Tynesoft is yet another one-man set-up trying to get the tiniest of fingerholds in the educational market. Actually there is plenty of room for companies who produce *good* programs at reasonable prices and which merely claim to be an extra help to the teacher, rather than all the "buy this tape and it guarantees you at least three A Levels and a job with a car!" hoo ha which is so prevalent today.

This tape isn't going to set the educational world on its head overnight, but equally it is a very competent attempt to bring a little more interest and enthusiasm to the learning of simple money manipulation.

The programming is actually quite fair, and belies the fact that it has been designed by a serving teacher. No insult intended to the profession, of which I am a member, but more a reflection on al the other pressures of time.

There are in fact a series of six related and complementary programs, use of some or all of which might be appropriate to a large number of children of primary age. Actually, the author quotes six to 10 years, I would imagine an even wider range might benefit. None contains a time element, and this allows less confident children to use plastic coins for reinforcement. All share a common system of input, with the spacebar being used to move the cursor from one box to another, while the Return key is used to select the required article.

In the programs a variety of objects are shown, nicely drawn, in a series of windows. Each is priced, up to 10p, with the letters and numbers clearly printed. Depending on the game, the child might be asked to select two or three items to total a given figure, or they might be asked which object could be purchased three times for 18p, for instance. Change One and Change Two involve deciding which objects must have been bought in order to leave a given amount of change from either 20p or 50p. Thus the children are in effect practising their number bonds in various combinations.

I found the children enjoyed using the programs and I believe they gained a better grasp of number relationships by doing so. But mainly they played around with numbers, used concrete coins to aid their thoughts and discussed their way to a logical conclusion.

All in all a very praiseworthy first effort, equally valid for use at home or with a small group at school. I just wish the Break was disabled!

Phil Tayler