Whether you want to teach your kids at home, or support their learning in school, finding the right educational software can be tricky. You should look for software that will provide a strong foundation in a particular subject, while keeping the kids engaged and entertained. The same applies for adult-learning – no matter what your age, you learn by doing, and it helps if your learning tools understand this.

Here is a quick round-up of some really effective educational software, and there should be something here for all ages covering some of the most popular subjects available…

Leah’s Animal Coloring Book (by Blue Cow Games) is a fun and educational colouring program for pre-school-age kids, which includes 40 different animals to paint and colour, while improving colour recognition, spacial awareness and basic computer use. The software is simple to pick-up and play for young children, and easy enough to use without adult supervision, while engaging the child with bright, colourful graphics and audio feedback.

Your child can easily print their coloured pictures, and save them to the ‘My Pictures’ folder. The simple, intuitive interface and appealing graphics make this essential for parents who want their kids to develop artistic and computer skills while they play, and at only $7.99, this is a great buy.

HomeSchool Key-Stage 2 Triple Pack Combines three subjects into a single convenient pack aimed at teaching school-age kids Science, Maths and Literacy. This educational series supports the UK national curriculum for ages 7-11, and uses fun mini-games to help kids brush-up on their knowledge of each subject, providing feedback on their progress, and keeping them entertained with some great visuals, musical soundtracks and multiple-choice questions (cleverly disguised as arcade games).

This pack features 5 game-types, revision notes on 3 different subjects, and comprehensive grading that provides meaningful results for parents and teachers. The presentation of the HomeSchool series is outstanding, and the questions are relevant to today’s subjects – this pack is highly recommended.

HomeSchool – Fun With Science focuses on core science topics including nature & biology, chemistry, magnetism, mass & gravity and materials, introducing the various aspects of the subject with revision notes and engaging and appealing mini-games which help your child to absorb information and brush-up on weaker areas.

HomeSchool – Mental Maths focuses on core maths and numeracy skills including fractions, decimals, times-tables and mental maths problems, giving the child a strong foundation in maths and numeracy while they enjoy the mini-games and carefully graded question & answer session which remains entertaining for the child throughout.

HomeSchool – Literacy focuses on core English and literacy skills including grammar, spelling, language and word structure, introducing the correct usage of verbs, nouns and pronouns while testing the child’s ability to match correct answers with gameplay elements in each of the mini-games.

Math Flight and Time Flies (by Scholasoft Edutainment) prepare younger school-age children to tackle numeracy skills and telling the time on analog clocks. The simple visuals are intuitive, and focus purely on the core topics while presenting real-world problems in a meaningful way. Math Flight presents maths problems to the child in the form of simple games which involve collecting parachutes to answer questions, while the main focus of Time Flies is to teach children how to quickly & properly read analog clocks as well as read both 12 hour and 24 hour based digital clocks.

French Today (by Edu-Today) is an easy to use language learning tool for beginners of all ages. French Today teaches many of the most common French words and phrases for travelling around France, ordering food and asking directions, allowing students of any age to test their knowledge and grade their understanding of the French language, while picking up some useful phrases along the way.

aGuitar Pro (by G.F Software) is designed to improve musical skills of the bass/guitar player, as well as providing keys/scales/chords references, tablature tools, and midi tracks for practicing. aGuitar Pro includes multiple tools a guitar player needs in a single program. You probably will need 3 or 4 guitar programs to have all the tools aGuitar Pro provides to you.

Touch Typing Now! (by Nikasoft) is a fun interactive guide that will help you through the painstaking process of learning how to type professionally, with visual guides to help you speed-up your typing. If you’ve ever dreamt about typing without looking down at your keyboard, Touch Typing Now is the ideal solution.

Related posts:

1. Homeschool Academy Educational Software
2. HomeSchool Key Stage 2 Triple Pack