There's Gold in Them Thar Files!: Shareware Motherload for HS

Have you ever searched in vain for a new way to teach spelling? Drill grammar? Practice tangrams without cutting out all those itty-bitty pieces of paper? How about a multimedia fun way to teach your kids these sometimes less than exciting subjects? O.k., o.k., but how much will it cost? How about nothing? Well, o.k., you'll have to use some of the room on your hard drive, but when your kids no longer need a program, then delete it and you get your "money" back.

ProgramFiles.com features shareware in many different areas, but their educational files are excellent. They have programs for preschool both in shareware and freeware as well as programs all the way to college study aids. There was a whopping 180 programs available in math and 119 programs in science. They will give you a price of the actual program if you purchase the regular version, but you can usually download the demo, free or shareware version. A shareware version may or may not cut off after a certain number of uses or days.

I was pleased to find our favorite spelling program, Ray's Spelling was available. Every week my son inputs his own spelling list on the computer and says the words while the program records him. We then learn the ""Learning" section one day, the "Practice" section the next day and then the "Test" section and begin seeing how well he has mastered the spelling list. This is just one way you can use a text book and a computer program together.

I also found Roxie's ABC Fish in the preschool section in which a cat plays Go Fish with your child practicing on letter recognition all the while. There were many other programs that reinforced the beginnings of phonics and math. These programs help to add variety to a curriculum and also if you are doing the kid-shuffle they can help to keep one child learning at the computer while you help another with a learning task.

Another great computer shareware/freeware site is KidsDomain.com. They will break the programs down by age and subject and make it very easy to save programs. Many of their programs are free and terrific educational tools. If you have never saved shareware to your computer, here are a few guidelines to help you save, find it, and use it.

1. Click on the download button and save your shareware game.

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