Your Kiddos Can Learn to Follow Directions - A New TOS Review!!

As a Crew Member I am always taken back when the Lord assigns our family certain items to review.  This latest review was one of those times.  I have been noticing that my children, en mas, have been not following directions as well as they used to and was planning on taking some time over the summer to work on those areas and skills.  Then the opportunity to review one of three offerings came along from Super Duper Publications, a company dedicated to creating fun learning materials.

The Product:
So when I heard that we would be reviewing one of their four Hear Builder Interactive Software programs - Hear Builder Following Directions Home Edition.  The program was designed for children PreK - 3rd grade to help them improve both their auditory and following directions skills in a systematic way.  The program is based around a Toy Factory where the student is trying to become a Master Toy Maker and build their own Toy Central factory.

There are 40 basic concepts covering five distinct areas in which the student will have to show knowledge of in order to progress as a Toy Maker to a Master Toy Maker.  The five areas are:

1. Basic Directions
2. Sequential Directions
3. Quantitative & Spatial Directions
4. Temporal Directions
5. and Conditional Directions

As you begin the program you can choose which setting to start your child off as - Beginner, Advanced, Expert, or Play All. And with the Home Edition you can use the program for up to four children.  The game is played primarily from the CD-ROM and little information is stored to your hard drive.  You can find out the system requirements to make sure your computer will be able to work with this program. In the Expert level you can even add background noise to help your child focus on their tasks.  As the parent/teacher you can monitor their progress as well as customize and print general progress reports. They even have handouts available to help you as well as a demo of the program that you can check out.

Here is a video that will tell you a little bit more about the program:


Right now they are offering my readers, through August 31st, a 30% discount when you enter the code BLGFD30 for the Hear Builders Following Directions Home Edition Software (regularly $69.99; the professional version is $99.99 for unlimited players.) And they also offer FREE Shipping!

Our Experience:
My children all love games whether they be board games, computer games, games on the Wii or even on my phone.  So when they heard that we received a new educational game they were all ready to try it out.  I was looking forward to seeing how all three of them "placed" in this program and whether it would help them with our issue of being able to follow directions.

I let Seanan start first, since most reviews aren't for him. ;)  He was very excited to start.  Because he can't read AT ALL, I was interested to see how much of the program he could do on his own.  After we got him set up in the system he was able to listen to the directions and move the mouse to 'answer' the questions presented in the program.  I was amazed at how well he was able to do right from the start.  He was all about earning his rewards - tools - one of his favorite things as a little man. As he answered questions the game is able to make it more challenging or if after answering a bunch of questions incorrectly it will re evaluate and drop to a more appropriate level.

Both of the girls have also enjoyed playing the game.  I have noticed that they have been able to better follow multi-step directions and I attribute that to the focus they are learning through their progress in the game.  I had Arianna start at a higher "level" then the other two (whom I started from the beginning) since she is going into 4th grade and because she has a less of an issue with following multi-step directions.

My Thoughts:
I have seen a difference in both Audrie and Seanan in their ability to follow simple and multi-step directions. Arianna has also been able to show improvement in focusing on her tasks. I think as we continue with the program that their skill level in following directions will continue to increase.

If your students are having a hard time following directions, have auditory processing issues or other attention issues, I think you may want to check out all that  Super Duper Publications  has to offer you and your family.  I also wanted to make note that they have been awarded the Teacher's Choice Award, Family Choice Award, and the National Parenting Center's 2010 Seal of Approval.

 I hope you take some time and read what other Crew members thought of  Super Duper Publications  - you can do that by clicking the link below. You can also reach them via phone at 800-277-8737/864-288-3536; 

*** I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse 2011-2012 Crew and receive free products and services in exchange for a thorough and honest review. Though I am compensated with free products, I am not compensated in the form of money for any of my reviews. My reviews will always reflect my honest opinions, findings, beliefs and experiences with the products and services that I receive.***