Precision Software Appli…tions Silver Collection 1/Precision Software Applications Silver Collection Volume One (PSM) (1993).iso/children/mighty.exe/MATH.DOC

Text File | 1990-12-31 | 41KB | 965 lines

MATH.DOC


                             MIGHTY MATH
                         INSTRUCTION MANUAL

                   copyright (c) 1990, Robert Homes


Table of Contents

   A Note to Parents and Teachers
   Notice and Disclaimer

   1.  Overview and description
   2.  System Requirements
   3.  File List
   4.  Installation
   5.  Starting and Quitting the program
   6.  The Main Menu
   7.  Using the Menus
   8.  Play
   9.  Options
  10.  Tables
  11.  Scoring
  12.  Review
  13.  Help
  14.  Quit
  15.  How Mighty Math Began
  16.  About Quick Study
  17.  Registration and Orders


      A Note to Parents and Teachers


    The usefulness of Mighty Math may be reduced a bit for very young
children, and others who just can't type.  A certain level of typing skill
is required to use any computer program.

    However, Mighty Math doesn't require much typing on the normal
keyboard.  All answers to problems are in the form of numbers, and those
who lack typing skills can still handle the number pad on a keyboard very
well.  Therefore, even small children should do fine after a little
practice.

    A more serious problem for very young children is that when they are at
the age of tackling the times tables for the first time they may not be
capable of reading and understanding these instructions and help screens,
or using the Menus in the program without help.  This problem can be solved
easily by those who can read.  Just read these help screens for them,
choose the options they'll need to get started, and help them to get
acquainted with Practice Mode with you nearby.

    You can help a great deal by setting up the Options a child needs at
each stage of his learning process, and saving the Options with the
Options/Keep command.  This way, the same Options will be set each time the
program is run.  Later, when the child advances, you can change the Options
to fit the level he or she has reached.

    Another way to make the program easier to use is to automate the Play
or Test mode operation at start-up.  When you run Mighty Math, you may
enter a "switch" on the DOS command line to automate things a bit.  This
works only with the Registered version of the program.  Using the switch,
you can start Mighty Math to automatically go to the Play mode you specify
and begin Play.  The switches are : P (for Practice), T (Test), and D
(Demo).  A slash character (/) must be placed before a switch on the
command line.  For example:

    MATH /t

starts the program in Test Play mode.  Of course, all options affecting
Play would be set as indicated by any configuration you may have saved
previously with the Options/Keep command.

    If you help in these small ways, you can make sure your child's
experience with Mighty Math is an enjoyable one, and the time learning
the tables will be quick and painless!


      Notice and Disclaimer


      All rights reserved.  Produced in the U.S.A.  No part of
this software and accompanying materials may be used or
reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in a database
or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the
author.

      Permission is hereby given to copy and distribute the
ShareWare (unregistered) version only, for evaluation purposes
only, subject to the terms noted under "Enroll" or
"Registration".

      Making copies of any part of the registered version of this
software or accompanying materials for any purpose other than for
your own personal use is a violation of United States and
International copyright laws.  For information, address Robert
Homes, P. O. Box 500, Gulfport, MS 39502, USA.

      This software and accompanying materials are sold AS IS,
without warranty of any kind, either express or implied,
respecting the contents of same, including but not limited to
implied warranties for the program's quality, performance,
merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose.  Neither
the author nor Brief*Case nor any other vendor or distributor
shall be liable to the purchaser or any other person or entity
with respect to any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged
to be caused directly or indirectly by this software or
accompanying materials.


1. Overview and description


      The purpose of Mighty Math is to help people, especially
kids, learn the times tables as quickly and enjoyably as
possible. The program also helps with Division, Addition, and
Subtraction tables; but the focus is on the basic Multiplication
tables.

      The two Play modes make up the heart of the program; the
modes are Practice and Test.  Both work essentially the same, the
main difference being that Test mode keeps track of the time you
take, and scores your results.  The program keeps track of the
top 10 high scores.  If you play Test mode and score in the top
10, your name, the date, and your score are recorded on the high
scores list.

      There are several Options you can set to control the way
the Practice and Test modes work.  You select the options you
want to use, then start either Practice or Test mode. The main
option you must select is the "Operator", -- the type of
mathematical operator you want to work with: Multiplication (x),
Addition (+), Subtraction (-), or Division (%).  The First Table
and Last Table options determine which tables you will work with,
from 2 to 12. These and the other options are explained fully in
this manual, and more concisely in the help screens which are
available from within the program itself.


