DP Tool Club 15

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CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 HARD & SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS. . . . . 2 MAIN MENU WINDOW. . . . . . . . . . . 2 USING A MOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 MUSICAL REWARDS . . . . . . . . . . . 3 SOUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 VOICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 SUBMENUS OR LEVEL WINDOWS . . . . . . 3 PICK LISTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 MUSIC COMPOSITION. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 MUSIC LEVEL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 MUSIC LEVEL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 MUSIC LEVEL 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SAVING AND RETRIEVING TUNES . . . . . 5 ART. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 COLORBOOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Clear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 PRINTING . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 DOODLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 SPIDER WEBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 SPACE TUNNELS . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 SPACE WORMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 SPACE RIBBONS . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ALPHABET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ENGLISH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 MAKE A FUNNY SENTENCE . . . . . . . . 12 SCRAMBLED SENTENCES . . . . . . . . . 12 SENTENCE PARTS. . . . . . . . . . . . 13 SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT. . . . . . . . 14 MATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 LASER BLAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 BUG NUMBERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 APPLESPIDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 TIMESTABLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 ADDITION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Add Level 1. . . . . . . . . . . 16 Add Level 2. . . . . . . . . . . 17 Add Level 3. . . . . . . . . . . 17 Add Level 4. . . . . . . . . . . 17 SUBTRACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Sub Level 1. . . . . . . . . . . 17 Sub Level 2. . . . . . . . . . . 18 Sub Level 3. . . . . . . . . . . 18 Sub Level 4. . . . . . . . . . . 18 MULTIPLICATION. . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mul Level 1. . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mul Level 2. . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mul Level 3. . . . . . . . . . . 19 Mul Level 4. . . . . . . . . . . 19 DIVISION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Div Level 1. . . . . . . . . . . 20 Div Level 2. . . . . . . . . . . 20 Div Level 3. . . . . . . . . . . 20 Div Level 4. . . . . . . . . . . 20 ALGEBRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 EXAMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 MAKE EXAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 TAKE EXAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 SEE SCORES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 PRINT EXAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 TELL TIME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 TIME LEVEL 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 TIME LEVEL 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 TIME LEVEL 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 TIME LEVEL 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 SCHOOL-MOM UTILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . 25 SPELL FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ENGLISH WORD FILES. . . . . . . . . . 26 SENTENCE PTRN FILES . . . . . . . . . 27 SUB-VERB AGREE FILES. . . . . . . . . 27 SCRAMBLED WORDS FILE. . . . . . . . . 28 EXAM FILES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 SOME FINAL NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 SCHOOL-MOM PLUS The Manual INTRODUCTION The strength and prosperity of the U.S. has always relied on the level of our education and character of our people. Now, the education level in the U.S. is actually decreasing rather than increasing. Illiteracy is becoming common and knowledge of science and technology is becoming rare. In most U.S. Universities the foreign students specializing in science and technology now outnumber the American students. By placing this software on the market we hope to do our part to rectify this problem. School-Mom is an educational tool for children ages 4 to 14. Its main options are Music, Art, English, Alphabet, Math, Exams, and Tell Time. The name, School-Mom, comes from the old term, School-Marm. This nickname was often used when referring to teachers who taught all subjects to all grades. This software, which uses a back-to-basics approach to teaching, attempts to do the same. This is the first version of School-Mom without the Spelling option. Customers are now demanding prettier screens rather than educational content. Therefore, we were forced to reduce the size of School-Mom in order to add more graphics. Spelling is now covered in a separate program called Spelling BEEZ. This program is sold separately. We think you'll like what we've done with this software package. We hope you still agree it's the most comprehensive children's educational software available at any price. (bottom of page 1) HARD & SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS The minimum hardware requirements for running School-Mom are 640K RAM and EGA graphics. A mouse is optional in all but the Colorbook option. The minimum software requirement is DOS version 2.0 or higher. MAIN MENU WINDOW This window lists all the main options you may choose from such as Music, Art, Alphabet, English, Math, Exams, Tell Time, Help, Musical Rewards, Voice, and Order Form. There are several ways to select an option from Main Menu. You may use the up or down arrow keys to highlight the desired option then press the ENTER key to accept the option. Or, you may press the key corresponding to the first letter of the desired option until the option is highlighted then press the ENTER key. You may also use the mouse to select an option as described in the next section. Accept QUIT or press the ESC key to stop the program. USING A MOUSE If you have a mouse and have