky tells the child what their
speed and accuracy were in the last exercise and what their fastest and
slowest keys were. Finally, the program allows you to print out certificates
which record the child's name and progress. Kid's Typing gets an A plus for
both fun and educational value. This is a program even adults can use!

                            Sierra On-Line, Inc.
                      3380-146th Place S.E., Suite 300
                             Bellevue, WA 98007
                                800-743-7725

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