The New Price of Educational Software and Excel@ Middle School from Knowledge Adventure
The New Price of Educational Software
If you've been following the growth of the educational software industry, then you may have noticed a trend on software pricing. It's on the downswing. You should take advantage of these lower prices. In 1994, new titles would sell for around $40, but now, you'll find many educational CDs debuting at $20 to $30. And, if you can wait a year or so, when new titles are introduced, you save even save more money because the older titles usually drop, sometimes in have, from the suggested retail price a year before.
So, instead of buying a new release, you can save up to 50 percent on educational software from many of the major manufacturers like Knowledge Adventure and The Learning Company just by patiently waiting for a sale. And they do go on sale.
A recent example is the price of The Learning Company's, Madeline Rainy Day Activities CD, at $9.98 from Noodle Kidoodle, a toy store chain who stocks a variety of educational software titles. We purchased this CD as a birthday gift for my 5-year-old daughter's 6-year-old girl friend. It's an excellent CD with lots of activities, designed for girls, ages 5 to 7. I reviewed the CD when it was newly released in 1998, and it sold for $19.95. Another example is with the Davidson CD, Reading Blaster Jr, which helped my daughter Sarah learn to read. I reviewed this title in 1996 when it retailed for $30. We recently purchased the software as a birthday gift for only $9.99, from Staples, an office supply chain. That's one-third of the original price. What a great savings.
So, if don't mind buying the older educational software titles, which are usually just as good as the newly released CDs, then you can save up to 50 percent or more on lots of great titles from the major manufacturers like Disney Interactive, The Learning Company, Davidson and Knowledge Adventure, just to mention a few. You may even find two titles bundled together for one low price. And if you're on a budget, waiting makes more sense (no pun intended).
Excel@ Middle School from Knowledge Adventure
If your child is in middle school, you should consider some middle school help with Excel@ Middle School from Knowledge Adventure, 6-CD set of tools and resources for ages 12 and up. It's an integrated learning system with 330 interactive lessons covering US History, World History, Geography, Ancient Civilizations, Pre-Algebra, Algebra, Life Science, Earth Science, Physical Science, Grammar, Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary. (That is one long list!).
This is an excellent mixture of educational courseware with animated interactive learning videos, lots of lessons and even a study planner plus great graphics and sounds you would expect from a Knowledge Adventure title, all developed by educators to help your child excel in middle school. It offers an Internet-style interface to keep your child's interest while they're learning what they need to know.
As a bonus, you'll find several Knowledge Adventure educational tools including Ultimate Speed Reader, Ultimate Word Attack, Multimedia Workshop, Math Blaster, Pre-Algebra, Typing Tutor Platinum, Spanish for the Real World, French for the Real World, and last but not least, a 170,000 entry encyclopedia. This CD set is a bargain at its $40 street price, and both Mac and PC users can use it.
Excel@ Middle School sells for a street price of $19.95 and will run on any multimedia PC, Pentium 133 or faster running Windows 98/95 and a Power Macintosh, 100 MHz or faster. Both systems require a twelve-speed (12x) CD-ROM drive and 32 MB RAM.
Howard Berenbon
Software Manufacturer
Knowledge Adventure, Inc.
19840 Pioneer Avenue
Torrance, CA 90503
Phone: 1-800-545-7677
URL knowledgeadventure.com