installed it's driver, you can use it in the Doodle option to draw, in the Colorbook option to color pages, and in the option windows to select options. To select an option using the mouse just move the mouse cursor to the option you want then press the left button twice. The first press will highlight the option and the second press will select it. The right mouse button can usually be used in place of the escape key (ESC) to exit menus or options. Also, the left button can usually (not always) be used in place of the ENTER or RETURN key. Instructions are usually given on the screen to tell you when this is possible. If you're not using a Microsoft (tm) compatible mouse you may have trouble using School-Mom. If so, turn off (bottom of page 2) the mouse support in School-Mom by pressing the t or T key during the opening screen. Tandy (tm) and Agiler (tm) mice are sometimes not Microsoft (tm) compatible. MUSICAL REWARDS You may or may not want the computer to give musical rewards. To turn the rewards off, select the Music/Sound option and choose Never (Off). If you want to get a musical reward for every 100 point choose Sometimes. To always get a reward choose Always. SOUND Most options will also use sound to indicate wrong answers. In all the options, if Never (Off) is chosen from the Music/Sound option, this wrong buzzer will also be off. This will also disable the Music option. Effectively, all sound is turned off except for voice. Voice is controlled separately. VOICE If you purchase the voice files for School-Mom your computer will talk when using School-Mom. The real human voice will use either your PC speaker or your sound board as long as it's Sound Blaster (tm) compatible. This voice will congratulate you for good work, pronounce letters of the alphabet, and identify numbers for the lower level math options. You may turn the voice off by selecting the Voice option and choosing OFF. If you turn voice on while Music/Sound is set to Sometimes or Never (Off), you'll get voice rewards after each correct answer. If Music/Sound is on, you'll get a tune only. SUBMENUS OR LEVEL WINDOWS All options except Help have submenu windows. These windows are used to select learning levels or to choose (bottom of page 3) a particular suboption. Choose from these menus using the same techniques as in Main Menu. In particular, use the mouse, arrow keys, or the key corresponding to the first letter of the option to highlight the desired option then press the ENTER key or the left mouse button to accept. Accept Return (ESC), or press the ESC key, or press the right mouse button to return to Main Menu. PICK LISTS When you need to choose a file, a pick list will be displayed on your screen. Use the standard mouse or keyboard techniques to choose a file from this list. If there are more than 10 files to choose from, you'll see a downward pointing arrow on the bottom right of the pick-list box. To see the additional file names either hold down the down-arrow key on the keyboard or place the mouse cursor on the arrow and press the left mouse button. If there are more file names above the ones shown, an up arrow will be displayed on the upper right of the pick- list box. To see these file names press and hold down the up-arrow key or place the mouse cursor on the up arrow and press the left mouse button. MUSIC COMPOSITION The Music option has three suboptions. You can use these options to compose and play tunes. Note that in all three Music options, only the treble cleft is shown. Only octave 3 notes and a few of octave 4 notes will appear on the screen. MUSIC LEVEL 1 In Level 1 you are shown a musical scale and asked to enter notes by pressing a, b, c, d, e, f, or g. As you press a key, the corresponding note is played and displayed on the scale. If you make a mistake you can (bottom of page 4) delete the previous notes by pressing the BACK-SPACE key. When you're done just press ENTER to play the entire tune or press n to start a new tune. You may also press the SPACE BAR to skip a note or equivalent, pause for one beat. Also, press the up arrow key to go to the next higher octave or the down arrow key to go to the next lower octave. When you first start a tune, octave 3 is the default. The notes of some octaves will not be displayed on the scale but will still play. As always, press ESC to exit the option and return to the music level menu. MUSIC LEVEL 2 Level 2 is similar to Level 1 except longer tunes can be composed and the note duration can be changed. Either 1/1 (whole notes), 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, or 1/16 notes can be played. Change the duration by using the left or right arrow key. This change will remain in effect until you change the duration again. MUSIC LEVEL 3 Level 3 is similar to Level 2 except sharp and flat notes can also be played. To choose a sharp note press the +/= key first then the note key. To choose a flat note press the _/- key first. The change stays in effect only until the note is played then it reverts back to a simple note. To remove a sharp before the note is played, press the _/- key. To remove a flat before the note is played, press the +/= key. SAVING AND RETRIEVING TUNES When in Level 2 and Level 3 you may store your tunes to a file and retrieve them later. To store a tune press the ALT key then press the s key before releasing the ALT key. Now type the name of the file where you wish the tune stored and press ENTER. Do not use an extension. For example, use a word like "tune" but do not use "tune.dat". To get a tune that you've stored (bottom of page 5) earlier, press the ALT key then press the g key before releasing the ALT key. A list of the tunes will be displayed. Use the keyboard or mouse to select one of these using the techniques described earlier for option menus. This selected tune will be played and displayed ready for editing. ART Art has six options. These are Colorbook, Doodle, Spider Webs, Space Tunnels, Space Worms, and Space Ribbons. The following paragraphs describe each of these. COLORBOOK The Colorbook option is only available on the deluxe version, School-Mom PLUS. With this option, you can recall coloring book pages, color them from a choice of 32 colors or shades, then store the colored pages for later use. You can also draw your own pictures and store them. This program is very simple to use. Use the mouse pointer to select a color then use the mouse to color the drawing. You can save