2. System Requirements


      - IBM PC computer or 100% compatible
      - MS-DOS, 3.0 or later
      - 500K free RAM memory
      - Color video and hard disk helpful, but not necessary


3. File list


      MATH.EXE     The Mighty Math program.

      MATH.OPL     Menu library file required by program.

      MATH.HLP     On-line Help file required by program.

      MATH.DOC     The Mighty Math manual, in a disk file.  You
                   can print the manual with any word processor
                   that can handle plain ASCII text (almost all
                   can) or use the DOS command "print math.doc".
                   Make sure you have letter-size paper (8-1/2"
                   by 11") in the printer.  Use a word processor
                   if you have one, because the DOS Print command
                   won't let you set margins or page length of
                   the printed output.  This file may be viewed
                   from within the program, using the Help/Guide
                   feature.

      MATH.CFG     Sample configuration file; sets options used
                   in the Play modes when working problems.

      MATH.PST     Sample Printer configuration file; sets options
                   used by Print modules.

      MATH.SCO     Contains sample scores.  You can erase this
                   file and start your own scores file.  If
                   Mighty Math doesn't find a MATH.SCO file, it
                   will create one in the current directory.

      MATH.WRO     Sample Wrong file; used to review problems.

      MATH.BUG     A plain ASCII text file to use for keeping
                   notes about any bugs you may find in the
                   program. (I hope you never have to use it.
                   But if you do, I hope you will do so freely,
                   and send me a copy with your comments.)

      INVOICE.DOC  A sample invoice form to use in registering
                   the program or ordering additional copies.
                   Remember, if you register, you'll receive an
                   additional program free, and it is excellent.

      README.DOC   Contains notes of recent program additions and
                   corrections, description of program, and brief
                   start-up instructions.

      DEMO.BAT,    Files needed to run Quick Study Demo.  All 3
      STUDY.DBD,   must be in the current directory.  To run the
      RDEMO2.EXE   demo, enter 'DEMO' at the DOS prompt.


4. Installation


      First make a copy of the program disk and store the
original in a safe place; use the copy to install and run the
program.  If you don't know how to make copies of files and
disks, consult the DOS manual or ask someone with more computer
experience before going further.

      (a) To install on a hard disk

      Installation consists simply of copying the files from the
Mighty Math disk to a sub-directory of your hard disk.  You
should set aside a special sub-directory just for the Mighty Math
files.

      On the PC computer, a hard disk usually is designated as
Drive C:.  I will assume that your hard disk is Drive C: in this
manual; if your hard disk has a different letter designation,
modify these instructions accordingly.

      First go to your hard disk.  From the DOS prompt, just
enter "C:" to get there.

      Then create a separate directory to store the Mighty Math
files.  Call it anything you want.  Just "MM" or "MATH" will do.
The DOS command to create the \MATH directory would be:
"md \math" (without the quotes, of course).

      Then switch to the Mighty Math directory.  If you named the
directory "\MATH" as suggested in the last paragraph, the DOS
command to switch there would be "cd \math".  Copy all files from
the Mighty Math disk to the new directory.

      (b) To install on a floppy disk

      Installation on a floppy disk just involves making a copy
of the Mighty Math disk.  Don't use your original disk to run the
program; make a backup right away, then store the original in a
safe place and use the backup exclusively after that.

      To copy a floppy disk, use the DOS command DISKCOPY.
Consult your DOS manual for details.  Here are the basics.

      Put the original Mighty Math disk in Drive A:.  If you have
a second floppy disk drive (B:), put a blank diskette there. From
the A: prompt, enter "DISKCOPY A: B:".  If you have two floppy
disk drives, DOS will copy the Mighty Math files on Drive A: to
the disk in Drive B:.  If you have only one floppy disk drive,
DOS will treat Drive A: as Drive B: for copying purposes, and
instruct you to replace the original disk with the blank disk at
the appropriate times during the copying process.

      Remember that DISKCOPY will destroy any old data on the
target disk.

      Note: you can't use DISKCOPY to copy from one type disk to
a different type; e.g., you can't copy from a 1.2mb disk to a
360k disk.  You may need to use the regular DOS COPY command.
Also note that to install Mighty Math on a 360k floppy disk, you
may need to omit some files.  The files most easily lost are
those that contain the Quick Study Demo: DEMO.BAT, RDEMO2.EXE,
and STUDY.DBD; these may have been included on your distribution
disk, and if so, you may leave them off the copy.

