Children’s educational software is becoming more and more popular nowadays. With the fast growing homeschooling trend, more parents are looking for software to help with their child’s education. Other parents simply want to enhance their child’s education by helping them at home. But is the software worth what you are going to pay for it?
You rush to the store, searching the titles for the best software. Most software for kids is priced from about the $10 level on up to the $60 range or higher. The average price runs about $25.
There is one very important thing to keep in mind if you are shopping for software to homeschool your child. Software can and will help your child learn. My kids prove that to be fact. But at the same time, it is a program and not a person. Software, while good, cannot take the place of teaching the child. It’s a great tool, such as a video, for enhancing or building on something your child is learning or already knows. But if it does not capture the child’s attention, it’ll become a dust catcher.
There are a few thoughts to keep in mind while shopping for the ultimate software title. A good software title for kids will be entertaining to the child, whether it’s an educational program or a game. It will be easy to navigate and use, yet not so easy to be considered boring by the child using it.
Having personally bought software for my children priced over $50, I would still recommend in MOST cases doing this, but not always. Most software packaged in this manner is worth the price, but watch out for promotional hype, such as get all this for so and so price.
One area that I failed to consider was the number of CD’s in a software package. In the beginning of my computer software purchasing days, I had the mistaken idea that more was better. Not true. A package of software with ten CD’s in it, priced at $40 is not a good value at all if all you get are picture of cards or such that you could easily duplicate on the kitchen table. What makes such a deal sound enticing is the idea that you are paying only $4.00 per program. But when you get home, and install that wonderful deal to your computer, you are highly disappointed and irritated that you’ve just been took for $40 and got nothing.
The age and number of your children is another thing to consider in deciding if the software is worth the price. If you have more than one child who will be able to use this software, it is more reasonable to spend $50 for one CD. However, if only one child will use it, you might want to go with less expensive software. Also pay close attention to the age level the software is geared to. If you are considering a purchase for an item geared to ages 4-8, and your child is 7, you might pass that one up for a like item geared to ages 6-10. You’ll get more value for your money in be able to get more use out of it for longer.
The same idea goes for the number of children that will get use of the product. The more use the product gets, the better value for your dollar.
Some parents opt to share software, thereby reducing the number of titles they buy for their children. This is a great idea to for programs a child has outgrown or found not to their amusement.
Remember to read the front and back of the package before you buy, if you have not read a review of a particular title you are interested in. It’ll give you an overview of what the program consists of. Keep in mind, however, as you read, that the company is trying to sell the product. To get a realistic idea of what the product is about, read a review on it or talk to other parents who have used it. Reviews and first hand information will help you decide quickly if it’s worth the price.