the drawing you've colored under a different name or you can get another drawing. At the top of the screen you'll see 32 color choices. Place the mouse pointer on the color you desire then press the left mouse button to select it. The selected color will be displayed in a box at the top right of the screen. After you've selected a color, place the mouse pointer on the drawing where you want that color then press the left mouse button. Any area surrounding that point and bounded by black will be filled with your selected color. Your selected color will stay in effect until you choose another. (bottom of page 6) You may also draw your own pictures by selecting the DRAW option from the top of the screen. Normally the drawing color is black. This is also the border color used by the paint/color routine. When you're coloring, the color will fill any area surrounded by the drawing color. You may change the drawing color to the selected paint color by pressing F4. After you do this all your future drawings will be in that color until you change it back to black by pressing F5. Note that this new drawing color will also be used as the new boundary color for coloring. If you try to fill an area with color that is bounded by any color other than the current drawing color, it will spill out. Try never to fill an area with the same color as it's boundary. For example, your drawing color is black and you want to color an area black. If you do this, the boundary will be lost and you may or may not be able to color it again. If you do need to do this, save your file first. If your drawing color is black, the same thing will occur if you paint an area with the color directly below black on the color bar. You will not be able to repaint it. Similarly, if you've changed the drawing color to something other than black, you should not paint with that drawing color or the color found below it on the color bar. File Select this option if you want to get a new colorbook page/file, store a file or delete a file. This option also has an Exit option which will allow you to exit the colorbook program. Use the Get a File option to select a new colorbook page. Use the mouse to select the option similar to the way described in the Main Menu section. You'll be shown a list of pages to choose from. Use the mouse or arrow keys to highlight the page you want then press the left mouse button or the ENTER key. The page you selected (bottom of page 7) will be displayed on your screen. Use the Store a File option to store pages you've created or colored. Choose the Store a File option using the mouse or the keyboard. Once you do this you'll have to type a file name or page name for your drawing. When you type a colorbook page name to store, do not use an extension. For example, use something like mypage10 but not mypage10.gf2. The gf2 extension will be added to the end automatically. Be careful not to copy over one of the original pages. The current page name will always be displayed at the top right of the screen on the first row. Special instructions will be displayed on the second row directly below the file or page name. These instructions will appear as needed. Clear Choose this option if you want to clear your screen and start again. When you do this you'll loose your colorbook page if it's not stored. Be careful with this one. Draw Select this mode when you want to create your own colorbook page. After you select this mode the upper left of your screen will change from color selections to drawing tool selection. You can then choose to draw with straight lines, boxes, circles, ovals, or you can choose to use freehand. Choose Quit Draw to return to the main colorbook screen. If you want to draw with straight lines place the mouse cursor on the line at the top left of the screen then press the left mouse button. Now move the cursor down to where you want the line to start and press the left button again. This time hold the button down and stretch the line until it ends at the point you desire then release the button. (bottom of page 8) To draw a box, select it from the top of the screen then move the cursor to where you want one corner of the box and press the left mouse button. Hold the button down and stretch the box until the other corner is located where you want it then release the button. Drawing circles and ovals is only slightly different than drawing lines and boxes. Select the one you want from the top of the screen then move the cursor to where you want the center of the circle or oval. Press the left mouse button then stretch the circle until it's the size you desire. If you're drawing an oval you'll notice that the oval will become tall if you stretch up and wide if you stretch out to either side. To draw freehand, select it from the top of the screen then move the cursor to where you want to start. Now, press the left mouse button and hold it down while moving the mouse to draw. Release the left button to lift your pen. PRINTING You may print copies of your pages to your printer using you graphics utility that comes with DOS. If you want to do this you must load the graphics utility before you run School-Mom. To do this from DOS type GRAPHICS PRINTER /R then press ENTER. Substitute your printer type name for the word PRINTER. For example if you have an HP Deskjet printer then use DESKJET where I've used PRINTER. If you have an HP Laserjet then use LASERJET. If you have a standard dot matrix printer try leaving that part blank. For more information on printer types consult your DOS manual under the heading GRAPHICS. I assume you'll want the printed version to have black lines on a white background. In this case you'll need to color everything on the page bright white before you print it. To print your page just press the SHIFT key then press the PRINT SCREEN (or PRINT) key before releasing the SHIFT key. (bottom of page 9) To escape from the program press the right mouse button, the ESC key or choose Exit from the File menu. When asked if you really want to exit the program press either "y" for yes or "n" for no. DOODLE This art option allows you to draw freehand with a mouse or joystick in multiple colors. Your drawing can not be saved. This one is just for relaxation and fun. If you want to use a mouse, be sure to load the mouse driver before you start otherwise you'll have to use a joystick. If you're using a mouse, change the color by pressing the right button and lower