Fun School 4 for the Under-5s

Sinclair User

Overall 80%

It's back to school time again and although most of you may not like the idea lets face it, things could be worse... You could be facing a firing squad or being horribly tortured with some matches and a pair of pliers, or, even more terrifying, forced to watch a Bob Monkhouse TV show with special guest stars Bruce Forsyth and Jeremy Beadle. See, going back to school isn't THAT bad. Although Mr. Brown in 4C with the long nose, dandruff and bottle bottom spectacles might be a boring old fart there are in fact far more enjoyable ways of learning. One of which is right here on your Speccy - educational software. It's puzzling, informative and fun, and best of all, it gives you an excuse to play on your Speccy during time normally allotted for homework without incurring the wrath of your elders. (It also gives you a chance to slip in the odd arcade game for mental stimulation, though don't tell your mum I said this.) There are a wide variety of educational games available so here, to help you choose, is a selection of those currently readily available and a quick guide to their usefulness. FUN SCHOOL (Unders 5's) Europress Software Phone: (0625) 859 333 Tape: £12.99 Disk: £16.99 Fun School 4, Under Fives provides a basic grounding in reading skills, numerical skills, simple painting and, of course an introduction to using a computer keyboard for the young 'uns. This is a relatively simple piece of software that'll it's user glued to the monitor with a the help of (as in all the Fun School series) an interactive character. This time it's a Teddy - ideally suited for the relevant age group. Although children of this age generally have a short attention span and will need supervision if they're not to rip the Spectrum apart (or kill the cat with it) FS4 Under Fives will give your children an early start, supplementing their first year or two at school.

Sinclair User

Overall 78%

Julian Watsham 78%

Label: Europress Software Memory: 48K/128K Price: £12.99 Tape, £16.99 Disk Reviewer: Julian Watsham With a general election clogging the T.V. channels at the moment, education is likely to be high on the agenda. And quite right too, but teaching can seem to be a little too clinical these days what with financing and budgets etc. Thus it's good to see a little bit of gun injected into the learning process because, as we all know, it's much easier to learn if you're having fun. The fun school series first began back in the mid eighties with Fun School 1, published by Computer Press. With Fun School 2, released in 1989 and Fun School 3 in 1990 selling impressively there was obviously a market for this sort of product, so now the much awaited Fun School 4 has been launched. It consists of three packs, each dedicated to a particular age group, each following current national curriculum guidelines and each retailing at the same price point. Parents take note, you might learn as much from these 'games' as your child. All of these educational packages are well presented and have good graphics which helps greatly, guiding you colourfully through the different learning stages. Bleeps and squeaks are merrily animated indicating whether you've got things right or wrong but sound isn't really over impressive. In general though Fun School 4 is an interesting educational aid. FUN SCHOOL 4 UNDER FIVES This package gives a run down of the very basics of learning ie. What you need to get started. Addition is first up and so we join Teddy in the nursery helping him decide how many objects Teacher Ted is showing on the board. If you can work everything out you're then allowed into the playground, hurrah! Level two is similar to level one, but now you have to actually add the numbers together (oh crikey!) Each number is represented by an object, such as a car, so this level gets the kiddies familiar with every day things too. On level three you're no longer aided by objects, just numbers - though if it gets too had you can borrow some bricks from teacher to help out. After all that hard work you now have the opportunity to get messy in the painting room. Basically this involves going mad and spraying the screen with imaginative splats and creating mini masterpieces. Then, after you've stood back and admired your artwork, it's time to go on the fun train! There are many more recognition games and puzzles over the next few levels, you even get to do some computer karaoke and help Teddy sort out Daddy Ted's books by examining his book shelf and the secret book hiding place under Ted's bed (nightmare city!) - a lot of guesswork is involved here. This is a fine software package with plenty of activity. It might seem too much like work to retain the interest of some under five year olds for very long but overall it provides a good introduction, not just to colours, numbers and recognition but also to computers.

"Listen up little Teddys", said Techer Teddy, "time for lessons"

Hmm, confusion on the Fun Train. How do I figure this out?

Your Sinclair

Life Expectancy 8/10

Graphics 9/10

Addictiveness 9/10

Instant Appeal 9/10

Overall 9/10

Dave Golder 9/10

SPEC SCHOOL Remember how you conned you mum and dad into getting you a Speccy? "I won't just play games on it, honest, mum! Computers are an essential part of the modern world, and you wouldn't want me growing up deprived and technologically backwards, would you?" And ever since it's been one long round of blasting, leaping, joystick-waggling and generally mind-rotting your-mother-wouldn't-like-it fun! So, just to keep 'em from whinging about you wasting your life, why not check out a couple of educational programs (said through gritted teeth). No, honest, they're not as bad as they sound. The bunch reviewed here are all for under-eights, so for most of you they'll only be any good if you've got a kid brother or sister. Still, they'll keep your mum happy and keep little Johnny from using your Kylie records as frisbees. That's if you trust him with your Speccy, of course! FUN SCHOOL 4 - UNDER 5'S Europress Software £12.99 cass/£16.99 disk Reviewer: Dave Golder The acclaimed Fun School series teaches kids all about such loathsome things as spelling and maths so painlessly that they hardly notice that it's doing them good. The latest Under 5s package has six games all featuring various members of the Teddy family, who all just happen to be bears. Apparantly, Addition is set in a nursery school, but it looks suspiciously like a normal school to me. There's a blackboard, a teacher and, worse of all, simple addition sums to be done. Still, if you get them right, you're allowed to go home early, hurrah! Fun Train is all about matching pictures and words. One of the Teddies drives a train past a poster showing a picture or word. The train carries another picture or word in its tender. If they match, press the space bar and feel very proud of yourself. Nice concept, and nice graphics, even if the same pictures do keep cropping up over and over again. Teddy's House is a fun painting program. In the lower levels you just paint the Teddies' house in whatever colour scheme you fancy. On higher levels the computer asks you to paint specific parts of the house in certain colours. It all gets loads more difficult when the names of the colours are taken away - a bit of a toughie. Teddy D's Karaoke is a work of sheer genius. MC Teddy struts his funky stuff to the hits of the nursery; The Grand Old Duke Of York, Jack and Jill, they're all here. Your Speccy plays the tune and displays the words so that you can sing while Teddy D grooves. Great stuff. On Level Two you can hit the space bar really fast and watch Teddy D rock. Then there's Teddy's Book in which you have to work out which bed-time storybook daddy Teddy is reading to his cubs. Finally, Teddy paint is a not-much-fun paint program that lets the collection down a bit. Otherwise it's a brilliant disk with appealing characters, effective use of colour and spiffy sound fx. The only problem'll be prising your kid brother or sister away from the keyboard when you want to get back to Dizzy.

