Choosing Edsoft for schools can be a rather hit and miss affair. There are so many different tapes around, covering a vast range of subjects, and nobody seems to have devised a good, carefully structured series of programs in one particular subject area.

At least, I thought they hadn't, until I came across Shiva's First Maths Programmes set, which I'm gradually adding to our school software library. I say gradually, because there are eleven tapes in the set, each tape retailing at £14.95. However, all the tapes contain five programs, and the topics covered are numeracy and logic. Fortunately I was also sent a couple for review, which gives me the opportunity to introduce them to you.

The series is the brainchild of a Senior Maths adviser, who provided the ideas and then handed them to a professional programmer. It is important to realise that the set has been designed as a complete introduction to early numeracy and logic, and to make the most of it a school should either buy the whole set, or perhaps the numeracy first and the logic later, as funds allow.

The aim has obviously been to replace textbook learning with structured and entertaining computer learning. The author hasn't forgotten that young children need much practical reinforcement too, and the very detailed handbook with each tape (over 50 pages!) gives all sorts of essential hints, back-up work and ideas, as well as providing a very clear working account of the programs.

There is a uniformity about the tapes which is very reassuring for a teacher not too familiar with computing. Each starts with a menu, and the child would usually begin with the first option and work through, since each option covers ground slightly easier than the next. The booklet explains exactly what the child should have covered beforehand and describes the maths concepts and skills introduced on the tape in current use. In "Numeracy 4", for example. the first program introduces counting in twos (and in the initial processes of multiplication), the second program deals with threes, and so on.

Each individual program is colourfully and clearly presented in a very attractive but straightforward manner which children and teachers found most appealing. Often, the program provides scope for two children to work at the same time, either competing with each other or discussing what the answer might be, and why. When a task has been successfully completed, there is a suitable reward.

The tasks really do make a child think carefully, and in "Numeracy 4" involve matching socks and gloves in colour and number and then pairing them on a washing line (while getting rid of any odd socks or gloves that appear), sorting out cherries on a tree into multiples of three, filling a train with people using the four times table, spending money in multiples of five at the supermarket, or moving spacemen through a galaxy using the concepts gained in the previous four programs. At each stage there is a "speed" option so that the task can be matched to the ability of the child.

As with all the best educational tapes, the teacher should go through the programs and booklet carefuly first, so that he/she has a thorough understanding of what is involved and so that help can be given quickly to a child who needs it.

Without doubt the main use of this set of programs will be in primary schools, since the price may be a little prohibitive for parents and there is little point in buying just one or two of the tapes. The set represents a good step forward in primary Edsoft due to its "completeness" in dealing with early maths, and can certainly be recommended. My only slight quibble would be that just occasionally, some of the language in the booklet may be a little off-putting even for teachers. For example, at one point we are told that "the child is asked to classify on the basis of two or more criteria at once making up a cross classification matrix to establish a lasting equivalence which is the basis for his numeracy work in multiplication"! This is certainly the most involved explanation of commutativity that I've ever come across!