A JUMPSTART REVIEW AND A CONTEST...

Recently I recieved an e-mail from our friends at Jumpstart. They wanted to know if we would be interested in reviewing their new game for the Wii.

It is called Escape from Adventure Island. As soon as Sam heard the name he was so excited because that was his favorite land on their website. So of course we jumped at the chance. They were kind enough to send us a free copy. It arrived the other day and the boys started playing on it right away.

The game is great. There is so many different skills that they can learn on all the different subjects. Dh played it too and he said it is really good because the kids can grow with it. The challenge can increase with each level.

I did find a couple of things that I did not actually care for on it. The first one is the amount of players that they have. It is only a one player game and that makes it hard when you have two or more children. I hear alot of "Mom has he played long enough yet, I want to play now" (they really love the game). You can get past that though by putting time limits of course. The only other problem that I found was the spot that you can save the game. It only has enough spots to save three different players games. Which is ok in my family because I only have the two kids but with familys that have more than that it can be difficult.

With that being said I LOVE the game. It is a game that is filled with wonderful learning oppurtunities. Being homeschoolers I do try to fit the game in the lesson. I mean when you have to learn about rhyming words would you rather do a worksheet or ride on a jet pack blowing up mines that do not rhyme with your words. Even if you do not homeschool I still recommend the game because it is such a fun way to learn.

To end I included a video from each of the boys about what they like and do like so that you can hear straight from them. Just a note though, in Sam's video he mentions the thing that he does like that the game controllers freeze up. I was watching and it was not doing that. I think that it was an issue with our controller (low battery).

Now to the contest. Jumpstart is running a contest over on their site. All they want from you is to know how you use your imagination and escape from your everday life and turn it into an adventure. Check out this prize list:

This is the grand prize:

1 copy of JumpStart Escape from Adventure Island (rated E by the ESRB)
1 Nintendo Wii console – to escape boredom
$250 in SpaFinder® gift certificates – to escape stress
1 Flip™ Mino HD video camera – to record your adventures
3 lifetime JumpStart memberships – 1 for you, 2 to share with friends
500 JumpStart.com virtual coins – to keep your kids’ online adventure exciting
JumpStart gear – to dress for adventure

If you do not win this maybe you can be one of the 50 winners that will recieve a copy of the game. Pretty cool if you ask me so hurry on over and sign up between now and November 16th. Good Luck to everyone that enters.

JUMPSTART.COM REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

Ok I know that most of you saw over on Kate's blog that she got the chance to review jumpstart.com, I got the chance too. How great is that. I love giving the kids the oppurtunity to learn through games. I mean who wants to learn using only worksheets, how boring! So when Cherie contacted me offering the chance to review this I thought great the boys are going think I am the best mother ever. hehehe.
Boy was I right the kids are loving the site. Even on our old laptop (which would make the game freeze because it was so old) the kids became infatuated with this game. They even knew that they were learning with it and still wanted to play. As a matter of fact they would say to me can we play, it is a learning game. I mean how can I say no. Well we solved the problem of the computer freezing and bought a new one. Now I am fighting to get time on the computer because the boys are loving it even more. I must admit that I am having fun on it too. There is so much to see and do. The site even has a parents section and a blog too. Check over on my side bar if you want to check out the blog.
Well with the new computer we are able to play games on our CD ROM. The boys have loved the site so much they asked if we could get the games that they have. I thought that this would be great because on the site it ranges from ages 3 to 10, this means that Sam would not be able to play with it much longer because he would not be challenged enough with it. So while out at BJs tonight we found a 4th to 6th grade advanced for him. He is so excited to have it.
All in All Jumpstart has once again had a hit in the learning department. They even amazed me with staff. Cherie worked really hard to get my membership set up for me. Unfortunetly there was something wrong so I could not get into the account at first . When I notified her of this she worked on it and got it fixed right away.
Our family has been really excited to have this oppurtunity to use the site. Jumpstart wants to give your family the chance to experience it too. If you want to get a three month membership leave me a message between now and Thursday. In the message tell me what is your favorite thing to learn with. Feel free to mention this on your blog and link back to give all of your friends a chance too.