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JumpStart (also known as Jump Ahead in the United Kingdom) is an educational media franchise for children, consisting mostly of educational games, produced by JumpStart Games. The series originally consisted of a series of educational PC games but has since expanded to include workbooks, direct-to-video films, mobile apps, and other media, including a massive multiplayer online game located at JumpStart.com, that were launched on March 10, 2009.^[2][3]

• 1History
• 2Design
• 3Products in the franchise
• 4Reception

History[edit]

Early era (1994–1997)[edit]

The first game in the early learning software series, JumpStart Kindergarten, was created in 1994 by independent developer, Fanfare Software (founded 1988), and published by Knowledge Adventure (founded 1991).^[4] Afterwards, Fanfare was also known to have developed two more games; JumpStart Preschool and JumpStart 1st Grade before being acquired by Knowledge Adventure on August 9, 1995.^[4] Later, Fanfare founder and chairman, Barton Listick, became vice president of Knowledge Adventure,^[5] while his staff had relocated to Knowledge Adventure's headquarters in Glendale, California.^[4] Meanwhile, Knowledge Adventure founder, Bill Gross, hoped the acquisition would allow the JumpStart series to expand into international markets, as well as multiple platforms, on-line, and the Internet, to supplement the home and school markets.^[4] During the period of time, Listick was also optimistic that the added resources of the larger organisation would allow him to create a 'JumpStart Elementary School' of compelling and exciting children's software.^[4]Microtimes retrospectively wrote that the acquisition of the early learning products augmented Knowledge Adventure's strengths.^[6] In October, Steve Chadima, vice president of marketing services at Knowledge Adventure said that while JumpStart sales were strong, and the series was about to be extended with JumpStart 2nd Grade, he said: 'We're testing concepts for third grade to see if it is viable...I don't know if this is going to work with higher grade levels.'^[7] However, JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain would end up being released in 1996, and many higher grade games followed. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Knowledge Adventure 'started the baby trend when it introduced JumpStart Toddlers in 1996'.^[8] On February 3, 1997, the privately-held Knowledge Adventure was acquired by CUC International, becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of the CUC Software division alongside Davidson & Associates, Blizzard Entertainment, and Sierra On-Line; CUC Software would be the label that marketed the JumpStart games.^[9] JumpStart Typing, JumpStart Spanish, JumpStart Kindergarten II, JumpStart 1st Grade Reading, JumpStart 1st Grade Math, JumpStart 2nd Grade Math and JumpStart 5th Grade were premiered at the 1997 Electronic Entertainment Expo.^[10][11]

Modern era (2009–present)[edit]

After launching JumpStart 3D Virtual World in 2009, Knowledge Adventure noted they were adding online worlds and casual mobile games, console games, and traditional web-based browser games to their JumpStart catalogue.^[12] That year, JumpStart was advertised as offering the first browser game with 'high quality 3D graphics and advanced gameplay'.^[13] James Czulewicz, Vice President of Sales and Planning at Knowledge Adventure said that JumpStart Pet Rescue, released in August 2009, was the 'first educational product for the Wii.'^[14] The trademark 'JUMPSTART GET MOVING' was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on November 23, 2010.^[15] On February 19, 2011, Knowledge Adventure announced that the JumpStart brand had entered the console market by making Crazy Karts for Wii (released in February); and Deep Sea Escape (released in March) and Legend of Lost Island for the Nintendo DS (released in March).^[16] On October 6, 2011, Knowledge Adventure announced that the launch of casual gaming brand Twisted Games. The company had previously entered the mobile gaming market with 2010's JumpStart Preschool Magic of Learning, which was followed by other JumpStart and Math Blaster titles.^[17] On October 9, 2012, Knowledge Adventure announced that it was changing its name to JumpStart Games. References to 'JumpStart' after this date often refer to the successor to Knowledge Adventure, rather than the Jumpstart series specifically. On July 3, 2017, JumpStart Games was acquired by a Chinese company, NetDragon Websoft.^[18]

Design[edit]

Plot and gameplay[edit]

The purpose of the bulk of their games is to drill young players in specific subjects and skills, as required by elementary and secondary school curriculum. These drills are often embedded within entertaining gameplay. The storylines typical involve one or more animated characters facing a problem and asking the player for help; therefore, the games are goal oriented. The storylines are, by design, shallow and keep the player focused on gameplay.^[19]

Art[edit]

