With Learning-Based Video Games (NAPSA)—Teachers across the country are encouraging parents to become more involved with their children’s education at home. Research shows that when parents complement school lessons with enjoyable learning-basedactivities, kids retain more information, think learning is fun and ultimately get better grades. Parents often don’t know where to start. For elementary schoolaged children there are many new learning-based options on the market such as toys and traditional games but real innovation can be found in the children’s PC software category. Parents and teachers agree that making sure children are comfortable using the computer is essential to their educational development. Several software companies have combined kids’ favorite games and play patterns with today’s latest computer technology—and the results are a whole lot of fun. A few companies have even partnered with educators to ensure that the newest software is designed to reinforce what kids are learning in the classroom and is based on current state and national education standards. With popularity of television showslike “AmericanIdol,” singing and karaoke have becomefavorite activities for all ages. Now kids aged four to seven can use their love of singing to help them learn to read. The new software program, JumpStart Reading With Karaoke, helps children master new words and use them to read and sing dozensof original karaoke songs. The program comes with a microphone so children can hear their own voices as they sound out words and build their vocabulary. The software also generates progress reports so parents can track their child’s success. How to back up school lessons at home—the right software can help your children learn. There is no denying that kids growing up today are a part of the video game generation. Three out of five parents say their kids play video games and 81 percent of parents feel the time they spend playing is too much. Many of these parents say they are concerned with game content, yet can’t keep their kids away from the games. Parents will be pleased to learn that companies are now creating video gamesthat build educational skills. One new program, Math Blaster: Master The Basics, uses a popular action adventure game format to help kids 6 to 12 gain basic math skills. As kids blast through space battling robots, they learn to solve addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. This program also provides parents with progress reports. Products such as these offer parents and kids the best of both worlds—fun games that kids can enjoy playing at home and valuable skill-building lessons that parents can trust. Parents can learn more about educational software, current state and national educational standards, and find other valuable information online at www.knowledgeadventure.com.
