02/01/2011 | 
It seems only a short time ago that educational software, was a novel idea, and yet now it is a staple both in the classroom and on the home computer. These days educational software for children includes areas of learning from maths to music, from literacy to learning a new language. There are, to be sure, very few subjects that cannot be at least in part learned on a computer. To assist in the important process of becoming literate, a huge variety of kids educational software packages are produced which help the child learn to spell, some help improve their writing skills, some are intended to expand a child’s vocabulary, and of course there is an extensive range of beautiful interactive books on the market to help them learn to read.
For kids just starting to read there are some good phonics packages and there are special word processors designed for children too. Many schools now have their own website and children can publish their work on the web which is a great way to inspire them to get writing. Maths seems the most obvious subject for learning on the computer, and educational software for young children is available to help with counting, other packages concentrate on helping them learn the characteristics of and important words associated with 2D and 3D shapes such as squares, triangles and cuboids, some expose children to the vocabulary of maths, words like ‘bigger’,’ smaller’, ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘many’ and ‘few’.
As children grow older, educational software packages are made to help with learning their times tables, which is perhaps an improvement on simply reciting ‘six sixes are thirty-six’ and so on, by rote! Software exists to help with mental arithmetic, learning about and using spreadsheets, money, time and 2D and 3D shape geometry. Children enjoy using computers and educational software can give them an entertaining way to learn, with the advantage that a child can repeat something as many times as they want to, computers don’t get bored!
A well thought out education package adds variety and freshness to the experience of practising skills, reinforcing things taught by the teacher or learned from books. Also parents like to be able to help their children make progress, and acquiring suitable educational software for their kids to play with on the home computer is one way they can help their child get ahead. Kids educational software can help improve learning in a huge number of areas; there are packages covering almost every subject known to man. For example, Art. Young children are used to drawing with crayons, felt tip pens, paint and paper, and drawing and painting programs are a completely different and exciting way to create images. Children love cartoons, and now there is a way to create their own animations using special software, something to impress their Mums and Dads and friends!
There is a totally amazing number of software packages designed to assist learning. Some software gives kids the chance to become young composers, and there is an educational software which helps improve a child’s ‘ear’ for music. There is at least one cookery package, and that’s without giving a thought to all the packages covering history, science and geography.
You can even get kids educational software which helps them learn about the Moon, an excellent software is SpexWorlds!Lunar a Moon base game from Aspex Software. This is a fascinating program and gets kids involved in building an on-screen Lunar base, with modular pods, space vehicles, space men and even an alien being! The colour of the lighting can be changed from white to red to purple and by adjusting the lighting, kids change the location of the base to Triton or Io or the fantasy world of Krypton. They will also learn of the original 1969 Moon landing, as the software is provided with a Moonlander and they can take an on-screen Moon walk! SpexWorlds!Lunar Moon base game is for kids aged 6 plus and is available FREE for a limited time. All you have to do is visit Aspex educational software, download it and there you are, on the Moon!
