fee DIRECTORY
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Children's Therapy Services
The ABILITIES CENTER, INC.
Occupational and Physical Therapy for Children
Handwriting • Sensory Integration • Groups
5600 W. Maple, Suite C,304 West Bloomfield, MI 48322
Nikki Rosen-Lieberman (810) 855-0030 Jill D. Spokojny
Computer Hit Parade
Financial Planning
DIANE SCHAEFER
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SYSTEMATIC INVESTING
Invest in the market for as
little as $25.00 per month.
Vir
For details and a free investors guide please call Michael H. Delap
Phone: (810) 452 5690 • Fax: (810) 452 5688
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CAMBRIDGE INVESTMENT RESEARCH, INC. 7 W. Square Lake Rd., Suite 150
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48302 - Member: NASD, SIPC, & MSRB
All accounts are carried with National Financial Services, A Fidelity Investment Co.
Instruction
EXPERT PIANO INSTRUCTION
Classical or Popular
Intermediate to Advanced
(Adult Beginners Okay)
DAVID SYME 810-681-2417
IV
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THE APPLETREE
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In Sugar Tree
Orchard Lake Road North Of Maple
West Bloomfield
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(810) 932-3377
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Sterling Silver • Judaica Arts & Crafts • Tallit Tefillin Bags • Books • Jewelry 1%
hen our up-
stairs neigh-
bors bought a
new comput-
er, the children in the building
were all agog. The Kaplans
weren't the first family in our
building to own a computer,
but they were the first to ac-
quire a Pentium — moveover,-
a Pentium that came loaded
with a large selection of com-
puter games.
For nearly a month my son,
Yehuda, escaped daily from our
home to go play on the new
Pentium, warmly welcomed
by his best friend, Areleh Ka-
plan.
Then our own Pentium ar-
rived, and diverse children's
shareware games were duly
downloaded from the Internet.
Yehuda and Areleh switched
turf (no doubt to the relief of
Areleh's mother) and spent
hours at our home exploring
"Amy" and "Animal ABCs."
With only four of 12 house-
holds in our building boasting
computers of any kind, we and
our neighbors are, by Israeli
standards, behind the times.
According to statistics cited by
Gil Ilutowich, co-owner and di
rector of Compedia Ltd., a Ra-
mat Gan-based producer of
children's software, some 85
percent of all Israel families
own a personal computer. This
makes Israel one of the world's
leaders in PCs, per capita.
Considering the large num-
ber of households here with
young children, Israel has to be
a natural market for children's
software programs. As a col-
league warned before my fami-
ly's computer acquisitions,
"The computer is only the be-
ginning. Now you have to buy
your kids computer games...all
the time."
A quick survey of software
stores throughout Israel reveals
that the homegrown Compe-
dia products, for
ages 3 to 12, are
among the most
popular with chil-
dren here. Compe-
dia, which releases
its products in
15 different
languages
for ex-
■
port, has de-
veloped two different
software lines called "Gordi"
and "Itamar," the latter market-
ed in the United States as
"Timmy"
"Timmy's Birthday Party," a
collection of interactive games
released about six months ago,
heads the list of popular young
children's games in Jerusalem.
The "Gordi" interactive educa-
tional series, which features
small, green, benign-looking
monsters, proves to be a con-
sistent best seller in the Haifa
area among 3-to- 6-year-olds.
Mr. Ilutowich says the "Ita-
mar/Timmy" series is the most
popular in Israel, with more
than 10,000 of each of the
three products sold domestical-
ly. About 200,000 copies of the
series have sold worldwide
444
41%
since the first "Itamar/Timmy"
product was released two years
ago. Since the first of 14 "Gor-
di" products came out about
eight years ago, more than 2
million products have been
sold throughout the world.
Other popular, domestically
produced children's software
products include "Dubi," a se-
ries of interactive games featur-
ing a little bear, for ages 3 to 8,
and the "Matach"
educational series
for 5-to-12-year-
olds, which
teaches Eng-
lish, Hebrew
/ or Arabic.
Among
imports,
the most-
often-requested chil-
dren's software in Israel
appears to be "Rayman," with
six levels of interactive games
for all ages. Other hot sellers,
as reported by the main office
of the country-wide Bug soft-
ware chain, are Michael Jor-
dan's "Space Jam," the
interactive basketball game
based on the movie, for ages 6
and older, and "Longbow," a
helicopter simulator for ages
10 and up.
The Comfy keyboard for
children ages 1 to 6, which
comes with two games, also
sells well in Israel. However,
Yehuda and Areleh have
proved that, unlike their elders,
small children can master the
mouse and the PC keyboard in
a matter of hours. ❑
DIANE SCHAEFER is a freelance writer who lives in Jerusalem with her husband, Akiva, and their children, Yehuda and Sara.