ClueFinders Math Adventures: Ages 9 - 12+
Mystery of the Himalayas
Deluxe 2 CD set
Cost $5.00 - $6.00
Publisher: The Learning Company

I home schooled my son, so I was always looking for good software to teach math skills. I found a few, but nothing that worked as well as ClueFinders Math Adventures. This software is available in computer stores, office supply stores, and you can buy the CDs online at the publisher's web site.
I was so pleased with the 5th grade version that I bought the Mystery Mansion Arcade Strategy Games and the Himalayas mystery for my daughter. The Mystery of the Himalayas lets children join the ClueFinders team of children take an adventure into the Himalayas to discover an ancient village that has been robbed. Their treasures are disappearing day by day. The child must investigate suspicious villagers and search the mountains and village to solve the mystery. There are some sections of the quest that are difficult for my 10 year old daughter. I finish these parts for her and then let her do what she can. When she has gone as far as she can, she opens a new account and starts the adventure over again.
I like the fact that I can see her skills improve as she moves through the game. This game is so cleverly developed that my daughter does not realize that it is teaching her the basics of algebra and geometry, fractions, decimals, tables, graphs, number computation, and even problem solving. The game includes 15 interactive activities and more than 50 000 math problems that cover 25 skills. Each skill has 10 levels making it possible for all math levels to have fun. This variation also prevents the game from seeming like the same thing repeated over and over.
The award winning educational series that includes the Mystery of the Himalayas can be found at www.cluefinders.com.
The main advantage to this game is that parents do not need to understand the math concepts taught to help their children finish the course. But, you will need a Windows 98 or later. However any Pentium computer with only 32 meg ram and 100MB of disk space, and 16 bit color with an 8x CD rom can run this program. Or, to put it in layman's terms, if you bought an old computer with Windows 93, and it can be linked to the internet and it has a CD rom driver - your child can play this game.