the pen by pressing the left button. If you're using a joystick, change the color by pressing c on the keyboard and raise the pen by pressing p. In either case press e on the keyboard to erase and start a new drawing. The color currently being used is shown in a box at the lower right corner of the screen. Also, if you want to erase part of your drawing, change the color to background (or until you can't see the color box) then move the cursor over the area to be erased. SPIDER WEBS Here you can use the joystick or the arrow keys to control the actions of a spider while he leaves a web behind him. When the arrow keys are used, the joystick is disabled for the duration of the drawing. You may change back to the joystick by erasing the drawing. Press c to change the color of the web, press the < and > keys to change the rate or speed of movement, press e to erase the web and start again, or press ESC to return to Art Menu. (bottom of page 10) SPACE TUNNELS In this Art option you can use a joystick or the arrow keys to control the growth and/or elongation of a tunnel through deep space. The rules for using the joystick or keys are the same as those just described in the Spider Webs description. Press ESC to quit, e to erase and start again, c to change the color of the tunnel, g to make the tunnel grow larger, r to make the tunnel reduce in size, the > key to increase the growth rate, or the < key to reduce the growth rate. With this option you can produce beautiful screen art that appears to have 3-dimensional qualities. It is very relaxing. Try it! SPACE WORMS This Art option is similar to Space Tunnels but it produces an elongating worm with alternating colors. You have no control over color. See the previous section for details. SPACE RIBBONS This option is exactly like Space Worms except the worm is flattened. This produces even better 3-dimensional effects. These Art options were designed especially for relaxation and enjoyment. However, they can be used to stimulate creativity. ALPHABET The purpose of this option is to teach preschoolers the alphabet, both upper case and lower case. You are shown an uppercase letter then three choices for its lower case equivalent. To choose the correct lower case letter use the right or left arrow key to move the pointing arrow to the correct choice then press ENTER. (bottom of page 11) Points are added for correct answers. After you select the correct answer you must press a key to continue. You may press ESC to stop, otherwise the entire alphabet will be shown. Also, you may press c to change the foreground color for the letters. ENGLISH This option has four suboptions. In the first of these you learn about nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. The second English option develops skill in forming sentences by asking you to unscramble sentences. The third teaches you the 5 basic sentence patterns and the fourth teaches subject-verb agreement. MAKE A FUNNY SENTENCE In this option you're first given the definition of a noun and a list of nouns to choose from. Choose a noun using the arrow keys to highlight your selection then press the ENTER key (you may also use a mouse). Next, the definition of an adjective is given and a list of seven adjectives is shown to choose from. Then the definitions of verbs and adverbs are given and lists of each are shown for you to choose from. When you've chosen the last word, two or three sentences will be displayed that use the words you chose. Although the sentences will be grammatically correct, they will not always make sense. When this happens, they're usually very amusing. Press the SPACE BAR (or the left mouse button) to repeat the process with new words. Press the ESC key or the right mouse button to quit and return to English Menu. SCRAMBLED SENTENCES Here you're given several words that can be used to make a correct sentence. One of the words will be (bottom of page 12) highlighted. You must move (using the arrow keys) this highlighted word up to the top of the screen and place it in correct sentence order. When you have placed that word in the correct spot the second word will be highlighted. While you're moving the word to its correct location a timer will be running. If you correctly place the word before the timer runs down, you will be given extra points. When the entire sentence is correct you'll receive an additional 10 points. While you're placing the words you'll notice that a small arrow will be moving from the right of the screen to the left. If your word gets hit by this arrow it will be knocked back down to the bottom and you'll have to start it again. So watch it! As you build up points the arrow will attempt to get faster. You can change the arrow's speed using the < and > keys. SENTENCE PARTS Here you're first shown that sentences have two basic parts -- the subject and the predicate. Definitions are also given. After pressing the SPACE BAR (or the left mouse button) you're shown how the predicate can be separated into its parts and as a result, that sentences have 5 basic patterns. Shorthand names of each are given. After pressing the SPACE BAR or mouse button again, definitions of each part are given. Finally, you will be given examples of each of the 5 sentence patterns. Press the SPACE BAR or mouse button once more and you'll be given a randomly chosen sentence from the sentence file and asked to identify its sentence pattern. Select the pattern by using the arrow keys or mouse to highlight the correct pattern then press ENTER or the left mouse button again. Each correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. Press ESC to quit or simply select RETURN with the (bottom of page 13) mouse. Press the SPACE BAR or the left mouse button to see another randomly chosen sentence. SUBJECT/VERB AGREEMENT When you choose this option you're first given some necessary instruction on how to insure that the verb agrees with the subject. A sentence is then presented with a missing word (usually a missing verb). You are required to select the correct missing word from a list of two choices. To choose the word, highlight it with the up or down arrow key or the mouse, then press ENTER or the left mouse button. Each correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. Press ESC to quit or simply use your mouse to select RETURN. After you've answered correctly press the SPACE BAR or the left mouse button to see another randomly chosen