The art and animations for Fanfare Studio's early games were virtually paperless, being rendered with a mouse and tablet.^[20] Additional artwork was done by Knowledge Adventure's in-house and contract artist Ann Pickard for their first three games^[21] and, previous to the advent of 3D compute graphics, for their early games, Maurice Kimball drew the backgrounds.^[22]

During the mid-90s, former musician and BigFins band member David Rees joined Knowledge Adventure as Art Director and music composer until his leave in 2002.^[23]

Vivendi Universal Games artist Marcela Cabrera did the illustrations for the games around 1998 and directed the art for the games developed the following year.^[24]

The backgrounds for the JumpStart World games were sketched and lined by the lead artist and illustrator Maurice Kimball.^[25]

The backgrounds for the JumpStart SpyMasters games were sketched, hand drawn and inked by Brian White^[26] while game designer Brian Reynolds worked on the flash animation for the background objects and characters.^[27]

Educational goals[edit]

The concept behind the JumpStart Learning System was to keep track of a student's successes and struggles, all while teaching an entire grade or subject through a proper balance of puzzles, games and education.

To cater to different audiences and student goals, Jumpstart binned their products into three categories:

1. Grade-based products, covering all topics typically taught in a single year of elementary or secondary school
2. Subject-based products, focusing on specific topics
3. Learning products, teaching basics while exploring a whole new world^[28]

The series' 'rigorous methodology' includes input from kids advisory teams, family testing, child development specialists, teachers, and educational experts.^[29]

In addition, Knowledge Adventure developed three techniques behind their products:^[28]

1. JumpStart Assessment Technology -To customize individual skill levels.
2. JumpStart Adaptive Learning Technology - To customize program difficulty levels to coincide with a user's abilities.
3. JumpStart Tutor Technology - To help a user overcome any obstacles.

In 1995, JumpStart claimed to be the first educational software series to cover entire curricula by grade level, and that this was achieved through reinforcing classroom lessons with cartoon guides.^[4] For instance, in JumpStart First Grade, 'children ages 5-7 learn 92 educational skills in 18 modules teaching math, geography, science and reading comprehension from eight interactive books with 52 illustrated stories'.^[4] These 'curriculum and skills products'^[30] introduced several innovative edutainment features, such as Progress Reports (allowing parents and teachers to track progress) and Adaptive Learning (allowing the game to automatically change in difficulty based on the player's performance).^[4]

The developers believe it is vital to achieve the proper balance between education and entertainment. Diana Pray, senior producer of JumpStart titles, said 'we give [the player] enough story to make them feel like they are in a game', while offering reward-based incentives to encourage progress.^[19] While noting that the 'dominant theory since the infancy of the [edutainment] genre has been to sugarcoat the academic drudgery and make learning child's play', The Washington Post reporter Don Oldenburg, the newspaper noted that JumpStart was more 'overtly educational' than most, offering grade-specific, curriculum-oriented products, adding that Knowledge Adventure had 'got the jump on the industry' by being the first mover in the summer of that year.^[7] In 2011, Knowledge Adventure President and CEO David Lord said that 'JumpStart and Math Blaster have already helped millions of English speaking students and English Language learners discover that learning can be fun'.^[31]

Products in the franchise[edit]

Compilations[edit]

Reception[edit]

Critical reception[edit]

JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster and Spelling Bee, were notable for allowing users to edit the math problems or words used in gameplay.^[45][46] Carolyn Handler, Miller of Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment, wrote that the series ' found just the right balance between storyline and other demands of educational titles'.^[19] The series has reputation for providing 'safe, age appropriate' games for children.^[13] The Houston Chronicle praised the series for 'offer[ing] many and varied academic activities, plenty of play-oriented pursuits, incentives to spur and reward achievement and all the interactive trimmings - cool characters, great 3-D graphics and snappy sound effects', describing the World Kindergarten, 1st Grade and 2nd Grade as superlative pieces of educational software.^[47]

Commercial performance[edit]

Knowledge Adventure made $35 million in sales in 1994 by selling titles such as JumpStart Kindergarten and Bug Adventures.^[48]

