SuperKids Software Review of Reading Software

SuperKids Educational Software Review. The parents' and teachers' guide to educational software

Reading Software
The Big Picture

Books are the windows of the soul.
- Henry Ward Beecher, 1843

SuperKids' reviewers looked at five new titles this month, evaluating their content and design, as well as their kid appeal and ease of use. Which is best for your child? Read below for cameo descriptions, then click on the titles that interest you to see what our parent, teacher, and kid reviewers had to say.

Phonics Adventure with Sing-Along Sam [for ages 4 to 6] from Panasonic Interactive, stresses phonics instruction, presented in the form of songs. The program includes a 120-page lesson plan collection for parents and teachers. This program will appeal most to a music-loving children.

Barbie as Rapunzel [for ages 4 and up] from Mattel Media, is similar in design to many other interactive books but is significantly lighter on the reading side. This program should best be viewed as a fun program for Barbie lovers.

Reading Blaster 2000 [for ages 6 to 9] from Davidson, is a fast-paced reading drill program. With its arcade-like quality this software is great for those hard-to-entice children who need to work on their reading skills.

Reader Rabbit 1 [for ages 4 to 7] from The Learning Company, is a newly released upgrade to the granddaddy of reading programs. It focuses on basic reading skills, with activities that stress phonics, vocabulary building, spelling, letter recognition and memory. This program will appeal to children who enjoy learning and practicing new-found reading skills.

Richard Scarry's Best Reading Program [for ages 3 to 6] from Simon & Schuster, offers tasks that focus on rhyming, letter recognition, phonics, sorting, sequencing and sight word development. Best suited for the kindergarten or nearly kindergarten-aged child who needs to learn and practice letter recognition and beginning phonics.

Take a look at the ratings tables below, click on the titles of the software you are interested in to see the complete review, or click on "PC" or "Mac" in the Buyers Guide column to see current market prices in our Buyers Guide.

Finally, don't forget to look at Reading Software I and Reading Software IIto see previous SuperKids reviews of Reading Software.

Reading Software for 3 to 11 year-olds

SuperKids Ratings

Title Publisher Education
Value Kid
Appeal Parent
Friendly Buyers Guide
(Price Survey)

Phonics Adventure with Sing-Along Sam Panasonic Interactive * * * * * * * * * * * * * PC
Mac

Barbie as Rapunzel Mattel Media * * * * * * * * * * PC
Mac

Reader Rabbit 1 The Learning Company * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PC
Mac

Reading Blaster 2000 Davidson * * * * * * * * * * * * * * PC
Mac

Richard Scarry's Best Reading... Simon & Schuster * * * * * * * * * * * * * PC
Mac

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SuperKids Ratings
Title	Publisher	Education Value	Kid Appeal	Parent Friendly	Buyers Guide (Price Survey)
Phonics Adventure with Sing-Along Sam	Panasonic Interactive	* * * *	* * * *	* * * * *	PC Mac
Barbie as Rapunzel	Mattel Media	* *	* * * *	* * * *	PC Mac
Reader Rabbit 1	The Learning Company	* * * * *	* * * *	* * * * *	PC Mac
Reading Blaster 2000	Davidson	* * * *	* * * * *	* * * * *	PC Mac
Richard Scarry's Best Reading...	Simon & Schuster	* * * *	* * * * *	* * * *	PC Mac

Reading SoftwareThe Big Picture

Reading Software for 3 to 11 year-olds

Reading Software
The Big Picture