sentence. When you escape from any of the English options you will be placed back into English Menu. Choose a new English option or escape again to return to Main Menu. MATH This option is divided into 9 options. These are Laser Blast, Bug Numbers, Applespider, Timestable, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, and Algebra. These are described in the following paragraphs. LASER BLAST This is an exciting game that entertains and teaches quantity. First, a number of space ships are shown. Then, colored numbers begin to float across the screen. The object of the game is to shoot the correct number with the laser. The correct number is the one that equals the number of space ships. To shoot, simply push the SPACE BAR. To return to Math Menu press ESC. (bottom of page 14) To get numbers 0 through 4, start the game by choosing the first option. To get numbers 5 through 9 choose the second option. Obviously, most pre-schoolers should start with the numbers 0 through 4. Points are given for each hit. The faster you play, the more points given. The speed can be increased by using the > key and decreased using the < key. BUG NUMBERS This math option teaches the concept of multi-digit numbers. You are shown three large boxes. The box on the right will have 0 to 9 large individual bugs. The center box will have smaller bugs grouped in clusters of 10 each. The box on the left will have very small bugs in groups of 100 bugs each. Your job is to find how many bugs are shown on the screen. You must first count the number of groups that contain 100 bugs each. Press this number on the keyboard. This gives you the most significant digit. Next, count the number of groups that contain 10 bugs and press this number key. This gives you the next most significant digit. Finally, count the number of large bugs on the right side and type this number. This gives you the least significant digit and you're done. Ten points and an animation are given for completion. APPLESPIDER This is a very exciting and intense game that drills you in basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. From the Applespider opening screen choose Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, or Division. Next, you must choose the playing speed. Your options are Very Slow, Slow, Medium, Fast, or Very Fast. More points are given for playing faster. The applespider wants to eat your apple. You must prevent this by using the arrow keys to move the apple (bottom of page 15) out of the spider's way. At the beginning you are given 10 free moves. To get more moves you must solve the equation at the bottom of the screen. For every correct answer you get five more moves and points are added to your score. As your score increases, the spider gets faster. Your Applespider score will get added to your total Math score only if you win the game. You win when you have correctly answered 20 math problems. When this happens another apple will fall on the spider and squash him. As always, press ESC to stop. TIMESTABLE After selecting this option you'll have to select a level from one to thirteen. If you choose Level 5, for example, the number 5 will be used in the multiplication table. After you choose a level a worm will move that many apples onto the screen in one row. Then, you'll have to multiply that number by 1 to continue. Let's assume again that you chose the number 5. After you give the answer to 5 X 1 the worm will move another row of 5 apples onto the screen. You must now give the answer to 5 X 2. This continues until 5 rows are done. You can always find the answer by adding the total number of apples. When you're done just press the ESC key. You'll then be shown how many points you accumulated. More difficult multiplication tables give higher scores. ADDITION This option has four levels of difficulty. In each level the numbers are chosen at random. Add Level 1 In this beginner's level, stars are shown beside each number. The number of stars equals the number. For (bottom of page 16) example, suppose you are asked to add the numbers 2 and 3. Beside 2 there will be two stars and beside 3 there will be three stars. To find the answer just count the number of stars, type the answer and press the ENTER key. After you've entered the correct answer you must press a key to continue. Add Level 2 This level is exactly like Level 1 except the numbers are larger and the stars are not shown. Add Level 3 This level illustrates how to add multiple digit numbers by stepping you through the process. Again, all numbers are chosen at random. Active elements of the problem are highlighted by flashing the digits. Individual questions in the form of simple equations are shown at the bottom of the interactive window. A flashing cursor at the end of this equation indicates that an input is expected. If you enter the correct value it will be placed in its proper spot. The computer will beep if the answer is incorrect. When you've finished with the problem, you must press a key to continue. Add Level 4 This level is exactly like Level 3 except numbers with decimals are used. In each of these levels a complete correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. If sound is on you'll also get a tune for every correct answer or every 100 points depending on which sound option you've selected. You can press ESC to quit and return to Math Menu when you're done. SUBTRACTION This option has four levels of difficulty. In each level the numbers are chosen at random. Sub Level 1 In this beginners level, stars are shown beside each (bottom of page 17) number. The number of stars equals the number. If you are asked to, for example, subtract 2 from 4 there will be two stars beside the number 2 and four stars beside the number 4. However, two of the four stars beside the number four will be blinking to indicate the two that will be taken away. Also, the two stars beside the number 2 will be blinking. To find the answer just count the number of stars that are not blinking. After you've entered the correct answer you must press a key to continue. Sub Level 2 This level is exactly like Level 1 except the numbers are larger and the stars are not shown. Sub Level 3 This level illustrates how to subtract multiple digit numbers by stepping you through the process. Again, all numbers are chosen at random. Active elements of the problem are highlighted by flashing the digits. Individual questions in the form of simple equations