JumpStart Kindergarten was 8th most popular titles in the CD-ROM category in the Washington area in the week ending October 14, 1995,^[49] and 9th in the week ending May 4, 1996.^[50] Throughout 1997, JumpStart Toddlers took in over $4 million.^[8] In the first half of 1997 four of the top five educational titles for Windows were JumpStart products,^[9] while four of the top ten DOS/Windows home education titles were JumpStart.^[51] Two of the top selling retail CD Roms of August 1997 were JumpStart products (5th and 6th), after Microsoft Windows 95 Upgrade, Norton Utilities, Myst, and Viruscan.^[52] JumpStart 1st Grade (3rd), JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade (4th), JumpStart 2nd Grade (5th), JumpStart Kindergarten II (6th), JumpStart Preschool (7th), JumpStart Adventures Fourth Grade (8th), JumpStart Toddlers were within the top-selling educational software across 13 U.S. software retail chains in the week ending September 19, 1998.^[53] Jumpstart Preschool (2nd), Jumpstart First Grade (3rd), Jumpstart Kindergarten (7th), and Jumpstart Second Grade (8th) were among the top-selling home-education software across 13 software retail chains in the week ending May 1, 1999.^[54]

Awards and nominations[edit]

As of 2017, the series won over 300 awards.^[55]

Jumpstart Kindergarten Games online, free

References[edit]

