Madeline 1st and 2nd Grade Math

Madeline 1st and 2nd Grade Math

Box cover art
Developer(s) Creative Wonders
Publisher(s) The Learning Company
Platform(s) PC: Windows 95, Mac: System 7.1
Release date(s) July 12, 1999
Genre(s) Educational
Mode(s) Single-player, Multiplayer

Madeline 1st and 2nd Grade Math (also sold individually as Madeline 1st Grade Math and Madeline 2nd Grade Math) is an educational video game released in 1999 for the PC and Mac. It was developed by Creative Wonders as a part of the Madeline franchise. The game proved to be the final installment in Creative Wonders' Learning Buddies series of Madeline games as the company was dissolved. The series began four years earlier with the release of Madeline and the Magnificent Puppet Show, a tie-in with the animated television series Madeline. Set primarily in art museums, the gameplay focuses on the player's interactions with Madeline as they learn different mathematical subjects, separated into levels, based on famous artistic masterpieces. The game's design presenting Madeline as a role model for young girl's education appeals to this previously ignored market.

Reviewers praised the game's goal of teaching math to young girls. Criticism targeted the game's potential lack of engagement with the player and the withholding of more difficult mathematical concepts until the second disc. It was unfavorably compared to the other Madeline installments of the Learning Buddies series for its lack of imagination and interaction.

Gameplay

Set in two museums, Madeline coaches the player through 55 activities covering two full years of math curriculum".[1] The lessons include: "logic, time, money skills, sequencing, fractions, geometry, estimation, and patterns". The player is guided through nine works of art, each given "a Madeline twist", like the Mona Lisa being reimagined "Mona Clavel" after Miss Clavel, the headmistress of Madeline's school. Each topic is organized around a painting, such as the "Mona Clavel" teaching addition and subtraction and Monet Multiplication.[2] The game uses the locations of the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay to match the Parisian setting of the Madeline franchise. The player can also hear stories about the paintings and their artists. Unlike the previous Madeline adventure games, the gameplay features static graphics and a limited amount of "inventive clickables".[3] The player can click Madeline's dog Genevieve to be provided with hints on how to correctly complete an activity.[4]

One of the various educational activities featured in the game

The game comes on two CDs; disc one covers first grade math, disc two, second grad math. With the first disc, the player must: "help Madeline and Pepito race up the stairs by solving addition and subtraction problems (and) help Madeline find a hidden surprise in a number pyramid". With the second disc, the player: "help(s) Miss Clavel complete equations on her math easel (and) learn carrying and borrowing by solving equations on a prehistoric cave wall".[5] The second disc also includes six multiplayer games with different levels of difficulty.[6] The discs were also sold separately as Madeline 1st Grade Math[7] and Madeline 2nd Grade Math.[8]

The game uses an "Auto Leveling" feature that allows each activity to be played on three difficulty levels. The activities introduce players to basic French and Spanish math-related vocabulary like counting to 100. The player may track his or her progress through a printable progress report from the Progress Tracker. Creative Wonders designed this feature to keep: "parents informed of the child's progress". The game rewards the player with: "personalized graphics, printable activities and reward certificates".[9] By completing lessons, the player can use coins to purchase the rewards: "printable cards, postcards, and games that you can play away from the computer" at the Museum store.[2] The Museum Store also features the lessons related to handling money and purchases.[3] Players are able to print out worksheets to cater to a continued learning experience outside of the video game.[10]

Development

Madeline 1st Grade and 2nd Grade Math is part of The Learning Company's Learning Buddies series, and was promoted as providing "developmental reading and math skills programs" for children in preschool and the early stages of elementary school (kindergarten to third or fourth grade). Creative Wonders and The Learning Company had created the educational series based on Madeline and other characters from children's literature and cartoons, such as Dr. Seuss and Winnie-the-Pooh, to appeal to a younger audience. Ginger Hanchey of The Herald-Palladium explained the growth in the development of educational computer software reflected parents' desire to start teaching their children at younger ages. Hanchey described the games as allowing for "speedier start-offs from the gate".[1] The official website for the Madeline Learning Buddies series marketed the games as helping "kids focus on fun as they build skills necessary for academic success" and offering important resources for the child's development of: "essential learning skills, critical thinking & problem solving, foreign language abilities, and creativity".[11] The Daily Gazette's Susan Reimer felt that the Madeline educational games helped to revive girls' interest in computers and changed their preconceptions of them as "that solitary, isolating experience". Reimer wrote the games are: "based on the idea that girls learn, play and relate to each other in a different way than boys".[12]

Moira McCormick of Billboard cited the continued creation of Madeline products as a testament to the franchise's popularity. Creative Wonders president designed the series of educational games to embody the company's mission statement: "a company that produces software that causes the mind to soar and is always easy and fun to use".[13] Product manager Jennifer Rush called Madeline "a good role model" with "an assertive, spunky personality and ... a logical fit in the interactive world". Rush attributed the decision to center a series of educational games around the character as an attempt to reach young girls who are "often ignored by multimedia developers." She explained that the games fulfilled the "real opportunity in multimedia to develop titles that appeal to girls", emphasizing that "girls tend to want more of a storyline".[14] The game's official website cited "educators, parents, and children" as being consulted during its design and development.[15] American author Annie Fox also contributed to the development of the Madeline games.[16] In an official press release, Andy Young, senior vice president of marketing at The Learning Company, promoted the game as an "imaginative product" for girls to play alongside "their beloved and adventurous friend Madeline" and the continuation of the Learning Buddies line of Madeline products. Young identified Madeline as one of the "popular characters that children love and parents trust". The game was released on the sixty-year anniversary of the publication of the first Madeline book (Madeline) in 1939.[9]

