Until a child has made some sense of their past, they may not be able to make sense of their future. My Life Story provides children with a fun and creative framework for recording their personal information. This animated CD-Rom goes beyond just recording facts of a child's life. It includes more than 40 activities aimed at helping young people think and talk about what has happened to them in their life journey, how they see themselves now, and what their hopes, fears, wishes and dreams are for the future.

Children can take control and choose where to start and how they navigate through the "treasure-island map" as they complete the activities. This easy-to-use tool includes printable worksheets and a user's guide, and can be used by both teachers and caregivers.

CD-Rom product usage rights: One CD is required per computer. CDs may not be duplicated, installed onto multiple computers, or broadcast over a computer network

Includes: CD-Rom and user guide. Requires Windows 98 or higher.

Australian Version also available.

This interactive CD provides a fun and creative way for children in foster and adoptive care to accomplish their valuable life story work. Originally produced in the United Kingdom, it has just been adapted for use by North American youth. The program activities encourage children to find out and record the factual details of their life before placement, and to express their thoughts and feelings about their past, present, and future life situations. It's a powerful and entertaining tool for youth to understand their past so they can thrive in the future.

My Life Story will be a hit with the computer-savvy young people in out-of-home care today. With animation, speech, sound, and color, it creates an appealing learning environment that's simple to navigate. The CD contains more than 40 on-screen activities plus printable worksheets that complement and extend the computer-based materials. Older children will enjoy exploring the program on their own; younger children will need a helper, such as their social worker or caregiver.

The key design concept of the program is that children's thoughts are like buried treasure ' valuable but often difficult to unearth. A screen with a treasure-island map serves as the main menu, where users load and save data, access all of the information and activity sections, get help, and exit from the program.

Youth can complete My Life Story's seven sections in any order, and they can revisit the sections as often as they wish to review or update them. The program saves data to a hard or floppy disk, so the CD can become the child's own personal life story book, as detailed and current as he or she chooses to make it. The sections are as follows: Facts and Figures, People and Places, Past and Present, Likes and Dislikes, Hopes and Fears, Wishes and Dreams, and Contacts.

My Life Story is a user-friendly program that children and adults alike will enjoy. Users will find brief on-screen help in each section, and there is detailed guidance, both on-screen and printable, for adults who assist children with the program.

---Carol Nelson, Ph.D.