The purpose of this guide is to give adults (me included) some hints about choosing software for children.  There is an abundance of software out there.  How do we know what is the best for our children?

There are a couple of things to think of right off the bat.  Let's take them one at a time.

1.  What is the purpose of the software?

The purpose of the software can help guide your purchase.  If you are choosing software that is for a school subject that a child needs some extra work in then you probably have a subject in mind. First you would like for software on that subject.  The next thing you would do is look for something that is age appropriate (i.e. if the child you are thinking of is 5 years old then software that says it is for ages 5 years to 8 years would be perfect).  Then you would look at the what the software works on specifically.  If the child you are thinking of needs to work on multiplication tables you would not buy software for addition facts.  Once you have determined that you subject, age, and skill are on target then you would look to see if the software is research based.  This is an often overlooked fact.  What looks really good to you and me may just be window dressing.  Software for learning has to look good, work on skills, and be effective with the target audience.  Find out who makes your software and go to their website.  There should be something at the website that states if they have or have not completed research and if so what the results were.  If the software is not research based and it is for the purpose of learning I would be wary of it.   Sometimes when a software is new there is not a lot of research so that may be a consideration but in most cases if it does not have research in print or ongoing then it may not be the best choice. 

2.  If choosing software just for fun then the search for the software becomes different.  First one must know the likes and dislikes of the child.  Then go from what interest the child has.  Once possible topics have been determined then it is plausible to start searching fo software on that topic.  Then age appropriateness must be considered.  When you find a few to compare I would look at how easy they are to install, how much memory they are going to take, and then price.  Use those things plus how likely you would be to play this more than once before you buy.  Software for fun is often a lot easier to purchase.

3.  Other software purchase considerations are the amount of memory you have and if the software is compatible with your system.  Pretty much all software has a section on the cover or on the website selling it that indicates how much memory is needed and what platform one must have to use this software. 

It is not difficult to choose software for children but considerations such as need, interest, age appropriateness, ease of use, need of memory, and platform must be considered.