Nintendo DS

 While I don't see the Nintendo DS being used wide spread in the classroom, I do think it is imporant for me to have a general idea of the games available for my students to play at home. I have had parents ask me about games before and for possible recommendations. The Nintendo DS boasts many educational titles so I decided try out a couple of games.

I own Brain Age 1 and 2. The Brain Age games are good for critical thinking, problem solving, building fluency with basic math skills and developing fine motor skills. I have also played Professor Layton. These games are great for developing problem solving skills and critical thinking skills.

I have been intrigued by all of the career oriented simulation games. I was able to get my hands on Imagine Teacher so I tried it out. Overall the game is OK. It is very unrealistic as to what it is like to be a teacher, but some of the mini games could lend some basic skill practice. I wouldn't recommend it from an educational standpoint.

Another game I was able to try out was Reader Rabbit Kindergarten. This game provided practice on a variety of math and language arts skills through different mini games. Plus I thought the story was fun and creative.

Game:  Reader Rabbit Kindergartner
Publisher: The Learning Company
Genre: Adventure
Summary: Reader Rabbit and his friend are captured by a giant balloon while they are flying around.  They land in Balloon Town and must collect 5 different musical instruments that are scattered around Balloon Town to get their ship back. Players play different educational mini games to earn the musical instruments.  The mini games provide practice rhyming, completing patterns, letter recognition, rhyming, following directions and basic math. At the end players complete two final mini games to get theri ship back.
Educational Value: This game would be good for a child in preschool to practice basic reading and math kids to help prepare them for kindergarten. The game could also be used for kindergartners to gain additional practice with these skills.
Opinion: The game was fun and seemed like it would be appealing to young children. The environment where the game takes place is colorful and there is fun music in the background. The controls were pretty easy.  They were mostly point and click with the DS stylus. Also, the directions are all given orally which helps children build listening comprehension as well. Overall, I would feel comfortable recommending this game to parents or letting my own child play this game.