My First Amazing History Explorer :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Great to teach BASIC history to kids

2007-01-20
I used this as part of my home-school curriculum for my 1st and 2nd graders. They LOVE this game! It teaches very basic world history and has very basic graphics. But, it makes up for its "basic"-ness in its inclusion of rich historical facts. For example, in the section about Greece it teaches about what a typical education was like for the children of ancient Greece. It also teaches what type of diet they ate and what was done for entertainment. The kids also love this game because it's based on a "mystery" platform, meaning they have to travel through time and find where the professor has been kidnapped to (what historical time period) and must follow a logical journey, collect clues and pass tests in order to discover his location and return him to present day.

I think my kids are much smarter about history because of this game, and probably know a bit more than your average junior high school student as well. Maybe that's bragging or bias- but, I teach in the junior high schools and sadly, I don't think many of those students could tell you much about ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome!

DK cd-Roms are superior

2004-05-07
One of my tasks as a parent is to try to instill the type of curiosity in my children that will never be slaked. History, with its awful text books and unavoidable complexity, is one of the toughest subjects for the young. This cd-Rom offers a wonderful way for a child to begin what could become a life-long love: in it, they are able to travel to 8 periods of history, with worlds that they can explore in a way of their choosing. While there is some reading and narration, most of the presentation here is visual and visceral, i.e. you click on things and do them. I think this is fabulous - a picture is worth 1000 words in this case.

Of course, the worlds presented here are quite simple, one scene for each period if I am not mistaken. My daughter at 6 ran through it and doesn't often go back, though occasionally she does. Nonetheless, it has wonderfully supplemented what she does in school and the reading in history that I attempt with her. Of course, we are helped by the fact that we live in Italy, so she literally can walk to Roman and even Etruscan ruins.

Warmly recommmended. An excellent supplement and a good start.

Fun and entertaining with eduacation thrown in 2002-11-25
The History Explorer is a great way to slip a little learning into your child's play time. My 8-yr-old daughter sits and plays this CD for long periods of time, and comes away with new history facts each time. She tracks the Time Fugitive through historical settings and learns about each time period as she gathers clues. Sound and graphics are good and I am pleased she is not just wasting time with a mindless computer game, but actually having fun and learning at the same time.