JumpStart World 1st Grade

This is the lousiest children's software I've ever seen. I think the previous reviews must be that of an earlier version. I am returning it to Amazon . Save yourself the trouble -- don't purchase it. What are the issues? (1) My kids use my old laptop -- a machine with 512 MB of RAM, Pentium-III 500 MHz CPU and 32 MB of video RAM. Not the greatest machine, granted ... but the software is slow as molasses on it. (2) The game will not work unless the CD is the drive *AND* the machine is connected to the internet. I'd rather not connect my 5-year old's machine to the internet. Thank you very much. (3) Navigation in the game is not with a mouse but with arrow keys. And if a kid presses an arrow key in a "disallowed" direction, there is no beep or anything. So, the kid keeps pressing the key and gets frustrated. (4) Every 10 minutes or so, the software freezes with a "loading" message. Looks like the CD is not complete. It actually downloads content from the internet each time. I suppose this is to prevent piracy. But do you really want to support a company that doesn't trust its customers and is willing them to let them endure long waits? If I could give this game 0 stars, I would give it.

I bought this game as a compromise for my kindergartener and 2nd grader. For my kids, who don't have a play station or play a lot of computer games, this provides excellent, fun instruction on how to control an avatar and play a bunch of different types of games using both the keyboard and the mouse. It was hard for them at first because they kept getting lost in the Jumpstart "world," but now they have mastered it and have a lot of fun just visiting their favorite places. Most of the games themselves are pretty lame -- my kids only play them when they need to earn points to buy things, or at the end of a level to complete the required number of games to advance to the next level. As a learning game, it takes awhile to ramp up to a challenging level. In fact, my kindergartener is in the 7th level and only now encountering academic challenges that are hard for her. For a first grader, I think I would recommend this only to reinforce things they already know and to strengthen computer skills. But, I give it 4 stars because despite the weaknesses that I see, it is a good wholesome game that my kids LOVE! And while it annoys me that you have to pay an extra, hefty fee to get the full game, I think it is worth it. The kids blow through the first two levels, but the subsequent levels last much longer. My kids have been playing for more than 3 months and are only a little over halfway done!

Purchase this program for my grandchildren around 6 years ago without a CD backup. My computer crashed back in March, 2010 and I lost it. Have looked for this particular program ever since. fnally found it on Amazon!! The grandkids are so happy again to have this back. And the learning games on it have made them better students! They Love It and so do I!

Requires access to a webpage that is out of date and has server ERROR trynig to access it. Total WASTE. Can buy $2 apps that are better and work online.

When the software works, I think it is great. It combines the fun of playing a game with educational activities in reading and math. However, buying the CD is just the beginning, you have to really sign up for the monthly subscription for it to go to other levels. The program is poorly written and if you don't exit it properly you are completely messed up and have to uninstall and re-install the software and you child has to go over everything again. This has happened to my son 3 times and it is very frustrating. I think they just don't want to fix this as it keeps the usage/subscription going for a longer time. I wish there was a better competing product on the market as I really don't like what they are doing.

I bought this product for my son. It was difficult to load. It is glitchy. It often freezes going from scene to scene or task to task, thus causing frustration in my little boy, as well as myself. He played it for a few weeks and then left it by the wayside. Too many issues to deal with when trying to use it. I wouldn't recommend it.

I have not opened this one so I will be returning this for a full refund. I will not subscribe to get all the rest of the games

I had a problem with the installation. I started the installer and successfully registered online, but the installer later had a disk read problem. I canceled the install and tried again, but now the installer insisted on my registering again. I successfully logged into the web site with my newly created account from the first install, but the installer wouldn't recognize that I had previously registered. It continued to insist I register before proceeding, which I couldn't do since my email account was already tied to the first registration. Turns out the integration between the web registration and the program install is sloppy and cheap. It's not transactional and it's handled by a VB Script (cheesy!). Luckily, I happen to be a programmer, and I wound up copying the CD to a hard drive, tweaking the .vbs to skip the registration check, installing the application, then modifying an.ini file to fool it into thinking I installed from the CD drive. If this makes sense to you, and you're willing to do the same if your initial install fails, then have fun. Apparently, you also need an internet connection to start up the game as well, which may make this game unusable when traveling, unless you have wi-fi access or a cellular modem. That being said, my son seems to enjoy the game.