1. ^'Knowledge Adventure Acquires Fanfare Software'. August 9, 1995. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
2. ^'Virtual World Games for Kids — Online 3D Virtual World – JumpStart'. Jumpstart.com. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
3. ^Seiler, Joey. 'JumpStart Passes 15 Million Session, Now Going Live'.
4. ^ ^abcdefgh'KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE ACQUIRES FANFARE SOFTWARE - Free Online Library'. www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
5. ^'K-Adventure acquires Fanfare'. August 21, 1995. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
6. ^Microtimes. BAM Publications, Incorporated. 1996-01-01.
7. ^ ^ab'Learning's the Thing; New Direction for Kids' Software'. 1995-10-17. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
8. ^ ^ab'TOUCHING HOME'. 1997-12-14. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
9. ^ ^ab'Microsoft Sets its Sights on the Educational Software Market.(Originated from Daily News, New York)'. 1997-09-17. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
10. ^Software, CUC. 'Over 100 New Products to be Announced by CUC Software at E3'. www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
11. ^Inc., Knowledge Adventure. 'Knowledge Adventure to Introduce Seven Exciting New JumpStart CD-ROMs at E3'. www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
12. ^'JumpStart Introduces Online and Mobile Learning Adventures Featuring DreamWorks Animation Franchises'. 2012-10-09. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
13. ^ ^abSpring, Joel (2012-03-22). Education Networks: Power, Wealth, Cyberspace, and the Digital Mind. Routledge. ISBN9781136583438.
14. ^'JumpStart® Pet Rescue from KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE, INC'. toydirectory.com. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
15. ^'USPTO ISSUES TRADEMARK: JUMPSTART GET MOVING'. 2010-11-27. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
16. ^'Knowledge Adventure Issues New Titles for Nintendo'. 2011-02-19. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
17. ^'Knowledge Adventure Launches Twisted Games'. 2011-10-06. Archived from the original on 2018-07-28.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
18. ^Limited, NetDragon Websoft Holdings. 'NetDragon Acquires JumpStart to Expand Its Online Communities'. www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
19. ^ ^abcMiller, Carolyn Handler (2014-06-27). Digital Storytelling: A Creator's Guide to Interactive Entertainment. CRC Press. ISBN9781135044459.
20. ^Tom Klein. 'Tom Klein - Animated Appeal'. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
21. ^Jay Allen Sanford (August 23, 2012). 'Ann Pickard Profile'. San Diego Reader. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
22. ^Maurice K. Kimball. 'The Mind Behind Your Eye'. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
23. ^'The Sound of San Diego is...Kids' Music??'. Linkedin. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
24. ^'Marcela Cabrera - Work History'. Core77, Inc. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
25. ^'Maurice Kimball Portfolio - JumpStart World'. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
26. ^'Brian White Portfolio - Miscellaneous'. RISD. July 23, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
27. ^'Brian Reynolds - JumpStart Flash folder'. RISD. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
28. ^ ^ab'The JumpStart Learning System'. 1 March 2000. Archived from the original on 1 March 2000.
29. ^'Apple - Games - Knowledge Adventure'. 2002-12-12. Archived from the original on 2002-12-12. Retrieved 2017-05-19.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
30. ^'KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURE ANNOUNCES WINDOWS 95 VERSIONS OF ITS AWARD-WINNING EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE SCIENCE TITLES FOR CHILDREN - Free Online Library'. www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
31. ^'Knowledge Adventure Introduces Math Blaster Online World in Spanish'. 2011-04-02. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
32. ^Knowledge Adventure (3 September 1999). 'JumpStart 1st Grade 2000 User's Guide' – via Internet Archive.
33. ^http://images.knowledgeadventure.com/school/teachermaterials/1247566.pdf
34. ^'JumpStart Adventures Jump Start 2nd Grade - Win31-Mac (Eng)' – via Internet Archive.
35. ^'JumpStart Adventures Jump Start 3rd Grade - Win31-Mac (Eng)' – via Internet Archive.
36. ^'JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain - The Cutting Room Floor'. tcrf.net.
37. ^ ^abKnowledge Adventure (3 September 1996). 'JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Haunted Island' – via Internet Archive.
38. ^https://archive.org/details/JumpStartAdvancedPreschool5.62
39. ^'JumpStart 1st Grade Math v1 - Win31-Mac (Eng)' – via Internet Archive.
40. ^ ^abcdefg'Mobile Games – Download Free Mobile Games – Knowledge Adventure'. www.knowledgeadventure.com.
41. ^'JumpStart Jet Pack – Free Online Math & Reading Games for Kids – Knowledge Adventure'. www.knowledgeadventure.com.
42. ^'World of JumpStart'. www.jumpstart.com.
43. ^'CTREX Product Review'. reviews.childrenstech.com.
44. ^'Buzzwords – Free, Fun Online Word Games for Kids – JumpStart'. www.knowledgeadventure.com.
45. ^'JumpStart Study Helpers Math Booster Game Review'. Commonsensemedia.org. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
46. ^'JumpStart Study Helpers Spelling Bee Game Review'. M.commonsensemedia.org. 2003-08-15. Retrieved 2014-04-10.
47. ^'Knowledge Adventure - Media Coverage'. www.knowledgeadventure.com. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
48. ^'Computers are luring children away from television. (Originated from Knight-Ridder Newspapers)'. 1995-02-22. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
49. ^'BESTSELLERS'. 1995-10-23. Archived from the original on 2018-11-18.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
50. ^'BEST SELLERS'. 1996-05-13. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
51. ^'Top Software'. tribunedigital-orlandosentinel. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
52. ^Inc, Ziff Davis (1997-11-18). PC Mag. Ziff Davis, Inc.
53. ^'BESTSELLERS'. 1998-10-05. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
54. ^'Bestsellers'. 1999-05-17. Archived from the original on 2016-10-08.Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
55. ^'Reviews & Awards - JumpStart'. www.jumpstart.com. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
56. ^'JumpStart Spanish - Parents' Choice'.
57. ^'JumpStart Adventures 6th Grade - Parents' Choice'.
58. ^'JumpStart Languages - Parents' Choice'.
59. ^'JumpStart Study Helpers: Spelling Bee - Sealed Approval Winner'.
60. ^'JumpStart Reading with Karaoke - Sealed Approval Winner'.
61. ^'JumpStart Reading With Karaoke - Parents' Choice'.
62. ^'JumpStart World-Kindergarten: Parents' Choice'.
63. ^'JumpStart World: First Grade - Parents' Choice'.
64. ^'JumpStart World: Second Grade - Parents' Choice'.
65. ^ ^ab'TDmonthly - Award-Winning Toys'.
66. ^'2008 Entro Honor Roll'(PDF).
67. ^Rev. James G.W. Fisher (March 11, 2008). 'The Toy Man™ Seal of Approval New Inductees - 2008'.
68. ^ ^ab'2008 Entro Honor Roll'.Missing or empty |url= (help)
69. ^'iParenting Media Awards - Outstanding Product 2008 - JumpStart'.
70. ^'The Toy Man Award of Excellence 2008 - JumpStart'.
71. ^'Jumpstart 3D Virtual World: The Legend of Grizzly McGuffin - Sealed Approval Winner'.
72. ^'JumpStart 3D Virtual World: Quest for the Color Meister - Sealed Approval Winner'.
73. ^'JumpStart 3D Virtual World: Trouble in Town - Sealed Approval Winner'.
74. ^'JumpStart 3D Virtual World: My First Adventure - Sealed Approval Winner'.
75. ^'JumpStart Advanced Preschool World Premium Edition - Sealed Approval Winner'.
76. ^'National Parenting Seal of Approval - JumpStart'.
77. ^'JumpStart.com - Sealed Approval Winner'.
78. ^'JumpStart - Sealed Approval Winner'.
79. ^'2013 ON for Learning Award - JumpStart'.

External links[edit]

• JumpStart series at MobyGames

Jumpstart Kindergarten Games online, free Play

• Kindergarten is a fun-filled, colorful and interactive management game where you play Mila, the kindergarten owner! You have to help Mila take care of the babies that get dropped off by their mommies! Are you ready for this baby-driven challenge?. ...

