Several of the activities provide a successful environment for practicing with age-appropriate content. For instance, with Fruit Shop, children practice counting as they fill a "shopping list" (e.g., 8 apples, 5 bananas, 7 pears, 6 oranges) by moving fruits from bins into a grocery box. When they think they have the required number of a particular fruit, they can click on that item on the shopping list for feedback (and are then told whether they have the right amount, too many, or too few). Because children decide when their answer is to be checked, they have some flexibility in how they approach the problems: they can take time to check and re-check their work; if they are working together, they can compare their ideas on just how many fruits they have put in the box; if they are working with an adult, they can explain why they think they have the required amount. (Answer checking works differently in many programs for young children. More typically, the computer automatically stops children once they have arrived at the correct answer, so children don't have an opportunity to review their work and make their own decisions about whether they're right.)

An interesting feature of this activity is that the fruits that children put in the box automatically line up in rows. One five year old found this somewhat annoying at first. Then, she began using the number in a row as the basis of an efficient and sophisticated strategy for checking her counts. At one point, this child lost track of how many bananas she had put in the box. She noticed that the fruits line up in rows of 6, and so rather than re-count, she pointed out that there was one full row -- 6, and then 2 more in the row above, so 8 in all. From then on, she began to use the fact that there are 6 in a row to help her keep track (e.g., "I have 1 less than a full row so I have 5"). Adults working with very proficient young counters can encourage them to take a similar approach: Are there any oranges in this row? How many? How many oranges in the next row? How many is that in all?

In contrast to Fruit Shop, which is designed so that children may use a variety of mathematical strategies, the activity Blocks requires that children take a single approach to solving simple arithmetic problems (such as, 4 + 2 or 3 -1). Children are given a problem to solve, and they need to model the problem with on-screen objects (e.g., by putting out a group of 4 strawberries and a group of 2 strawberries for 4 + 2) before they can type in a number as their answer. Modeling addition and subtraction problems with concrete objects is a very important step for most young children, but it is not what all children need to do for all problems. For instance, many pre-schoolers are already comfortable adding (or subtracting) 1 or 2 from a small number: counting out objects to solve a problem such as 5 + 1 can seem tedious to them.

Although children's work on Fruit Shop is enhanced by adult support, a great deal of the math in the well-done and amusing Storybook may be lost altogether if no adult is available. This on-line counting book relates James' silly adventures with 1 watermelon, 2 avocados, 3 peaches, and so on. When adults read (paper) counting books to children, they often pause from time to time to ask children to count objects and to talk about how quantities are changing. Although with on-screen books, the computer is doing the reading, it's just as important that an adult (or older child) be present to engage children in counting and comparing quantities.

The Storybook activity does not include specific tasks for children to do, but it contains a structure in that children can move from page to page in the book. Some of the other activities are completely unstructured or have an unstructured component. For instance, in Picture Shapes, children can either use a given set of geometric shapes to fill a picture outline, or they can use a wide range of geometric shapes to create their own shape pictures. Some children work well with no structure and will readily design their own pictures; others will benefit from some suggestions; all will benefit from encouragement to explore characteristics of the shapes. As children investigate the on-screen "menus" consisting of many different geometric shapes, adults might ask questions such as: How many triangles are on this page? How many sides does each triangle have? Do any of the triangles have a "corner" like a square has? Which one has the thinnest "point" or, angle? What do you see in this room that's made of rectangles? Can you use the computer to make a picture of the bookcase using some different size rectangles?

In some content areas, such as counting and geometry, James Discovers Math can successfully complement the many experiences that young children need working with actual physical objects. In other content areas, the kinds of experiences this program offers may be less effective. For instance, in an activity called Measurement, children have the computer line up a set of on-screen pencils to measure the length of various creatures. While this activity may be fun, there is no evidence that "measuring" on a computer helps young children develop their grasp of measuring outside of the computer context. Measuring is a complex and challenging skill: young children need many experiences lining up, comparing, and sequencing actual objects in order to begin to develop their understanding.

Is the Game Equitable?

Is the Game a Good Game?