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The ClueFinders

Children's Educational Software Series

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ7723528 ↗
Source-derived summary

The ClueFinders is an educational software series aimed at children aged 8–12 that features a group of mystery-solving teenagers. The series was created by The Learning Company, as a counterpart to their Reader Rabbit series for elementary-aged students. The series has earned several industry awards.

History

The Learning Company (1998–2001)

The ClueFinders was conceived as a spiritual successor to the Reader Rabbit series. The first ClueFinders title, The ClueFinders 3rd Grade Adventures: The Mystery of Mathra, was released in January 1998, and The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures was released in July. The Learning Company used their new game as the prototype for Internet Applet technology, which allowed users to download supplementary activities from the ClueFinders website. The ClueFinders 4th Grade Adventures was also the first game to include the A.D.A.P.T. technology, which allowed teachers and parents to monitor the player's progress and included auto-adjustable levels based on the player's abilities.

In 1999, The Learning Company was acquired by Mattel for $3.7 billion. The following year, Mattel sold its "The Learning Company" assets to Gores Technology Group. In 2000, Mattel Interactive hired professional writers Jill Gorey and Barbara Herndon to design a concept for a TV series, though the franchise never made its way to television.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The ClueFinders” as children's Educational Software Series. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical orientation to terminology and classification, particularly when read beside dated observations, specimens or technical literature. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1998, 2001, 1999, 2000—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where ClueFinders, Children's and Educational can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as children's Educational Software Series. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7723528. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1998, 2001, 1999 and 2000.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

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  • Classification context
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  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The ClueFinders”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The ClueFinders primary sources, The ClueFinders archive and ClueFinders research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The ClueFinders” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.