Journal 8

Product Review – Kid Works Deluxe 2.05, and Aha! Math (November 2007, Learning and Leading with Technology, p.43-45).

I rarely visit the Product Reviews of any magazine, as my husband seems to be the one researching and buying all the cool, new things, in our lives. While skimming the magazine, I noticed the nice, color illustration of Aha! Math’s Review. Of course, this only highlights the need to offer an attractive presentation in our own classroom to get the attention of our audience!

Kid Work Deluxe seems to be a successful program that is now working on visual aspects of display. I can see why this would be a popular program in schools. Students have the ability to create a story with text and artwork. Changes can be made easily and teachers should have no trouble adapting this program to supplement learning. I think electronic science journals or science story-telling when I see this program!

Aha! Math seems to be a colorful, fun way to tutor students in mathematics. It seems to be geared towards the primary levels, and it designed around the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and state math standards. It is priced at $12/students*year, and features problem-solving activities for students, instructional modules for teachers, interactive games, teacher-led games, on-line quizzes, and of course educational gaming opportunities.

1. Would I use either of these programs in my classroom? No, not for my own classroom, but I am highly interested in obtaining copies for my 4.5 and almost 6 year old. They love learning in this mode, and I suspect that many other elementary school -aged students do as well.

2. Is there a market for this type of software? Yes! Although I do not teach in the K-12 system, I volunteer in my son’s 1st grade classroom for two hours each Friday. My focus is on site-words and spelling, but I have seen a “station” that students use each time I am at the school that features a colorful, interactive phonetics program. I wish there were more colorful tutorial programs for my students; I better start googling, since they are probably out there!