Playzone Preschool-1st Grade is a compilation of three previously released software programs: Curious George Reading and Phonics, Kid Phonics and Jumpstart Numbers. We have a current review of  Curious George Reading and Phonics online, so this review will concentrate mostly on the other two titles.

Kid Phonics is a phonics-based approach to reading, with a strong emphasis on letter sounds. There are three reading activities, plus a coloring activity that acts as a reward for the Word Builder activity. Play begins in the playroom with four monsters called "Busters", who sing cute songs about sounds and rhyming. There are clickables in the room that are animated and name themselves, also. The Sound Buster and Word Builder games can be accessed from this room.

In Sound Buster, kids answer questions about sounds to uncover parts of a hidden image that features several pictures with a common theme. Once the entire image has been uncovered, kids can pick one of the animated pictures to carry into the Word Builder area to make sentences with, which can then be colored and printed.

Jumpstart Numbers features three number games that concentrate on matching quantities, recognizing numbers and number sequences. In one activity, Frankie the dog must sling bones towards playing cards to match a number in a cute take-off on western gunslinging. In another, Frankie has to find the missing number in the number sequence on a deserted island to uncover the hidden treasure map.

Each of these games is a good, solidly designed game for young children, with Curious George being the weakest of the bunch, with a lack of emphasis on phonics. Kid Phonics is the best, and has stood the test of time over the years since its release many years ago. However, while presenting fun educational content on the whole, the Sound Buster's activity does have a weakness in that the letters aren't displayed when sounded out by the busters.

These games are all fun, and present lots of learning opportunities. The stated age range is misleading, though, as most preschoolers will find these games hard going. Kid Phonics is targeted toward children that already know their alphabet and are ready and motivated to learn to read, while Jumpstart Numbers is really more on the level of kindergarten through third grade, with multiplication questions offered on the highest level.