      (c) Special installation options

      You can, if you want, run Mighty Math from a directory
other than the one where you store the Mighty Math files.
However, to do this, you must follow some important rules.
These rules require that you know some advanced DOS commands,
and how to create and use batch files.  If you don't know DOS
that well yet, skip this section for now.

      Mighty Math needs three files to run: the program file
(MATH.EXE), the Menu Library file, MATH.OPL, and the on-line Help
file, MATH.HLP.  If you want to use the Help/Guide feature, the
manual file, MATH.DOC, must also be present.  These files must
all be in the same directory.  You can, if you wish, delete the
rest of the files from your hard disk directory or floppy disk
copy.

      Moreover, Mighty Math keeps track of the directory it is
stored in, regardless of which directory or drive you are in when
you run it.  For example, if MATH.EXE, MATH.OPL, MATH.HLP, and
MATH.DOC are in the directory

      C:\MM

and you are in the directory

      D:\WORK

you can start Mighty Math by entering this at the DOS prompt:

      C:\MM\MATH

      Or you could put the C:\MM directory in your Path with
the DOS command

      path C:\MM

and run Mighty Math from any other directory just by typing
"MATH" at the DOS prompt.

      Another approach could be to create a batch file that will
run the program, and put the batch file in a directory on your
default path.  Most users put their batch files in a directory
called C:\BAT and keep that directory in the path setting at all
times.  A sample batch file might contain these commands:

      :MATH.BAT
      @echo off
      C:\MM\MATH

      Or, you could create a separate batch file for each person
who intends to use the program on your system.  Each batch file
could put the user in his or her own special directory before
invoking the program.  For example:

      :BOB.BAT
      @echo off
      c:
      cd \bob
      C:\MM\MATH

With this batch file, Bob could simply enter "BOB" at the DOS
prompt to switch to the C:\BOB directory and run Mighty Math
from there.

      All these techniques share a common goal: to set things up
so that you can run Mighty Math from any directory in your
system.  And Mighty Math will let you do this; it doesn't care
where you run it from, as it can always find its help file
(MATH.HLP), library file (MATH.OPL), and manual file (MATH.DOC)
as long as those files are in the same directory as MATH.EXE.

      However, there is one important condition you must heed if
you run Mighty Math from a different directory than the one it is
stored in.  That is, you must be aware of the fact that Mighty
Math needs to read and write four data support files: MATH.CFG,
MATH.PST, MATH.SCO, and MATH.WRO.

      You must not have any files with these names (unless they
are Mighty Math files, of course!) in any directory you intend to
run Mighty Math from.  If you have any such files, you may run
into two problems by running Mighty Math from the directory where
they reside.  First, Mighty Math may not start properly; it will
attempt to read and use the data from one or more of these files,
and will find the data incompatible; this may cause the program
to halt suddenly without explanation, or exhibit other strange
behavior.  Second, Mighty Math may destroy your existing files
with these names, by writing new files with the same names.

      The parts of the Mighty Math program that can create these
disk files are:

   - Menu item Options/Keep creates the file MATH.CFG
   - Menu item Group/Print/Keep creates the file MATH.PST
   - Menu item Review/Keep creates the file MATH.WRO
   - Making a top 10 score in Test mode creates MATH.SCO

      Each of these four files, if created, will be placed in
the current DOS directory (the area of your hard or floppy disk
you were in when you started the program).  No warning is given
when any of these files is created, so you must make sure you
have no files with these names that aren't part of the Mighty
Math system in any directory in which you intend to use Mighty
Math.

      After reading the foregoing, you may decide not to run the
risk of using Mighty Math from other directories; and it is a
simple matter to go to the Mighty Math directory whenever you use
the program.  A batch file can make this automatic.

      But if you do decide to set things up so you can use the
program from different directories (taking the precautions
mentioned above), you may find this approach useful.  For, it
will allow several persons to use the program, and each user can
keep his or her own configuration files (MATH.CFG and MATH.PST),
scores (MATH.SCO), and review file (MATH.WRO) in a dedicated
directory just for that person.  This would allow many students,
or members of a family, to use the program on the same system
without "stepping on each other's toes".


5.  Starting and Quitting the Program


      To start the program, go to the Drive or directory where
the Mighty Math files are stored, enter "MATH" at the DOS prompt,
and press the ENTER key.

