JumpStart 1st Grade

JumpStart 1st Grade is an updated version of the 1995 title JumpStart 1st Grade. It is an educational game for children aged five to seven in the first grade according to the US curriculum updated for that period. A UK version also exists. The basic concept is identical to the original game. The player has to help the character Frankie the dog on a treasure hunt by gathering clues. This is done by completing various activities on School Island. The hunt can be started as soon as three clues are gathered. Each clue provides a hint as Frankie steers a boat. The player has to answer a question for each clue to get Frankie on a boat, in the right direction, and finally on the island with the treasure. Coins are provided for each piece of treasure found and the hunt is completed after finding six treasures. The amount of coins, ranging from 50 to 1000, determines the player rank. The concept of visiting islands is entirely new for this version.

Mrs. Flores from the first grade is replaced by Ms. Nobel, a female hippo, as the first grade teacher. The activities Master Memory Game, Music in the Mouse Hole, Reading is Fun-damental, The Tick Tock Game, and the location Milky Way are no longer included. New for this version is the Book Club. It replaces Reading is Fun-damental. Ms. Nobel reads a book and then asks questions about it. There are fifteen books available. Lost and Found is a new activity that teaches synonyms, antonyms, homophones, homonyms, homographs, and rhyming words. Another new one is Beanbag Shooter. It is played with Ms. Nobel based on spinning tiles that show land animals, water animals, food, and means of transportation. The teacher gives a clue and the correct tile needs to be chosen for the answer by shooting the beanbag. Only a limited amount of shots is available and four correct answers in a row are needed to win. There are three difficulty levels for this mini-game.

Other activities are often based on the existing ones, but with a new twist. The other activities in this version are Hall Pass (telling the time), Snack Machine (learning about the value of money), Alphabet Soup (the alphabet), Food Machine (measures through recipes), Pizza Maker (shapes and divisions), Pipe Organ (musical instruments), Paint Set, Pogo Sticks (math), and Sand Box (singular/plural - parts of speech - sentences - phonics).