Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index

Jumpstart

The Jumpstart series is a series of education software made by Knowledge Adventure. Jumpstart products typically feature a printable progress report. The game usually provides motivation, thus there are typically more activities in the products for younger children and fewer for older children. Doria Biddle seems to be a popular writer for Jumpstart products.

Table of contents
1 Jumpstart Characters
2 Full Grade Products
2.1 Jumpstart Baby
2.2 Jumpstart Toddlers
2.3 Jumpstart Preschool
2.4 Jumpstart Kindergarten
2.5 Jumpstart 1st Grade
2.6 Jumpstart 2nd Grade
2.7 Jumpstart 3rd Grade
2.8 Jumpstart 4th Grade
2.9 Jumpstart 5th Grade
2.10 Jumpstart 6th Grade
3 Subject Based Titles
4 Learning Tools

Jumpstart Characters

Full Grade Products

Jumpstart Full Grade Products focus on a specific grade level and teach multiple subjects from that grade.

Jumpstart Baby

This title is intended for nine-month-olds to early preschoolers. It has simple and colorful graphics.

Subjects

Jumpstart Toddlers

This game introduces toddlers to basic concepts and computer skills.

Subjects

Note: This game is currently in its second version.

Jumpstart Preschool

This game has eight main activities.

Subjects

Note: This is the third version of this game.

Jumpstart Kindergarten

The user teams up with Frankie and the other JumpStart pals and help them get ready for a car race.

Subjects

Note: This is the third version of the program, the first was Knowledge Adventure's first Jumpstart product.

Jumpstart 1st Grade

The JumpStart gang needs in defeating the town bully at the highly anticipated JumpStartville Scooter Tournament.

Subjects

Note: This is the third version of this product. The first was set in a schoolhouse where the user attempts to collect milk caps. In the second, the user works to explore islands.

Jumpstart 2nd Grade

It features C.J. the frog, whom the players attempt to help outwit the evil Dr. O.

Subjects

Note: This is the second version of this product, the original features C.J. at schoolhouse with a secret elevator.

Jumpstart 3rd Grade

See separate article

Jumpstart 4th Grade

The program is set at Sapphire Fall, where the users attempts to help Sally, T.J. and Gizmo solve a mystery in involving a creature and a stolen treasure map.

Subjects

Games

Note: This is the second version of this game, the original featured a haunted island.

Jumpstart 5th Grade

The game is set in the fictional
city of Hooverville. There the evil Dr. X is planning to destroy factories and power plants to get revenge on them for cutting his research funding.

The user has to help 5th grade detective Jo Hammet stop him.

Subjects

Cource of a Mission

Jumpstart 5th Grade is set up as a series of missions like most Jumpstart products, but there are a lot fewer missions than in most Jumpstart products(only 6) and rather than being a separate, invisible "character" in and of themselves, players take on the incarnation of a character in the game. In each mission, the games are played in a certain order. Each mission starts with the Hooverville Museum of Art and Geography.

The Hooverville Museum of Art and Geography
When Jo Hammet was on a field trip with her class, she literaly bumped into someone here and he was carried away by a bunch of thugs. However, he left a mysterious pair of glasses behind. Later a talking rat named B. F. Skinny(after B. F. Skinner) shows up with a crossword. The user helps Jo Hammet crack the secret code in this puzzle. The Hooverville Museum of Art and Geography may be named after the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI))

Fist Visit to the Sabotaged Site
It turns out the crossword reveals the address of a place that has been sabotaged. Naturally, the door is locked. The user must solve a math puzzle in order to open it. On the first mission, Martin(the person kidnapped by thugs in the art musuem) is chained here. He explains that the glasses can be used to read the minds of the thugs. The user than plays a grammar game where they find the correct word to go into the thugs dialoge. Their thoughts reveal the way to get to the bomb.

Searching for Items
It turns out that Jo Hammet needs three items in order to get the bomb. She must visit three different places in town to get them.
The Squishy Juice Bar
The person serving the drinks here is really an undercover
reporter named Bernie. Bernie will give Jo Hammet one of the things needed to get to the bomb if the user helps him make drinks for patrons. First the user mixes different juices together. On the second and third levels, the user must also help serve the drinks.
The Junkyard
Jimmy is the recluse that runs the junkyard. The game in the junkyard game is a
tangrams game. The junk must be moved and rotated until it matches the diagram.
Boulder Canyon Mine Shaft
The Boulder Canyon Mine Shaft was closed by the Park Service due to falling rocks. Maggie Mead hasn't any visitors but Jo Hammet since than. Maggie Mead needs three items retived from the mine shaft. The father down the user goes the older the objects. Maggie needs one object from each layer. The lowest layer has
dinosaur bones and such. The middle layer has Native American artifacts. The highest layer has artifacts from early America.

Second Vistit to the Sabotaged Site
Upon the second visit to sabotaged site, Jo Hammet uses the items to get to the bomb without getting hurt. To disable to bomb, the user must play a decimal game where they attempt to make the number in one box equal to the number in the target box using a little android. Naturally there are some defence androids who try to stop the user. After this, Jo Hammet returns to the museum and gets a new crossword for B.F. Skinny, and the next mission begins.

The Conclusion

Warning: Spoilers Follow

The game concludes at Boulder Canyon Dam. Earlier Dr. X blew up the pumping station, so the water presure is sky high so that when blows up the dam, that amount of water will destroy the entire city. Jo Hammet then travels to the bomb where the user is suppost click a small switch next Jo, that will move a gate which will diverte the water away from the city. Dr. X(who until this time only appears in silhouette) is finnally seen. Though Jo Hammet saves the city, Dr. X disappears, never to be heard from again.