      The first screen you see is the Title Screen; it displays
the name of the program and the copyright information.  If the
program is registered, the Serial Number will appear in the title
window.  If you're running an un-registered version, there will
be a forced delay before you can go on.

      Press RETURN (the ENTER key on most keyboards) to leave
the Title screen and go to the main menu.

      Once you are in the program, you can get help by selecting
Help from the main menu.  You can also press F1 to get immediate
help about the particular activity or menu item you're on.

      To quit the program, select Quit from the main menu; a
sub-menu appears with the choices "Yes" and "No" -- press "Y" to
select "Yes".


6.  The Main Menu


      The 6 selections on the main menu are:

        ■ Play     - work the problems

        ■ Options  - set options to control play

        ■ Tables   - view tables and high scores

        ■ Review   - re-work problems you missed in Play

        ■ Help     - get instuctions about the program

        ■ Quit     - leave the program

      When you choose one of these topics, a sub-menu appears,
with items that apply to that topic.  See the descriptions of
each topic in the following sections of this manual.


7.  Using the Menus


      Use arrow keys and other cursor-pad keys to move through
the menus.  Cursor keys include Home, End, PgUp and PgDn.
WordStar keys also work: thus, Ctrl-S moves left, Ctrl-D right,
Ctrl-E up, and Ctrl-X down.  Control key combinations like these
may be written as follows: ^S (same as Ctrl-S).  To enter a
control key combination, hold the CONTROL key down while tapping
the appropriate letter key.

      Select menu items by pressing the first letter of the item,
or moving the bar highlight to the item and pressing the RETURN
key (ENTER).  The SpaceBar acts like ENTER in many situations.

      Press the ESCAPE key to back out of menus and most
information and help screens.  The dot key (.) acts like ESCAPE
throughout the program.  The left and right arrow keys move left
and right through the sub-menus; if used while a prompt screen is
displayed, they usually return you to the menu system.


8.  Play


      Before starting play, set desired values in the Options
menu (see below).  Then go the the Play menu and choose Practice,
Test, or Demo mode.  Press ESCAPE to abort play in any mode.  You
can also abort by pressing ^Q (Ctrl-Q); this by-passes the score
and review screens that otherwise would appear when you end a
play session.

      Practice and Test modes are similar; the chief difference
is that timing and scoring aren't used in Practice.  When an
equation (like "2x2") is highlighted on the grid, you must type
the answer.  There's no need to press ENTER -- Mighty Math knows
how long each answer should be.  You can use BackSpace to go back
and change the first part of an answer, but not after entering
the last number.  Thus, if the problem is "11x12", the answer is
"132", and you enter the "1" and "3", you can back up, but you
can't back up after entering the "2".

      When you enter a right answer, a "bomb" explodes and erases
the question from the play grid.  (The appearance of the bomb can
be changed in the Options menu.)  If you enter a wrong answer,
the problem stays on the grid, but changes color.

      In Practice Mode, if the "Answer Help" option is set to 1
or 2, you may be shown the correct answer after you enter a wrong
one.

      In Practice and Test modes, you're only allowed 2 wrong
answers to a particular question.  In Test Mode, there's an
additional limitation -- when the total wrong answers reaches the
number set in the "Wrong Allowed" option, Test mode terminates.

      In Test or Practice, you can skip a problem and put off
answering it by pressing ENTER before starting to type an answer.

      While in Practice or Test mode, you can get help by
pressing F1 or "?", toggle Sound on and off with ^S, and change
the appearance of Bombs with ^B.


9. Options


      To change an option, go to the Options menu, and select the
option you want to change; an option cycles through it's possible
settings when you select it.

      The main option is the Operator.  Possible Operators are:

       + (addition)        x (multiplication)
       - (subtraction      ÷ (division)

      The Range setting determines how far from the first
questions Mighty Math will go to get the next question.  A Range
of 1 forces the questions to proceed in the order presented;
Range 2 forces the next question close to the first; Range 10
lets Mighty Math choose any question on the board.

      First and Last Table options set the first and last tables
to work with; for example, set First to "2" and Last to "12" to
work on the 2 through 12 tables.

      The "Wrong Allowed" option sets the number of wrong answers
Mighty Math will allow before terminating play in Test mode; set
this between 0 and 15.

      "Erase Grid" controls what happens when you enter a right
answer; if this option is set to "Yes", the Question is erased
from the Play Grid and replaced with a blank space; if Erase Grid
is set off ("No"),the Question is replaced with the correct
Answer.

