(Jumpstart 3rd Grade's system was a little better, giving you all the level options at once). The Witch's Hat icon, as I mentioned earlier, can change levels, but you have to go all the way to Level 5 before cycling back to Level 1. The game usually increases the level of a challenge following the successful completion at an earlier level, from Level 1 to Level 5 on most games. I will admit that the game does 'freeze up' in the same places you mentioned, but for me it usually clears up and resumes to normal if I just let it sit for a minute while it tries to load instead of frantically trying to get it to respond. I am playing the game on my Windows 7 computer.