are shown at the bottom of the interactive window. A flashing cursor at the end of this equation indicates that an input is expected. If you enter the correct value it will be placed in its proper spot. The computer will beep if the answer is incorrect. When you've finished with the problem, you must press a key to continue. Sub Level 4 This level is exactly like Level 3 except numbers with decimals are used. In each of these levels a complete correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. If sound is on you'll also get a tune for every correct answer or every 100 points depending on which sound option you've selected. You can press ESC to quit and return to Math Menu when you're done. (bottom of page 18) MULTIPLICATION This option also has four levels of difficulty. Mul Level 1 This level is similar to Add & Sub Level 1 because you must count stars that do not blink to find the correct answer. The difference is that the stars are grouped differently and there is only one line with stars. For example, suppose you are asked to find the product of 4 and 2. At the bottom, where the answer belongs, you will find two groups with four stars each. In other words, the computer has taken the four stars and placed them in the answer line twice. There is a total of 8 stars and they have been placed on the line where the number 8 belongs. Mul Level 2 This level is like Level 1 but larger numbers are used and no stars are displayed. Mul Level 3 This level leads you through long multiplication with multiple digit numbers. As in Add & Sub levels 3 & 4, active elements of the problem are highlighted by flashing the numbers. The instructions and questions to be answered are displayed at the bottom of the interactive window. The flashing cursor at the end of this question or equation is an indication that the computer is waiting for an input. Mul Level 4 Level 4 is identical to Level 3 except decimals are used. In each of these levels a complete correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. You can press ESC to quit and return to Math Menu when you're done or press any other key to continue. (bottom of page 19) DIVISION This option also has four levels of difficulty. Div Level 1 This level is similar to Add & Sub Level 1 because you must count stars that do not blink to find the correct answer. The difference is that the stars are grouped differently and there is only one line with stars. If you are asked to, for example, divide 12 by 3 then beside the 12 will be placed three groups of stars with 4 stars in each group. Only one group will not be blinking. So, if you count the stars that do not blink, you'll find the correct answer to be 4. Div Level 2 This level is like Level 1 but larger numbers are used and no stars are displayed. Div Level 3 This level leads you through long division with multiple digit numbers. As in Add & Sub levels 3 & 4, active elements of the problem are highlighted by flashing the numbers. The instructions and questions to be answered are displayed at the bottom of the interactive window. The flashing cursor at the end of this question or equation is an indication that the computer is waiting for an input. Div Level 4 Level 4 is identical to Level 3 except decimals are used. In each of these levels a complete correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. You can press ESC to quit and return to Math Menu when you're done or press any other key to continue. ALGEBRA This option also has four levels of difficulty. All four levels are basic introductory algebra but the (bottom of page 20) difficulty level does increase slightly with each level. In each level you must solve for the unknown value of Y. Just follow the instructions and answer the questions, and the computer will lead you through the solution. When you see the cursor flashing, the computer is waiting for an input. In all the Math options, the active parts of the equation are highlighted by flashing the numbers. Also, the final correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. Press ESC to quit and return to Math Menu when you're done or press any other key to continue. EXAMS The Exam module has four options. These are Make Exam, Take Exam, See Scores and Print Exam. Each of these is explained in the following paragraphs. MAKE EXAM In this option you're allowed to create a multiple choice examination. The first screen you'll see is an exam setup screen. This screen has three fields, one to enter the number of questions you want to ask, one to enter the title of the exam, and one to enter the filename for the exam. You may move freely from one field to another using the up or down arrow keys. Once you have all the information typed correctly in all the fields press the F10 function key. If you change your mind and decide you don't want to create an exam just press the ESC key to return to Exams Menu. After you press the F10 key from the Exam Setup screen you will see another screen that asks you to type the first question, its five answer choices, and the number of the correct answer. A total of eight fields are shown -- two for entering the question, five for the answers, and one for the number of the correct answer. (bottom of page 21) When you've entered all the questions you'll be returned to Exams Menu. If you decide to stop and not enter as many questions as you originally planned just press the ESC key. The exam will be created but with only as many questions as you entered before pressing ESC. TAKE EXAM When you choose this option you'll first be asked to enter your name. This is because your name will be stored later along with your score. After you've done this either press ESC to quit or press ENTER to get a list of all the exam files on your current directory. You may choose a file from the list or you may quit by pressing ESC, choosing the RETURN option, or pressing the right mouse button. Choose an exam file using the same techniques you normally use to select options. After you've chosen an exam file you'll see a screen that shows the exam title, the first question to answer, and its five answer choices. There are three way to choose an answer. You may use the up or down arrow keys to highlight the correct answer then press ENTER, or you may press the key corresponding to the first letter of the correct answer until it is highlighted then press ENTER, or you may use a mouse to highlight the correct answer then press the