      "Demo speed" sets the delay in Demo mode between display of
questions and answers.

      "Bombs" sets the style of bombs that erase questions when
you enter a right answer.

      "Sound" toggles the program sounds on/off.

      The "Priors Shown" option determines whether all or part of
the questions in a particular table are shown on the Play screen.
This option only applies when you choose a First Table greater
than 2.  What this option does is best seen and appreciated when
you run the program; try setting the option on, then go to Play
mode and use Test or Practice; then set the option off and return
to Play mode to see the difference.

      "Color set" selects one of 9 color sets for the Play
screen.  The sets are:

            Blue        Yellow
            Green       Brown
            Cyan        Gray
            Red         Monochrome
            Magenta

      "Initialize" re-sets all options to their original default
values.

      "Keep" saves option settings in the file MATH.CFG.  Each
time Mighty Math starts, it configures the options to the values
in that file, if it exists; if MATH.CFG is not found in the
current directory, the option values are set to the program
defaults used by the Initialize option.


10.  Tables


      The Tables menu offers several choices for viewing and
printing the various tables, and seeing the lists of high Scores.
See the separate topic on Scoring for a description of how scores
are calculated and how to see the high scores.

      You can re-set the current Operation in the Tables Menu;
this works the same as the similar item on the Options Menu.

      Choose View to display tables on the screen.  When you
select View, the tables for the current Operation are shown,
starting with the table designated by the First Table option on
the Options Menu.  When viewing one table, use the ENTER key or
SpaceBar to flip through the tables.  The PgUp, PgDn, Home, and
End keys also work.  Press ESCAPE to exit from the Tables view.

      Choose Print to print one or more tables on the printer, or
to a disk file.  You can print any table from 0 to 99.  Use the
Scope item on the Print Menu to enter one or more tables to
print.  You can enter just one number, or several.  Use commas
and dashes to indicate which tables to print.  For example the
Scope entry

      2,4-6,8

selects the 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 tables to print.

      To print, first set the Print Options to any desired
values, then select "Go" from the Print menu to start printing.

      You can re-direct printing to a disk file by setting the
"Device Out" print option to FILE.

      The Print Option "Units" can be set to "One" or "All".
Use the One setting to print just one Table.  When Units is set
to "All", each Table included in the Scope setting will be
printed.

      You can press ESCAPE at any time to pause printing; when
printing is paused, you have the option to continue, or abort
printing.  When you abort printing, Mighty Math still prints the
rest of any Table it was printing at the time.

      If the Device Out option is set to PRINTER (rather than
FILE), the printer may not stop immediately after you press
ESCAPE or after the current Table is finished printing.  This is
due to the fact that characters may be stored in the printer's
internal buffer.  If this occurs, you must wait for the printer
to finish printing what's left in its buffer, or turn the printer
off manually.

      The Tables to be printed will be for the current Operator.

      See the on-line context-sensitive Help System for help with
each individual Print Option.

       You can change and save print settings before printing.
Remember, to start printing, select "Go" from the Print Menu.


11.  Scoring


      To see the lists of High Scores, select Scores from the
Tables Menu, then pick the category you want to see (categories
are the same as the Operators).  Press ENTER while viewing one
category to see the next.

      Scoring is based on the overall number of right and wrong
answers, with bonuses for setting high Range and low Wrong
Allowed options, and for average times less than 17.5 seconds
(1750 hundredth-seconds) per problem.

      When you finish a Test session, a screen appears with a
display of the results.  A "Basic Score" is shown, then any
"Bonuses" that are added to arrive at the Final Score.

      There are three things that cause bonus points to be added
to your score.

      The first is a time bonus.  There is one bonus point for
each 100th of a second your average time is less than 17.5
seconds per problem.  For example, say you work 10 problems in a
Test session, and take 15 seconds to do it.  This would be an
average time per problem of 1.5 seconds, or 150 hundredths of a
second.  This average would be 1600 hundredths of a second below
17.5 seconds, so the bonus would be 1600 points.  You can always
score bonus points if you average less than 17.5 seconds per
problem.  The highest time bonus you can score (in theory) would
be 1750 points, but you would have to average 0 seconds per
problem to do it!  I'm able to average about 1.6 seconds per
problem at my fastest speed, which is about 1600 bonus points.

