''JumpStart 1st Grade'' (known as ''Jump Ahead Year 1'' in the United Kingdom) is a personal computer game created by

Knowledge Adventure JumpStart Games, Inc., formerly Knowledge Adventure, Inc., is an American edutainment video game company based in Torrance, California. Founded in 1991, it owns the ''Neopets'' virtual pet website, and is itself owned by Chinese holding company ...

in 1995 intended to teach a

first grade First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by r ...

curriculum. It was reissued in 1999 with new box art, was updated significantly in 2000, and was replaced with '' JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade'' in 2002, which was later replaced with '' JumpStart 3D Virtual World: Trouble in Town''. The original 1995 version (also referred to as the Classic Version) was the first appearance of Frankie, a brown,

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

dachshund The dachshund ( or ; German: "badger dog"), also known as the wiener dog, badger dog, and sausage dog, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, and comes in a variety of c ...

dog who would go on to become the

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

of the

JumpStart ''JumpStart'' (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 gam ...

series.

Gameplay

The 1995 version of the game consisted of an interactive schoolhouse full of educational activities, songs, and the like, with Frankie the

school mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fict ...

in charge of guiding the player around. Playing activities earned points, which could eventually be traded in for milk cap rewards. The classic version contains the voiceover and singing talents of Mark Beckwith of Razzle Bam Boom and

Glynnis Talken Campbell Glynnis Talken Campbell (born Glynnis Gail Talken on June 12, 1957, in Chico, California) is an American historical romance author, composer, musician and voice actress, and is married to bass guitarist Richard Campbell. Glynnis Campbell gradu ...

including the songs ''JumpStart First Grade'', ''Vegetable ABCs'', ''If You Were My Friend'', ''Reading is Fun'', ''Zero is Nothing'', ''My Week at Sea'', and ''Frankie's Theme Song''. The 2000 version was based on a similar concept with Frankie taking on a more student-like role, and picking the player to be his partner in the school treasure hunt. Playing games now earned the player clues to help find the treasure. The four areas are a classroom, a cafeteria, field trips, and a playground. The player earns 100 points to earn a milk cap. There are 30

math Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

caps in green, 30

reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

caps in red, 20

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

caps in blue, and 20

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

caps in yellow.

Reception

A reviewer from ''Superkids'' recommended the game for younger players, who would not become bored from the repetitive tasks and activities.

References

External links

* (2000 version) {{Portal bar, 1990s, Video games 1995 video games JumpStart Children's educational video games School-themed video games Windows games Classic Mac OS games Video games developed in the United States Video games about dogs Single-player video games