Review 
 
SCHOOL DAZE by Wizard's Lair 
(C) 1989 
 
Wizard's Lair has come up with another fine educational program for our ADAM.  The graphics are nothing short of terrific!  It is refreshing to see new software to help our kids learn with the friendliest computer of them all, ADAM!  Wizard's Lair's first software package, 'Easy As A,B,C & 1,2,3', was a spelling and recognition program.  This package is a math tutor.  There are two primary sections, 'Math Drills' and 'Math Climber'. Both sections use color and pictures to keep interest high. 
The Drills section will display problems in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division at the lever selected by the user.  The problems use the numbers from 0 to 12.  The screen is divided into three sections, Report Card, drills, and Mini- instructions.  The score in given after each answer.  It is very easy to use and selecting higher numbers will challenge older children. 
The 'Math Climber' section selects random problems for the user to solve.  A correct answer causes a figure to climb up a rung on a ladder.  If incorrect, the figure falls one rung.  If you get fifteen more correct answers than incorrect, the climber reaches the top.  Special music and graphics are displayed.  BUT WATCH OUT!, five wrong answers and the climber will fall off. 
School Daze is very well done.  It's use of colors, pictures and graphics make it easy to use, and just as important, maintains interest while the kids learn.  As an additional point, different colors appear on the screen as sections load, keeping interest high.
A couple of things could be done to improve this package.  Both sections allow the user to skip division problems with fractions, which is good, but those fractions can only be entered one way. ie; 6 / 9 = .666, not .667; 5 / 10 = .5, not .50.  The Climber section is a little slow but still holds interest.  When using the Drills, the sequence is always 0 thru 12 factored against the number selected.  This results in the answer increasing by one also. (3+0=3, 3+1=4, 3+2=5, 3+3=6, etc) A random selection would make this more challenging and interesting. 
Overall, this is a tutor that all children should use.  All of their math skills will improve if they know the tables drilled with this package.

     Rating = A
     Highly Recommended
     Available from E+T, Niad, and other fine ADAM dealers.
     Dean Roades
     463 ADAM User Group 

o use, and 
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