The Learning Company had previously acquired Creative Wonders at the end of 1997, but allowed it to operate as a separate division.[17] The game was the final installment in the Learning Buddies series centered around Madeline due to the closure of Creative Wonders in 1999.[18] The Learning Company's acquisition by Mattel in May of 1999 resulted in a loss of nearly $300 million (once estimated at a loss of a $1 million a day)[19] and represented the end of the "boom-and-bust period" of the "edutainment" era of the mid-1990s. Toby Levenson, former manager of The Learning Company’s Educational Design Department, said "edutainment" had become "a toxic word" following the company's merger with Mattel. Lee Banville, editor of Gamesandlearning.org, wrote that the collapse of the market for children's education games was reflective of: "how difficult it is to grow that business and diversify and evolve".[20]

Reception

Madeline 1st Grade and 2nd Grade Math received mixed reviews from critics. Katherine Foran of the Chicago Tribune complimented the game as "a solid math workout for the intended grade levels," but was critical of the choice to delay the introduction of "fractions, multiplication or time-telling until the second disk". Foran wrote other games from The Learning Company "do a better job of challenging children's math abilities while keeping them engaged", saying that players may get annoyed by Madeline's "phony accent and endless saccharine praise".[21] Mary Hochberg of the Eugene Register-Guard gave the game three out of four discs, praising the depth and range of math skills being taught.[2] A review from PC Magazine noted that while "some activities are confusing", the game was "a solid package, especially for the price".[22] In a positive review, an article from SuperKids.com called the game "a winner for young girls in need of math review and drill". The review found the game had uneven spikes in difficulty, pointing out the "Madeline Tut" (Madeline's twist on Tutankhamun) as "unconquerable" and discouraging to players.[4] Games4Girl's Genevieve praised the game for helping girls become more knowledgable about math, wished "the producers were as clever here as they were in some of the other wonderful Madeline games".[3] Howard Berenbon of Cyber News and Reviews reported that his daughters enjoyed playing the game, but questioned its appeal to boys.[5] Educational software website EducationMax wrote of the game that "playing with Madeline is magical and learning math has never been so delightful".[23]

In lists of the 13 software retail chains (representing 57 percent of the U.S. market) as compiled by PC Data of Reston, The Washington Post listed Madeline 1st Grade and 2nd Grade Math as the ninth top-selling educational title for the week for July 17, 1999[24] and the seventh top-selling title for the week of August 21, 1999.[25]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Games to learn by: Computer programs teach children skills they can take back to classroom". The Herald Palladium. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  2. 1 2 3 "Smart Software". Eugene Register-Guard. 1999-12-06. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  3. 1 2 3 "Madeline 1st and 2nd Grade Math". Games4Girls. 1999. Archived from the original on 5 July 2004. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  4. 1 2 "SuperKids Software Review of Madeline 1st & 2nd Grade Math". www.superkids.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  5. 1 2 "Reading Blaster Vocabulary from Knowledge Adventure, Noddy Playtime in Toyland from the BBC and Knowledge Adventure". www.cyber-reviews.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  6. ↑ https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-55675302.html
  7. ↑ "Madeline 1st Grade Math". Amazon. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  8. ↑ "Madeline 2nd Grade Math". Amazon. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  9. 1 2 "Madeline(TM) Helps 1st and 2nd Grade Girls Build Math Skills as They Travel Together on an Exciting Journey Through Paris". www.prnewswire.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  10. ↑ http://74.86.93.51/product.php?productid=25316&cat=0
  11. ↑ "Madeline". Creative Wonders. Archived from the original on 23 June 2000. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  12. ↑ "Getting Girl Friendly". The Daily Gazette. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  13. ↑ "EA, Cap Cities Beget Creative Wonders". Billboard. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  14. ↑ "Kid Rhino The Latest To Tip Its Hat to Timeless Madeline". Billboard. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  15. ↑ "Creative Wonders". Creative Wonders. Archived from the original on 8 June 2000. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  16. ↑ "Learning Friends - Team". www.learningfriends.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  17. ↑ "The Learning Company, Inc. Closes Purchase of Creative Wonders". www.prnewswire.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  18. ↑ "Creative Wonders - CLG Wiki". www.closinglogos.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  19. ↑ "Mattel sale ends $3.6bn fiasco". The Daily Telegraphaccessdate= 2016-03-06. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016.
  20. ↑ "Is the Educational Games Industry Falling Into the Same Trap It Did 20 Years Ago?". EdSurge. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  21. ↑ "Math Tutorial Gets Average Grade". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  22. ↑ "Quick Clips: Madeline 1st & 2nd Grade Math". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  23. ↑ http://74.86.93.51/product.php?productid=25316&cat=0
  24. ↑ "Bestsellers". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  25. ↑ "Bestsellers". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, March 17, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.