JumpStart 1st Grade (1995)

JumpStart 1st Grade is a grade-based classic JumpStart game developed by Fanfare Software and released by Knowledge Adventure in 1995. It is sometimes referred to as JumpStart 1st Grade Classic Version.

It was later replaced by JumpStart 1st Grade (2000).

The premise of the game is to explore a first grade schoolhouse, and play activities to earn points towards milk caps.

Game Play
In the game, the player explores an interactive schoolhouse full of educational activities. Frankie is the school mascot in charge of guiding the player around. The player can access four different areas of the school: the classroom, the lunchroom, the playground, and the bus, which can take the player on a field trip to either the zoo or the beach.

Playing the activities around the school and getting correct answers earns the player points, which can be traded in for milk caps. There are four skill categories in this game: math, reading, nature, and time. Each time the player earns 100 points in a category, they can choose a milk cap from that category. There are 30 math caps, 30 reading caps, 20 nature caps, and 20 time caps, for a total of 100 caps to collect.

Characters

 * Frankie - The first grade mascot who acts as the player's guide.
 * Mrs. Flores - The homeroom teacher.
 * Ms. Pickles - The cook.
 * Milk Cap Mouse - A mouse who lives in the schoolhouse and keeps a collection of milk caps.

The Classroom

 * Music in the Mouse Hole - At the Hole in the Wall Club, there is a band of mice whose instruments can be customized using one of the five buttons on the left side of the screen: guitar, flute, violin, trumpet, or voices. The player can hear the mice perform five songs: "Hickory Dickory Dock," "Old MacDonald," "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider," "The Wheels on the Bus," and "It's Raining, It's Pouring." The player can also record their own song by clicking on the record button, and the clicking on the mice. Then the song can be played back by clicking on the play button.
 * The Tick Tock Game - Here, the player can play a board game styled activity with either Frankie or another player, if two-player mode is selected. Each player moves a playing piece along a series of tiles. Each tile has an hour on it written in numbers, starting with 6 AM and ending with 9 PM. An analog clock will spin to an hour, and the player whose turn it is must click on the tile with the matching hour to advance during that turn. The first player to reach 9 PM wins.
 * Reading is Fun-damental -The player can read various stories by selecting a book, and then choosing a story from the table of contents, or simply paging the book to read each story. The stories are read out loud, and the pictures can be clicked on to view animations. Sometimes, at the end of a story, the player will be presented with a question related to what they read, and they can earn some points for answering it correctly.
 * Master Memory Game - The computer in the classroom can be used to play a memory match game. The player can click on the cards to turn them over and see what's underneath. Some cards will display words, while others display pictures. The objective is to make matches with all of the cards by finding words and pictures that go together.
 * Paint Set - Here, the player can freely create their own pictures. The player can select a color to paint with by clicking on one of the paint blobs on the left side of the screen, and then choose either the paintbrush for free drawing or the paint bucket to fill entire areas in. The player can also select a background for their picture, and stickers to place on top of it. The player also has the option to save their picture when finished.
 * Milky Way - This is where the Milk Cap Mouse resides. This location can be seen inside the Hole in the Wall Club during the Music in the Mouse Hole activity, but it can only be accessed when the player has earned enough points for a milk cap. Upon collecting 100 points in one the four categories, the player will automatically be brought here. Math and reading are colored in Christmas. Nature and time are colored in UCLA.

The Lunchroom



 * Serving Up Fractions - The player can help serve the students their lunches. Each student will tell the player what foods they want, and how much they want as a fractional amount. The player must place the foods into the areas of the lunch tray that match the fraction that the student is requesting. The goal is to serve as many students as possible before the timer runs out.


 * Vending Machine Victory - Frankie needs help getting something to eat or drink from the vending machine. Frankie will ask for something, and the player must place the correct amount of money into the vending machine to retrieve the item.


 * Adding It All Up - As the students are paying for their lunches, the player must use the cash register to add up the cost of all of the items on a student's tray and find the correct total cost.

The Kitchen

 * The Pizza Picker Game - The player must help fill pizza orders by picking the pizzas that Frankie asks for. Frankie will tell the player what toppings (and on harder difficulty levels, size) that the current order requires, and the player must find that pizza on the counter and click on it.


 * Measure for Measure - The player can make various yummy treats in the cooking machine by following the instructions on the recipe cards. The instructions in the recipe must be followed exactly, or else the Glop Monster will come out of the cooking machine instead of the food.

Field Trips



 * Field Trips - The player can take a bus ride to either the zoo, or the beach. First, the player has to plan the route they wish to take by using the map. After deciding on a route, the bus will begin traveling to the chosen location. Along the way, the player will sometimes encounter Mrs. Flores driving a truck. A question will appear on her truck, which the player must answer to continue. When the player arrives at the zoo or the beach, they can click around to see various animations. The beach also has a radio which can be used to listen to songs.

The Playground



 * Math Marbles - The player must create correct equations using marbles. Several marbles with numbers on them will be lined up on the playground's blacktop. The player must use a marble to knock out the marbles with the numbers that make the equation false.


 * Frankie's Dog House - Frankie has various items buried in his sandbox that he needs help finding. Frankie will ask for a specific item. The player will move a detector around the sandbox with the mouse. The detector will start beeping when it is over an item, and it will give a clue about which item is buried there. If the clue matches the item that Frankie is asking for, the player can click the mouse to dig there and uncover the item.


 * The Milk Cap Game - Here, the player can use milk caps to earn points towards getting more milk caps by playing against a student. A set of milk caps will be stacked on the playground's blacktop, and the stack of caps must first be knocked over. For each milk cap that lands face up during the player's turn, the player can answer a question. The questions can belong to any of the four categories- math, reading, nature, and time. Each correctly answered question awards the player ten points in the category that the question belongs to. The player can only play this activity when they have at least one milk cap in their possession.

Songs
The songs listed in italics are not on the audio CD.
 * 1) JumpStart First Grade (on track 2 of the audio CD)
 * 2) Zero is Nothing (on track 6)
 * 3) My Week at Sea (on track 7)
 * 4) If You Were My Friend (on track 4)
 * 5) Vegetable ABCs (on track 3)
 * 6) Reading is Fun (on track 5)
 * 7) Frankie's Theme Song (on track 8)
 * 8) Mrs. Flores' Theme Song
 * 9) Ms. Pickles' Theme Song

Educational Concepts

 * Vocabulary and Spelling
 * Letter Sounds and Phonics
 * Comprehension
 * Visual Discrimination/Memory
 * Literature
 * Numbers and Counting
 * Addition and Subtraction
 * Geometry
 * Money Value
 * Fractions
 * Other Math
 * Geography
 * Science
 * Time

Transcript
See JumpStart 1st Grade (1995)/Transcript

Credits
See JumpStart 1st Grade (1995)/Credits

Associated Books
The JumpStart Summer Vacation Activity Book for 1st Grade draws inspiration from this game.

Trivia

 * When re-released by Davidson & Associates in 1998, the game was called Davidson's Learning Center Series: 1st Grade.
 * This game contains the vocal talents of Mark Beckwith of Razzle Bam Boom and Glynnis Talken Campbell.
 * In later printings, presumably "Classic Edition" copies, the audio for Frankie has been re-recorded, as a result it is at a higher pitch.