Subtitled "Learning about Numbers", this is what the graded levels
of the program are supposed to encourage.
Unfortunately there is a major flaw in the program's concept. I
do not believe that children who could get the most from and
indeed who need a problem like this, will be able to master the
complicated way the game is played.
The basis of the program is a maze which it generates when first
run.
You then have to navigate this maze in order to count or collect
the first that Ollie the Octopus needs to feed his children.
If you believe that a young child can cope with such problems
while learning about numbers, then this may be of help. Otherwise.
it is simply a game program for an older child.
The levels within the program are well chosen. They start with
number recognition in Finding Fish, progress to simple addition
in Counting Fish and then extend this to a Beat The Clock activity.
There is another advanced option where you don't even see
the maze, only the possible directions.
20th December 1983
