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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.

Henrietta's Book of Spells is featured in its 11 to 14 guise on the Great 8 this month, so you can try it out for size. The games involve memory testing, anagram breaking, code breaking, and a word completion 'hang man' game. There is a difficulty control which allows you to use words of between 5 and 9 letters long and some of these games will stump the average adult for a while. There is also a 7 to 11 years old version for those not quite ready to take on the longer words and more difficult puzzles. Once again graphics are basic on the Spectrum version but the puzzles are very involving and there's no doubt that this is a learning package. (See page 29 for special offer.)

Lander Software Phone: (041) 357 1659 Tape: £12.99 Disk: £15.99