JumpStart Preschool
{{Short description|1995 educational video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| image = Jumpstart Preschool cover.jpeg
| caption =
| alt =
| developer = Knowledge Adventure
| publisher = Knowledge Adventure
| genre = Edutainment
}}
JumpStart Preschool is a 1995 educational video game and third installment of the JumpStart franchise by Knowledge Adventure, after JumpStart Kindergarten (1994) and JumpStart 1st Grade (1995). It would later be re-released as JumpStart Preschool in August 1998 and superseded by a new title JumpStart Advanced Preschool in 2002. It is also known as Jump Ahead Preschool in Europe.
Development and release
The game, which was "researched and developed under the direction of preschool teachers and parents", was shipped on August 28, 1995.{{Cite web |date=1996-10-24 |title=Knowledge Adventure Press Release |url=http://www.adventure.com/company/press_release/pr_950828.html |access-date=2022-01-20 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961024224629/http://www.adventure.com/company/press_release/pr_950828.html |archive-date=24 October 1996 |url-status=dead}} Bill Gross, founder and chairman of Knowledge Adventure, noted that it was the company's first educational software program that "includes the full preschool curriculum". JumpStart Preschool was made available through computer software stores, mass merchants, computer superstores, book stores and computer specialty stores. A three-title bundle called JumpStart Preschool Deluxe was released on September 3, 1996, featuring JumpStart Preschool, JumpStart Pre-K and an Activity Discovery Book.{{Cite web |date=1998-02-04 |title=Knowledge Adventure Announces JumpStart Preschool Deluxe |url=http://www.adventure.com:80/corporate/press_releases/19960903.html |access-date=2022-01-20 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980204174838/http://www.adventure.com:80/corporate/press_releases/19960903.html |archive-date=4 February 1998 |url-status=dead}} Of the 1998 re-release, Peter Doctorow, vice president of product development at Knowledge Adventure noted that it was the first JumpStart program to include the company's new Kid's Assessment Technology (where players complete a cross-curricular assessment test and difficulty levels are automatically determined) and Parent Resource Center (which links progress reports between JumpStart titles).{{Cite web |date=2000-09-02 |title=Knowledge Adventure® Ships all-New Version Of JumpStart Preschool®, #1 Selling Preschool Software Program |url=http://www2.knowledgeadventure.com/press-room/all/k9030prepre090.html |access-date=2022-01-20 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000902115252/http://www2.knowledgeadventure.com/press-room/all/k9030prepre090.html |archive-date=2 September 2000 |url-status=dead}}
It was adapted as the 1999 direct-to-video animated film JumpStart Preschool: Who Left the Juice in the Caboose?.
Plot and gameplay
The title focuses on educational concepts for preschoolers, specifically covering: reading readiness, memory development, numeral recognition, and auditory discrimination. Preschool teachers and caregivers could track the player's improvement via a Progress Report, while JumpStart's Adaptive Learning Technology tracked the player's success-to-attempt ratio and modified the difficulty accordingly.
Critical reception
SuperKids praised the game's "cute characters, amusing activities, and magical worlds".{{Cite web|title=SuperKids Software Review of Jump Start Preschool.|url=https://www.superkids.com/aweb/pages/reviews/multisub/preschoo/1/jspre/merge.shtml|access-date=2022-01-20|website=www.superkids.com}} The Chicago Tribune noted the surreptitious learning opportunity of the game, which had a façade of fun.{{Cite web|title=THREE TOP CD-ROMS GIVE KIDS A HEAD START ON READING SKILLS|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1996-04-12-9604120403-story.html|access-date=2022-01-20|website=Chicago Tribune|date=12 April 1996 |language=en}} Cyber-Reviews deemed the re-release superior due to the "improved graphics, motivational rewards (this is important information for the parents) an assessment technology that customizes for a child's individual needs".{{Cite web|title=Kids! Spanish from Syracuse Language, JumpStart Preschool from Knowledge Adventure and The Baby-sitters ClubCastle|url=http://www.cyber-reviews.com/may99.html|access-date=2022-01-20|website=www.cyber-reviews.com}} Young kids and computers deemed it a "solid program with well-designed activities".{{Cite book|last1=Buckleitner|first1=Warren|url=http://archive.org/details/youngkidscompute00elle|title=Young kids and computers: a parent's survival guide|last2=Orr|first2=Ann C.|last3=Wolock|first3=Ellen|date=1998|location=Flemington, N.J. |publisher= Children's Software Revue|isbn=978-1-891983-00-9}} Child Care Information Exchange noted that while it contained more activities than Millie & Bailey Preschool, they "lack the range of concepts and the skilful embedding" offered by the latter.{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/sim_exchange_july-august-1998_122|title=Child Care Information Exchange July-August 1998: Iss 122|date=July 1998|publisher=Exchange Press Inc|language=English}} MacUser suggested that players were meant to 'graduate' from JumpStart Toddlers to JumpStart Preschool, then to Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade.{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/MacUser9605May1996|title=MacUser May 1996|date=May 1996}}
Commercial performance
Awards
{{Awards table}}
|-
! scope="row" | 1999
| JumpStart Preschool
| Interactive Achievement Award for Computer Educational Title of the Year (0–8 years)
{{end}}