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under5s - glub the sub 
If you are looking for reasonably priced educational software, which will help pre-school children to master basic computer skills, recognise letters and numbers, and to understand simple mathematical concepts, all set in a user friendly environment, then Glub the Sub may be just the product for you.

Glub the Sub is packaged in 2 formats - the Watery World Activity Pack and the Watery World Project Pack. The activity pack is aimed at the home user, whilst the project pack is designed for use in the class room. Each pack not only contains a CD Rom of the Glub the Sub software but also a range of activity worksheets which continue the theme off the computer.

 
These worksheets are ideal, in the one computer household or classroom, for keeping children busy while they wait their turn to use the software. In addition further activity sheets and number and letter friezes can be printed off the CD Rom.

Useful for planning purposes, the project pack also contains a matrix which maps the activities to the appropriate areas of learning within the Foundation Stage. We tested Glub the Sub for Ease of Use, Educational Content, Attention Rating and Value for Money. 
Top marks for ease of use, no installation or re-configuration required. Simply pop the CD in the drive, wait for the icon to appear on the screen, double click it, and you are there. Brilliant. The CD Rom is suitable for either the PC or the Apple Mac, just check the minimum system requirements and you should have no problems. We tried Glub on both a PC and an Apple Mac and were up and running at the first attempt every time. Once the software is loaded navigation is simple, just follow Glub and listen to the clear instructions given by the helpful narrator. 
A neat feature is Glub's periscope which allows you to move backwards and forwards through the different screens within a section. This is useful for repeating activities. We did encounter one glitch when Glub would not allow us to drag and drop the correct answer to a question into the answer circle. After a number of attempts Glub relented !!
The creators of Glub the Sub have made a real attempt to ensure the activities deliver the requirements of the Foundation Stage. We think they have succeeded, almost. Whilst the watery world concept is excellent, in the effort to apply it consistently to all of the activities, we feel some of the  educational content has been compromised. For example the use of e for espardafish to illustrate the phonic sound of the letter e.  This is not a word which pre-school children are likely to encounter everyday.
In addition we feel that some of educational concepts could be reinforced with greater repetition, the Treasure Chest task under the numbers activities introduces the mathematical concept of 'more than, but is not repeated within this section. Although the periscope can be used to backtrack and repeat, more examples would be welcome. However that said, these are relatively minor criticisms and we do feel the educational content is good and particularly suited to nursery age children.
There is a wealth of activities  both on the disk and in the pack, for use both on and off the computer. On the CD Rom these incorporate letter and number activities, jigsaws, dot-to-dot, colouring pages and 2 Glub the Sub stories. The designers claim there are over 100 activities in total, we did not count them but there are certainly plenty to keep young children amused. 
We tested Glub on a class of nursery children, for many of whom English is their second language. They were enthralled by the lively music, sound effects and animation and had few problems mastering the controls. (N.B. The sound can be turned down or off). The pack is aimed at the 3 to 7 year old age range but we do not think that Glub would be able to maintain the attention of the older children (6 to 7 years) for the same length of time.
We liked the combination of computer based and worksheet activities. The number and range of activities contained in the pack is excellent, as is the overall quality of the product. Although the educational content is not as good as the best we have seen, it is still good and the whole pack is almost half the price of our comparator, costing £24.99 for the Activity Pack and £29.32 for the Project Pack. For these reasons we feel that Glub the Sub offers really good value for money both to the home user and to the pre-school professional.
The true test is would we buy it and use it ourselves ? Well the answer has to be yes. 

Don't just take our word for it, the Parents Information Network (PIN) awarded Glub the Sub their Gold Award, you can read what they thought at www.pin.org.uk. There is also a Glub the Sub website (see below) where you can try and buy, the site also offers enhancements for existing users.

Glub the Sub is produced by the Worm that Turned Ltd. and can be ordered directly from the from Amazon.co.uk, select either the Activity Pack or the Project Pack
under5s - glub the sub
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