Teddy's house looks stunning (what was that about my colour coordination?)

TEN THINGS THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT SCHOOL How to be a millionaire pop star. Advanced cheese and onion crisp appreciation. What to tell your mum when she catches behind the bikeshed with Susie Barnes. How to eat three shredded wheat. How to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time. Where to buy peanut butter, candyfloss and banana milkshake-flavoured toast toppers. Who won the FA cup in 1962. How to stop all the little scaley bits from the kettle getting into your tea when you don't have a tea-strainer. How Extreme manage to make such crap records. Why Spiderman's face goes absolutely smooth when he puts his mask on.

Crash

Under 5's 86%

5-7 Yrs 86%

7-11 Yrs 85%

Overall 87%

Nick Roberts 90%

Nick Roberts 90%

Europress Software £12.99 cass (each) Two plus two equals... erm, seven. Oh dear, readers, I think the Crash team need to return to the classroom for a couple of days. Or alternatively, play the latest range of educational games released by our parent company (grovel, smarm). Mark 'Swotty Git' Caswell dons a mortar board and arms himself with a can to review the Fun School 4 packs... There are three game packs on offer, each containing six games. These are for under-fives, five to seven-year-olds and seven to eleven-year-olds. Quite why the Ed asked me to review these game I don't know, at 27 I'm an old crusty (I reckon its punishment for deserting CRASH). But with the Ed's stiletto heel two inches away from my groin, I'll start with the under-fives pack: First off we have 'Addition', where Teddy and five of his pals are sitting in front of a blackboard. Teacher Ted shows pictures and you press the corresponding number on the keyboard. Get it right and Teddy and his classmates are allowed out to play. 'Teddy Paint' allows you to become an Oli Frey acolyte for the day. By pressing different keys choose a variety of shapes and colours, so let your imagination run wild. In 'Fun Train', Teddy takes a train ride. All you do is match the picture on the Fun Train carriage to the one in the middle of the Fun Train ride. A bit of DIY (destroy it yourself) comes next as you help the decorators paint Teddy's house. Different parts of the house are highlighted and a range of colours are offered - if you want to paint the chimney yellow, go ahead. In 'Teddy's Karaoke', you help him pick, play and sing a selection of songs for his party. Finally, Teddy's Books'sees Daddy Bear reading a story to Teddy and his friends. All you have to do is identify the book Daddy Bear's reading. FIVE TO SEVENS The five to seven pack kicks off with 'Library', where Freddy The Frog offers to help out with a bit of book tidying. So you're presented with a pile of books that need sorting into alphabetical order. 'Basketball'sees Freddy join the Harlem Globetrotters (the first person in the office to whistle 'Sweet Georgia Brown' will be punched). Out on the basketball court you identify the missing letter; a correct answer lets Freddy lob a ball into the basket. Freddy goes to the supermarket next in 'Shopkeeper', our froggy hero tells you what he needs from the shop and you decide how much it costs (the price of milk these days, mutter, moan, whinge). Help Freddy build his log cabin in the game (unsurprisingly) titled 'Log Cabin'. Simple sums appear on the screen; if you provide the correct answer Freddy adds another log to his home (get it wrong and he dies of hypothermia). In 'Opposites', Freddy's wife wants to dive into a pond, but she can't until you answer some 'opposite' questions. Finally, Freddy wants to cross the pond, too, so answer questions to help him escape the crocodile. SEVEN TO ELEVENS Last but by no means least, we have the seven to elevens pack. In 'Proportions' you help Sammy The Spy work out decimals, fractions and percentages. Your general knowledge is tested in 'Spy Quiz'; if you succeed Sammy can carry out his mission. Next Sammy finds himself abroad, so in 'Exchange Rates' buy (and identity) five major currencies. In 'Spy Travels', help Sammy find the secret spy base. He travels across the world in various vehicles but can't navigate to save his life (thicky!). And in 'Desert Dates' help Sammy answer historical questions and discover the secret of the pyramids. Despite the fact I left school a decade or so ago, I greatly enjoyed playing Fun School 4. I was impressed with the presentation of all the games. The graphics are especially noteworthy - some are monochrome but others contain all the colours of the rainbow! These packs are excellent value for money. Parents and teachers alike could do far worse than look at the Fun School range of games (phew, I think my job is safe) (bloody creep - Ed). MARK 83%

Down at the basketball court. What a nicely drawn Europress logo!

What a strange bunch of geezers!