A Note about Names in this Program

It is likely that Hooverville was inspired by Boulder City and Hoover Dam. When the names are switched, "Boulder City" becomes "Hooverville" and "Hoover Dam" becomes "Boulder Canyon Dam." Also note there is character named Maggie Mead, after Lake Mead.

Jumpstart 6th Grade

In this game A.R.T., a computer with artificial intelligence, has gone haywire, and now wants to "redesign the chaotic system that is Earth." Clearly, he must be stopped, and that's what Zack and Jess, twin brother and sister agents of Earthquest, are going to do with the help of their Uncle Eli and dog Roswell.

Subjects

Games

To save the world and complete the game, the user must go on missions by choosing one from the Mission Locator Map. At the start of each mission, the user must choose either Zack or Jess to be their partner. There are six different game types. After one type of game is completed, then they user captures one of A.R.T.'s
robots and take them to the Robot Re-Organizer. Once all the robots are captured and reoraganized, then the game is completed. After a type of game is completed, the user may countinue to play that type of game, though it will not bring them closer to the end. Each type of game has three places in the world where to may be played.

Hyper Space
After the user chooses a mission, the character they pick takes off in a pod. These pods are designed for mazimum securuty. In order to land, the student must discover the pod's landing code. The game where this is done is virtually identical to the Music Hall Door game in Jumpstart 3rd Grade. The diffenence is that instead of reorganizing letters for the first words, they pick the correct word or phrase from three choices.

Pollution Solution
A.R.T.'s robots have sabotged a factory. The user must stop the noxious posions from being released into the enviroment. There is a math problem that appears at the top the screen and four answers. Obviously, the user must select the correct answer. The three places in the world this game may be played are Alaska, the Ukraine and Indonesia.

Mine Games
A.R.T. is planting mines in the ocean. The user must diactivate the bomb by finding the correct answer to a problem at the top of the screen. The question may either be an English or Geography question. The three places in the world where this game may be played are the Great Barrier Reef, the Bering Sea and the Caribbean Sea.

Viral Vanguard
A.R.T. is killing endangered species with Viro-Bots. The pod has been shrunken to the size of a cell. The user uses the arrow keys to drive the cell pod through the animal while avoiding Viro-Bots. There will be a science question at the top of the screen and the user must select the correct answer to countinue traveling through the animal. At the end the move the pod over the Viro-Bots(they make the disappear this time instead of damaging the pod) and leave the animal. The animal traveled through varies depending on the place in the world the game is played. In India it is a tiger, in Australia it is a wombat and in California it is a condor.

Insect Overthrow
A.R.T. is placing locks around trees to stop them from growing. The user must of the pod around on the tree rings. A math problem appears at the top and the user must find the answer and drag it to the center. Naturally, there are robot bugs and sap to avoid. This game is played in Germany, Japan and Appalachia.

Canopy Crusade
A robot of A.R.T.'s that resembles a bulldozer is destroying the rainforest. There will be a science question at the top of the screen and the student must move the helicopter pod around and select the bag with the corusponding answer and drop it in the area where the bulldozer is at work. After answering five questions, the user plays a tic-tac-toe game. The places in the world where this game may be played are Gabon, Guyana and Hawaii.

Monument Mischief
A.R.T.'s robots are now destroying the world land marks. The user must move the pogo-pod around the monument. On the left side of the screen there is a passage about ancient history with blanks in it. When the pogo-pod lands on a particular brick, it will light up with color that matches the color of one of the blanks in the passage and it will fill a word. If the user thinks it's the right word they would select it. When all the blanks are filled in, the user returns the pogo-pod to the top of the screen. Naturally, the user must avoid scropio-bots while on the monument. The background varies depending on the country where the game is played. The countries are Egypt, Greece and China.

Robot Re-Organize
After one of A.R.T.'s robots is captured, it is taken to the Robot Re-Organizer. To make sense of the information from the robot, they user must match the first and second part of idoms. For each one, they are given a coordinate.
Space Scan
The student is then asked to plot the coordinate points from the
Robot Re-Organizer activity on a grid. The points corespond to where A.R.T. was when he made his last transmission(this is imposible, considering the grid is in two dimentions, and since A.R.T. is in space, it would have to be three.) Once the four points are plotted, the area is scaned for signs of A.R.T. A.R.T. won't be found until the last robot is captured.

Subject Based Titles

The products in the Subject Based Titles series take an in-depth look at a particular subject in a certain grade.

Jumpstart Kindergarten Math

In this program, students try to prepare a birthday party for a giant.

Jumpstart Kindergarten Reading

In this program, kids help Mr. Hopsalot find the "lost carrer patch treasure."

Jumpstart 1st Grade Math

In this game, Frankie the dog has been shrunk to the size of an ant. Students have to help regain his regular size.

Jumpstart 1st Grade Reading

In this game, student help save the circus from Mel the magician.

Jumpstart 2nd Grade Math

In this game, students help C.J. and Edison save the castle from Ratso and his gang.

Note: This program is now sold as Jumpstart Math.

Jumpstart 2nd Grade Reading

In this program, students help find a lost city.

Note: This game is now sold as Jumpstart Reading.

Learning Tools

Jumpstart Spanish

Jumpstart Spanish teaches Spanish for young kids. In this game, the user learns Spanish with Mr. Hopsalot, in his member-only club house high atop a large oak tree.

Jumpstart Typing

See Jumpstart 3rd Grade