left mouse button to select it. If you want to quit without answering the question just press ESC or use the mouse to select RETURN. The number of questions you've answered correctly will be shown at the bottom of the screen. After you're done, your score will be added to the end of the score file that corresponds to the exam. The score file will have the same name as the exam file but a different extension. After you've either answered all the questions or quit you'll be shown your final score. You'll then have to press ENTER to continue. (bottom of page 22) SEE SCORES When you choose this option you'll first be shown a list of the score files to choose from. To choose a file, highlight it then press ENTER or the left mouse button. If you change your mind you may quit by pressing ESC. Next, choose whether you want to send the scores to a printer or to the screen. If you choose the printer don't forget to turn the printer on. Use the standard arrow key or mouse techniques to select this option. Before the scores are listed, the exam title and the number of questions in the exam will be shown. If the list is sent to the screen you'll have to press ENTER to return to Exams Menu when the list is complete. Your disk will come with several exams already prepared. Try them out! PRINT EXAM Use this option to make a hard copy or your examination. There will be five questions per page. The last page will contain the answers. The exam will be suitable for classroom use. TELL TIME Use this option for learning to tell time. It has four learning levels. In each level a clock is shown on the screen and you must choose the correct time from a list of three answers. Choose an answer by using the appropriate arrow key to get the large arrow directly over the correct choice, then press ENTER. When the correct answer is chosen, points will be added to your score and the digital time will be displayed below the clock. (bottom of page 23) TIME LEVEL 1 In this beginner's level the big hand always points to 12. However, the little hand can point to any of the 12 numbers. For correct answers only one point will be added to the score. TIME LEVEL 2 In this second level only on-the-hour, quarter, and half hours are used. In other words the big hand can only be on the 12, 3, 6, or 9. Correct answers are rewarded by the addition of 3 points. TIME LEVEL 3 In this level the big hand may point to any of the 12 numbers but may not point to any location between the numbers. For example, the clock could show 7:05, 7:10, or 7:15 but it will not show 7:03, 7:07, or 7:18. For correct answers, 5 points will be added to the score. TIME LEVEL 4 In this level any time is allowed on the clock. For correct answers, 10 points will be added to the score. In all these Time options, after you answer correctly points will be added to your score then you'll need to press a key to continue. HELP This option allows you to read the School-Mom manual on the screen or print it on paper. Use the Down Arrow key to read one line at a time or use the Page Down key to read one screen page at a time. Press F5 to print the document on your printer. You may use the Up Arrow key or the Page Up key to back (bottom of page 24) up in the document. You may also use the Home key to go back to the beginning or the End key to go to the end of the document. To quit this option press the ESC key. SCHOOL-MOM UTILITIES This utility program was designed for teachers or parents. Its purpose is to allow additions to and editing of the Spelling, English and Exam data files. It is sold separately. See the Order Form option for details. If you have this program you can start if from the operating system by typing CHANGE then pressing ENTER. If you have the MES Shell and Installation Program you can simple choose Utilities from the menu. This program contains 17 options. The first 6 options are for editing the Spelling files (formally part of School-Mom but now in Spelling BEEZ). The next eight options are for adding to or editing the English files. Finally, the last three options allows you to make changes to the Exam files. As always there is a final option to QUIT. SPELL FILES Use these options to change any one of the spelling word files. If you choose the Last Spelling Homework or Old Spelling Homework files you'll be presented with a list of additional spelling word files to choose from. After you select a spell file you'll be asked to choose whether you want to add words or edit them. If you select the Add Words option, the computer will quickly run through all the words in that particular file and stop after the last one. You may then enter a new word or press ESC to stop. When you enter a word, (bottom of page 25) unless the word already exists, it will be stored at the end of the file. The new word will be displayed along with its number and you'll be asked to enter another word or press ESC to stop. If you select the Edit option you must next choose to search for a word or start at the beginning. If you choose to start at the beginning, the first word in the file will be displayed. Then you'll be asked to press the F10 function key to go on to the next word, press ESC to stop, or make changes to the word then press ENTER. Keep pressing F10 until you see the word you want changed. When you're done just press ESC. If you choose to search for a word you must next enter some text to search for. After you type the text press ENTER and the first word that contains that text will be displayed for editing. After you edit it press ENTER to find the next occurrence of that text or ESC to quit. ENGLISH WORD FILES If you choose one of the English word file options (Noun, Adjective, Verb1, Verb2, or Adverb file) you'll again be asked whether you want to add or edit. The Add option works exactly like the Add option of the Spell Files option. The computer will quickly run through all the words in that particular file and stop after the last one. You may then enter a new word or press ESC to stop. When you enter a word it will be stored at the end of the file. The new word will be displayed along with its number and you'll be asked to enter another word or press ESC to stop. If you select the Edit option the first word in the file will be displayed. Then you'll be asked to press the F10 function key to go on to the next word, press ESC to stop, or make changes to the word then press ENTER. Keep pressing F10 until you see the word you want