i learned how to read at an early age, my father was very good to me in thst as soon as he saw signs of interest he bought me dr. seuss books and put alot of early learning software on the family computer, two programs stick out to me especially now that my three year old is showing some interest in reading. one was a program my dad made for me , dos based, when i bushed a button a word and a picture corresponding to the letter popped up on the screen. the other was a shareware version of reader rabbit, (yes this was in the heyday of shareware i think cause just about all the programs i remember were shareware) i've looked at reader rabbit software today and it looks like they stopped making it after windows 2000 came out... dissapointing ... can anyone reccomend a similar program that will run on todays computers i have windows 7 now ahd would love to have something for my little girl. NOw jus to soothe some of you who may cringe at the idea of putting a child on a computer to learn: I've done my homework enough to know that an hour of computer time a day is fine for a three year olds development and would NOT use this as a replacement for time and effort invested in my child, nor would anything like this be used as a babysitter ( i myself cringe at THAT idea:shock
You won't get any tsking from me. I had my daughter on the computer before she was two and now am the proud mom of a 12 yr old geek. We're committed gamers in my house. Sebran is a nice little piece of freeware that my kids used to love. Here's my all time favourite freeware site for kids programs. They even have a toddler section. And boy, the fact that there are moms here young enough to have played Dos games as toddlers just made me feel very old.
Yes, Starfall also has a paid version that's really good. It's only like $35/yr or something. We're also a geek family ... more computers that most people will own in their lifetime. :lol: Look at www.progressivephonics.com for free, early reading as well. Have you also looked at Explode the Code's online version? I prefer the workbooks, personally, but you might like the online version better. Reader Rabbit does have some newer versions available, also. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...abbit+vista&rh=n:229534,k:reader+rabbit+vista
I don't have any suggestions for you, but I would like to say that I don't know a single hs'er who would give you a hard time about a preschooler on a computer. I just could not school with out it. When mine were little, I had a big, colorful mouse made just for toddler hands so they could practice their mouse skills. I had a 3 yr old who learned how to check my email before I even knew how to do it.
First of all thank you everyone for all your suggestions thus far, i cant tell you how much the support and help means to me!!! By all means though keep posting ideas, I'm open to any ideas i can get!! this made me giggle, combined with how many of you confessed to being "families of geeks" (lol stand with PRIDE!!) I was reminded of a time when it was discovered i knew DOS a little *TOO* well you see we had windows....3 i think on the computer but i just couldnt figure it out to navigate it well enough to use it.... dad seemed to like it though... but i remember one time i got mad at daddy...cant remember what for ... it coulda been anything with how young i was:shock: well as a revenge move i went into dos and deleted the windows directory.... daddy was SOOO mad!! lol i wasnt allowed bac at the computer for months , i remember how much i missed that computer ... lol sorry, just had to share my little story about youth and computers.
We just purchased a lifetime membership to jumpstart & you can have 6 kids I do believe on the one membership. They had a special so it was lots cheaper to do lifetime but they do have a free one as well. We just wanted the mathblaster that came with the membership & the added benefits. My grandson is 3 almost 4 & loves playing on it & he learns a lot from it. Even my 7 & 11 year old enjoy playing on there as well. It is a learning by playing too. We live with my daughter & grandson and plan on homeschooling him along with my 4 when the time comes.
