JumpStart Phonics Read & Rhyme Reviewer's Comments

JumpStart Phonics Read & Rhyme (formerly titled JumpStart Reading with Karaoke) by Knowledge Adventure is a commendable Learn to Read program for children ages 4–7. The program comes with a CD and microphone.

The interactivity consists of speaking into the microphone, dragging and dropping objects and clicking on correct responses. The microphone is used for sing–along activities and testing students’ pronunciation skills.

The sing–along activities are closely tied to the learning process. During the first exercise, students learn the alphabet song and later, songs are used to introduce simple words.

Although JumpStart Phonics Read & Rhyme is a useful tool for beginner readers, it is limited to eight lessons and activities.

We had problems during an exercise in “Hip Hop Avenue.” In the lesson, students are instructed to drag and drop various objects into two trashcans. Each of the trashcans is identified by a letter. The goal of the activity is to drag and drop specific objects into the corresponding trashcans. For example, objects that begin with the letter “r” should be dragged and dropped into the trashcan with the letter “r” and objects that begin with the letter “s” should be dragged and dropped into the trashcan with the letter “s.” After several attempts, were unable to drag and drop all the objects into the proper trashcans. We uninstalled and reinstalled the program to make sure it was not an installation error, but the activity still did not work.

We contacted Knowledge Adventure’s technical support and were assured that they had no other complaints about this problem. We concluded the installation CD may have been defective and not the program itself.

If you want to try a Learn to Read program with over 50 lessons, see ClickN’ Read.