A few weeks ago, I was asked by a blogging friend if I wanted to join in on something awesome: a review process that wasn’t a one-time, ditch effort. A review process that ended up teaching our children something. A review process that started a dialogue about learning. After hearing what she was talking about, I jumped right in. Pun intended as I “jumped in” to JumpStart for BigBrother.

JumpStart is a great company for kids who are learning to read. As I wrote about today, BigBrother has always had a vast interest in all things letter (and number and shape and color and, well, learning). JumpStart itself is an “award-winning adventure-based 3D world” that teaches kids everything from math to reading and important critical thinking skills. The age range is from about 4-8 but we felt that BigBrother was ready for some of it so we, ahem, jumped right in.

Currently, we are playing the online game about every other day. We just finished up one part of Adventure Land. We have an online account that lets us play in the safe online “world” (but I should say that even though it is safe, I still always sit with my son at this age. Who knows what he could delete!). So far, I’ve had to teach him a few skills that he didn’t previously have. While he was pretty good with the mouse prior to JumpStart, I did have to teach him about arrow keys. He’s not quick with them just yet but he can find and maneuver them better than even just a week ago. His main complaint with the online world is that the load times are kind of slow because our internet is not the best (DSL). (That’s also my main complaint. Any time there is music, it loads very skippy-like due to our connection issues. Someday something like FIOS will come to our area and be affordable. Right?)

We were also sent a CD (The Legend of Grizzly McGuffin) that has two levels available and ten more that you unlock with your online account. Some great things about the games are that you can customize your child’s playing (as an example, you can send special messages through the game for things like birthdays and just special “good job” messages) and check in on your child’s progress (if you’re not sitting there with them like I am at this age). BigBrother is really enjoying the CD game which we are playing about two to three times a week (on days that FireDad is home as he thinks the CD is totally awesome and likes to help with this one).

I asked BigBrother what he thought of JumpStart. His answer, “It’s fun. I like letters and running with arrow buttons.” Nothing life-altering just yet. But he’s having fun and learning at the same time. I can get behind that. He has been pushing me for months now to help him learn to read. We sound out words together, play alphabet games on our own, work on writing letters and now we have added JumpStart to our learning process. Keeping things fresh helps keep him interested. I really enjoy it as well. The virtual world is one where I thrive (apparently) and seeing my son take an interest in all things computer and learning combined makes me feel excited (in a nerdy way, obviously).

To boot, JumpStart has also recently launched a blog. Not only do they have tips about their games but great bits of advice for things like cleaning and spelling. (Even better for you other techies out there, JumpStart can be found on twitter.)

But don’t just listen to my advice. Two other bloggers will be telling you about their childrens’ experience with JumpStart as well. Over the next three weeks, Carissa of Good and Crazy People and Angie of Seven Clown Circus will be chronicling their journey with the learning tool as well. In the end, there will be a giveaway with a total of six winners. So, I’d keep tuned in. To make things more interesting, Erin, from JumpStart, is also going to be available for questions. If you have a question specific to age ranges, learning disabilities, process of learning on the games or tips for adding JumpStart to your learning programs, Erin is willing to jump in with comments here on the blog. If you’d rather ask them in private, I can also forward you the information to speak with the company one-on-one.

Right now, JumpStart wants to get parents talking about learning. So, tell me, readers, what are you doing to get your younger children interested in reading and on the path to reading? How is it going? What do you think you need to add right now? What have you found that has and hasn’t worked yet? Let’s start a dialogue on the matter! And, for that matter, I really suggest either the CD versions of the games or an online account if you have a child who is computer happy and wants to learn to read. We’re enjoying them and I bet that you will as well.