Learning is made fun...

Additional Fun from Shiva provides a set of five superb programs for five-to-eight year-olds to practise and test addition and subtraction of numbers from 0 to 10.

Cats on the Wall is a two player game in which a line of 10 cats appears. Above them are arrows flashing at a selected speed.

A number appears and a key must be pressed when the number of flashing arrows corresponds to the number shown. If the key is pressed at the right moment, that number of cats disappears. If a mistake is made the micro responds with 'too many cats' or 'too few cats'.

The first player to knock all the cats off the wall is the winner.

Olly the Octopus is an addition game in which the players have to make the spots on Olly's tentacles add up to 10.

Each player takes turns to assign a number of spots to one of their tentacles by pressing the space bar when the required tentacle is lit up. When a tentacle has the required 10 spots it turns yellow.

Picture is a simple but very effective number testing program. A display of boxes - each with a pair of numerals - appears on the screen in a 3 x 4 rectangle. Two further boxes appear with a number of dots on them like dominoes.

The pairs of numerals light up in turn and the player has to press the Spacebar when the illuminated pair matches the number of dots in the two boxes at the bottom of the screen.

Getting to the Moon involves addition and subtraction for two players. A rocket appears with six spacemen on each side and the numbers from one to five above them and a negation box.

Each player has one side of the screen and must do a sum and subtract the result from 10.

A moving arrow is stopped at the spaceman whose number gives the correct answer to the sum. If the arrow is stopped correctly the spaceman moves across into the rocket ready for take off. If a player makes a mistake the micro responds accordingly.

The final program - Attack The Castle - involves addition and subtraction for two players.

Each has two ladders going up a castle wall, one with a +1 at the top and the other with a -1. The rungs of the ladder are numbered one to 10 and the aim is to be first to the top.

A number appears in the castle gate, and if a four appears in the gate the player can either move 4 + 1 rungs up the +1. ladder, or 4 - 1 rungs up the +1 ladder. The top rung must be reached by exactly the right number. The first player to get both soldiers right to the top is the winner.

This collection is of the highest quality. Most of the ideas behind the programs are simple but are beautifully presented and thoughtfully designed. Programs of this standard can be unqualifyingly recommended for any primary school use or home user.

Jane Jackson