changed. When you're done just press ESC. (bottom of page 26) There is a slight difference between the verb1 and verb2 data files. The verb1 file contains past-tense and present-tense verbs that agree with singular subjects. The verb2 file contains only past-tense verbs. If you get these mixed up, the Make a Funny Sentence option will not produce correct sentences. SENTENCE PTRN FILES This option allows you to change the sentence pattern files. If you choose to add sentences, the last sentence in the file will be shown along with its pattern. You'll then be asked to enter new sentence information or press ESC to stop. When you've typed the sentence and its pattern correctly press the F10 key to store the information and get ready for the next sentence. When you're done press ESC to stop. If you choose to edit a sentence, the first sentence and its pattern will be displayed. You may press ESC to stop, F10 to see the next sentence, or you may make corrections to the sentence and its pattern then press F10 to store the changes and see the next sentence. SUB-VERB AGREE FILES This option allows you to change the subject-verb agreement files. If you choose to add sentences, the last sentence in the file will be shown. You'll then be asked to enter new sentence information or press ESC to stop. When you've typed the sentence and all its associated information correctly press the F1 key to store it and get ready for the next sentence. When you're done press ESC to stop. As an example, suppose your sentence is "They ____ late." Your two word choices will be "was" and "were". Since the second one is correct you'll enter the number 2 in the last field. Once you've entered all four pieces of information and pressed F10, the sentence will (bottom of page 27) be displayed at the top and you'll be asked to enter another sentence. When you're done press ESC to stop. If you choose to edit a sentence, the first sentence and its word choices will be displayed. You may press ESC to stop, F10 to see the next sentence, or you may make corrections then press F10 to store the changes and see the next sentence. SCRAMBLED WORDS FILE Use this option to make changes to the word files used in the Scrambled Sentence option. This file contains the scrambled words that you must unscramble to make correct sentences. As always you'll be asked if you want to edit or add to this file. After choosing to add you must first enter the number of words you want to have in the sentence. Then, you can type the words for the sentence. You must type the words in correct order. The software will scramble them before they are stored. Don't forget to capitalize the first word and place a period after the last word. If you choose to edit, all the information will be shown on the screen. You can then move around and make changes. The only thing you can't change is the number of words in the sentence. EXAM FILES Use these three options (Exam File Edit, Exam Score File Edit and Delete Exam File) to edit the exam files. The score file edit function can only be used to remove old scores from the score file. You can not change the scores. When you choose the Exam file Edit option you'll first be given a list of the files by file name. To select one of these files for editing, highlight it then press (bottom of page 28) ENTER or the left mouse button. After you press ENTER, the exam name will be listed and you'll be asked to make corrections. When you're done just press ENTER. If it's already correct you don't have to retype it. Next, the first question will be printed along with all 5 of its possible answers and the number of its correct answer. You can move the cursor around on the screen using the arrow keys. You don't need to retype everything. Just move to the error, make the correction and then move to the next error. When you've made all the corrections press the F10 key. The second question will be displayed next along with its possible answers. Make the changes and press F10 again. If no changes are required just press F10 and the next question and answer set will be displayed. If you finish editing before you get to the last set just press the ESC key. When you choose the Exam Score File Edit option you'll again be given a list of files to choose from. After you choose a file by highlighting it, press ENTER or the left mouse button. All the scores in that file will be displayed and you must decide if these are the scores you want to remove. If yes, press Y. If not, press N. If you choose yes, all the scores in that file will be removed. Choose the Delete Exam File option when you want to delete an exam file and it's score file. Choose this option and a list of exam files will be shown. Choose one using the keyboard or mouse and it will be deleted from your disk. Remember to keep knowledge of this file-change utility from your children. A child could use this program to destroy your files. Always keep a backup of the software so that if the data files get corrupted, you can replace them. (bottom of page 29) SOME FINAL NOTES I hope you enjoy this software and your children learn much from it. I'll continue making additions, improvements, and corrections. I believe it already is the most comprehensive educational software available. Other software packages may be prettier but the fancy graphics require huge amounts of memory and, therefore, limit the utility of the software. I believe those software packages are all bun and very little meat. School-Mom is designed to have just the right amount of both to make it useful and attractive. This software is dedicated to three people. First, to my wife for her patience as I've worked late nights and early mornings for the last 5 years writing this program. Second, to my 9-year-old adopted son who provided the motivation for this software. And, third, to the unwed teenage girl who gave birth to our son then gave him to us rather than choosing to terminate his life. I HAVE WORKED VERY HARD TO GET ALL THE BUGS OUT OF THIS PROGRAM. HOWEVER, I CAN NOT GUARANTEE THAT NONE EXISTS. WHEN YOU USE THIS SOFTWARE YOU MUST DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK. I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMAGE THAT MAY OCCUR AS A RESULT OF ITS USE. Dr. Andrew Motes Associate Professor, John Brown University All rights reserved, 1993 MOTES EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE PO BOX 575 Siloam Springs, AR 72761 (bottom of page 30)