  • File Name:KinderGarten.zip
  • Author:YoudaGames.com

  • License:Freeware ($)
  • File Size:8.46 Mb

  • Runs on:Win95, Win98, WinME, Windows2000, WinXP

• Jumpstart-it 2.0.1.2 provides a complete solution to create Online forms yourself. Process credit cards, send Email automatically, print letters via Word, and export to Excel. Great for events, conferences, seminars. With Jumpstart-it, it is no. ...

  • File Name:Jumpstart-it
  • Author:Jumpstart IT

  • License:Trial ($99.00)
  • File Size:5.2 Mb

  • Runs on:Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows

• WebJump is a simplified but still powerful web-based interface to the Solaris Jumpstart environment. It is meant to be easy-to-use, but still support all of the options available in the full jumpstart environment. Hooks for supporting Linux KickStart ar.

  • File Name:webjump-0.01.tar.gz
  • Author:phoebus0

  • License:Freeware (Free)
  • File Size:10 Kb

  • Runs on:Linux

• Kindergarten Teachers race. The aim is to be the Kindergarten Teacher of Earth, throughout the whole alien invasion. Maybe you need to be bad to be victorious.

  • File Name:best kindergarten teacher
  • Author:flash42, adam

  • License:Freeware (Free)
  • File Size:

  • Runs on:Windows

• Hotkey Jumpstart lets you start any program, document, or music file on your computer by typing one hotkey and then a few characters of its name. This attractive program slides onto your desktop and supports skins and partial transparency.

  • File Name:hotkey-jumpstart.exe
  • Author:Hanov Solutions

  • License:Shareware ($)
  • File Size:581 Kb

  • Runs on:9x, NT, 2000, ME, XP

• Business Object JumpStart 1.03 is an easy to use, high performance Visual Studio .NET 2003 plug-in which easily adds a C# Business Object framework to any .NET solution.Enter your Business Object specification and let the plug-in create the Business. ...

  • File Name:Business Object JumpStart
  • Author:ProductFoundry

  • License:Trial ($27.00)
  • File Size:898 Kb

  • Runs on:Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows

• Family History Jumpstart 1.0 brings you a convenient and free e-book that comes with full distribution rights which helps you find out how to become a family historian. Major Features:Contain the work over 7 different authors and contains unique. ...

  • File Name:Family History Jumpstart
  • Author:FamilyHistoryProducts.com

  • License:Freeware (Free)
  • File Size:620 Kb

  • Runs on:Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows 98

• Great Windows + Internet event administration software. Create online forms. Process registrations in a snap. Book payments efficiently. Jumpstart-it automatically sends the right emails to the right people and can also use Microsoft Word to generate. ...

  • File Name:jumpstart-it-setup.exe
  • Author:Jumpstart IT

  • License:Shareware ($99.00)
  • File Size:

  • Runs on:Win98, WinME, WinXP, WinNT 4.x, Windows2000, Windows2003

• Create Online Forms for your Website and Process Registrations easily. Credit cards, Email, Word, Excel. Send emails and letters automatically. Book payments. Full integration with Word and Excel, CSV, XML. Jumpstart-it does the boring work -perfect!

  • File Name:Jumpstart-it Easy OnlineForms Software
  • Author:Jumpstart InformationTechnology

  • License:Shareware ($)
  • File Size:5.19 Mb

  • Runs on:Windows

• Are you ready for this baby-driven challenge? You might have babysat once or twice in your life, but have you ever thought of running an entire day care center? We bet you haven’t! Kindergarten is a fun-filled, colorful and interactive. ...

  • File Name:Kindergarten for Mac OS
  • Author:Macgamestore.com

  • License:Freeware (Free)
  • File Size:15 Mb

  • Runs on:Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later

• Kindergarten(snake-like) game. A try to work in team..

  • File Name:KindyGame
  • Author:pogi_b

  • License:Freeware (Free)
  • File Size:

  • Runs on:Windows

• farm themed memory matching game for preschool and kindergarten children Preschool and kindergarten students will have fun practicing identification of numbers, letters, animals, and things while testing their memory skills in a classic tile match up farm themed environment in Little Hopper's Memory Matching Game. Program includes four practice modes, two skill levels, fun colorful graphics, and lively background music.

  • File Name:memorymatch_setup.exe
  • Author:Fast Rabbit Software, LLC

  • License:Shareware ($9.95)
  • File Size:10.1 Mb

  • Runs on:WinXP, Win Vista

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