
                        EASY AS A,B,C & 1,2,3

                        Wizard's Lair Software
 
A great new educational program for the Adam has just been 
introduced by Wizard's Lair Software.  This is the first of 
a planned series and includes two different types of 
exercises. 
The program comes on two disks.  The first disk is a loader 
for the program and the second disk contains the individual 
exercises and data.  One of the nicest parts of this program 
is the unique way it uses clip art from such programs as 
PowerPaint, Clipper, FontPower, and SpritePower to enhance 
its exercises. To load the program you place disk #1 in your 
drive and select which exercise you wish to do.  You have a 
choice between EA Spell and EA Compare.  To make your 
selection you use the joystick up for Spell, down for 
Compare and to the left to quit. You make your selection to 
the bright music of Turkey in the Straw. After making your 
selection, you are told to remove disk #1 and replace it 
with disk #2.  The only real problem my children and I had 
with this program was the necessity to change disks often. 
EA Spell is for children in the third grade and above.  My 
son James (a third grader and a rotten speller) found some 
of the words difficult but enjoyed the challenge.  The 
computer shows you a picture of the word, spells it for you 
and then asks you to copy the word.  After copying the word 
correctly, you are asked to type the word again without any 
help.  If you catch an error in your spelling before you 
press enter, you can backup and retype the part that is 
incorrect.  Note:  The backspace does not erase the letters 
as it backs up.  When you are ready to leave EA Spell, type 
"END" to return to the menu.  At this point you must remove 
disk #2 and replace it with disk #1. 
EA Compare was the favorite part of the program for my sons, 
especially Johnny (age 4) and Joey (age 6).  You are shown 
three pictures and are asked to pick the picture that is 
different from the others.  You push up on the joystick to 
select the center picture, right for the one to the right 
and left for the one on the left.  You score 10 points for 
each correct answer.  You are then asked if you wish to 
continue.  If you finish the exercise, you will receive a 
final score.  The only thing I'd change about Compare would 
be to add a random factor so that the same pictures would 
not be presented in the exact same order everytime the 
exercise is booted.  I hope that Wizard's Lair will continue 
this series and maybe add data packs that you could buy to 
supplement the two exercises in this set.  We need more 
educational programs of this caliber.
 

