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It's back to school time again and although most of you may not like the idea lets face it, things could be worse... You could be facing a firing squad or being horribly tortured with some matches and a pair of pliers, or, even more terrifying, forced to watch a Bob Monkhouse TV show with special guest stars Bruce Forsyth and Jeremy Beadle. See, going back to school isn't THAT bad.

Although Mr. Brown in 4C with the long nose, dandruff and bottle bottom spectacles might be a boring old fart there are in fact far more enjoyable ways of learning. One of which is right here on your Speccy - educational software. It's puzzling, informative and fun, and best of all, it gives you an excuse to play on your Speccy during time normally allotted for homework without incurring the wrath of your elders. (It also gives you a chance to slip in the odd arcade game for mental stimulation, though don't tell your mum I said this.) There are a wide variety of educational games available so here, to help you choose, is a selection of those currently readily available and a quick guide to their usefulness.

More complicated than FS4 (u5s), this version introduces a completely new interactive character, Freddy the Frog (presumably a teddy is a bit soft for all those 'well hard' over fives). At this stage the kiddies should know their alphabet and the basic principles of maths so they've got to help Freddy out as he visits the library, takes over running a friend's shop and goes on holiday to a log cabin. Adults would do well to look at this program too, although it is simple enough for a 5 to 7 year old to master it will serve as a reminder that it was a long time ago since you had to do anything like this and you'd be surprised how long some of these simple problems will take to figure out. (While your children go through them faster than Nigel Mansell.)

Europress Software Phone: (0625) 859 333 Tape: £12.99 Disk: £16.99