True Learning has 3,000 pages of activities for your child.

We all know the value of education, but a trickier decision parents have to make is when to start formally educating their kids. It’s becoming more common to send toddlers for a year or two of preschool before they start kindergarten at age 5. And the structure is a lot different than in years past—even kindergartners get homework these days.

Many feel that it’s never too early to start introducing academic activities, and True Learning makes it easy. True Learning is a package of 3,000 worksheets, activities your kid can do that are fun and educational. The worksheets are PDF files on two CDs, and you can print them via Preview, Adobe Acrobat, or any other PDF software reader. You’ll want to use a color printer to take advantage of the colorful graphics and characters True Learning uses.

Did you shudder when we mentioned characters? No worries. These worksheets aren’t a means of marketing for toy companies, and there are no commercial tie-ins. All the characters are generic in nature, but with a professional look and feel.

True Learning covers six subjects (art, literacy, math, motor skills, thinking, and world), and each subject’s worksheets have four levels of advancement. For example, level-one math worksheets teach how to count up to five objects, how to write numbers in sequence (up to 5), number matching with objects, and more. In level four, kids learn how to count and write by 10s, money math, basic multiplication, and more. The art worksheets teach basic illustration and design skills, from how to draw curves to coloring. The literacy worksheets range from basic letter recognition to words and their relationships to people, places, things, and actions. The motor skills section includes craft activities such as drawing and cutting shapes. The thinking section builds critical thinking skills, and the world section adds a cultural aspect to the curriculum.

The bottom line. True Learning offers a broad series of educational activities, and it grows with your kids. It’s great for a rainy day, or even as a daily activity

COMPANY: True Learning

CONTACT: www.true-learning.com

PRICE: $30

REQUIREMENTS: Mac OS 9 or later, printer

Colorful, professional-looking worksheets. Good variety of exercises.

Nothing of great consequence.