      The second thing you can get bonus points for is using a
Range option setting of more than 1.  You get the highest bonus
points for setting the Range option to its maximum, that is, 10.
A Range setting of 10 would mean 1700 bonus points.  A Range
setting of 1 would mean no bonus points.  This is appropriate,
because if you set the Range to 1, you can see in advance what
each question is going to be before you get to it, and you can go
much faster if you have that little bit of extra time to think
ahead.

      The last thing you can score bonus points for is using a
"Wrong Allowed" option setting of less than the maximum, 15. If
you set "Wrong Allowed" to 0, you can score a maximum bonus of
1700 points.  This rewards those who attempt to work the problems
under the pressure of knowing that the first time they miss a
problem, the Test is going to abort.

      The optimum Basic Score is 5,000 points.  You can only
achieve this score if you work all 66 problems in Test mode, and
get them all right the first time.

      If you work all 66 problems at an average speed of 1 second
per problem, set the "Wrong Allowed" option to 0, and the "Range"
option set to 10, you can score 5,000 bonus points.

      An optimum over-all score (5,000 Basic Score, plus 5,000
Bonus points) would be 10,000.  I have not been able to quite
reach this optimum because I can't work at a speed of 1 second
per problem.  I have come very close, using the number keys on
the top row of the keyboard to enter answers; someone who uses
the number pad may be able to achieve a score of 10,000 or a
little more.

      When you play in Test Mode, and score in the top 10 in a
category, your name and score are saved and will be seen when
viewing the High Scores in that category.  The High Scores can't
be changed (except by making a higher score in Test mode), but
you can erase all the scores by deleting the file MATH.SCO.


12.  Review


      Select Review from the main menu.  Three choices appear on
the Review menu: Work, Keep, and Read.

      If an operator sign (+, -, x, or %) appears next to the
Work selection, there is a set of problems stored for review.
These are usually items missed when you last used Practice or
Test play.  To review them, select "Work".

      To save a set of missed problems that was stored when you
used Practice or Test play, select "Keep"; this saves the
problems in the MATH.WRO file.  To re-load the problems from that
file, select "Read".


13.  Help


      Select the Help item from the Main Menu to see a Help Menu
containing a list of the main help topics available.  Pick the
item you want to see and press ENTER to display the help screen.
You can also enter the help system from almost any point in the
program by pressing F1.  This gives "context-sensitive" help
about the menu item or activity you're on when you ask for help.

      Once in the help system, you can move around to other help
topics or view the list of all topics.  Use F1 to see the list of
topics.  Use the TAB key to go to high-lighted cross-reference
words and press ENTER on the word to go to the help topic named.
Use Alt-F1 to back up to the previous topic.

      When you have displayed one of the Help screens, you can
scroll up and down to see any portions that are off-screen.  Use
the cursor arrow keys, and the PgUp, PgDn, Home and End keys.
Press ESCAPE to exit Help and return to the Main Menu.

      One item on the Help Menu, Guide, is different from the
others.  When you select Guide, Mighty Math looks for the file
MATH.DOC in the same directory where the program file, MATH.EXE,
is located.  MATH.DOC is this Mighty Math manual in a disk file.
If the manual file is found, it will be displayed on the screen,
and you can browse through it with the cursor keys.  To leave the
manual screen and return to the menu, press ESCAPE or Ctrl-K-Q.

      While viewing the manual file with the Help/Guide feature,
you can perform simple searches.  Press ^QF to initiate a search,
then enter the word or phrase to search for.  You will be asked
to enter one or more search option letters.  The "U" option makes
the search Un-case-sensitive (that is, treats Upper case the same
as lower case).  Other options are self-explanatory.


14.  Quit


      Select Quit from the Main Menu and a short Quit menu
appears with two choices: "Yes" and "No".  Choose "Yes" to exit
the program.  "No" returns you to the opening screen, where you
can either return to the program (by pressing ENTER) or quit (by
pressing ESCAPE).

      You can also quit by pressing ESCAPE twice from the Main
Menu; the first ESCAPE returns you to the opening screen, and the
second terminates the program.


15.  How Mighty Math Began


      The basic concept behind Mighty Math is one which I noticed
when I tried to teach my own three boys the times tables.  I'll
never forget how they agonized for months over the 13 sets of
tables their grade school teacher had given them -- and how little
progress they seemed to make.  They were dealing with a total of
169 problems -- from "0 x 0" to "12 x 12", consisting of 13
problems on the 13 tables from 0 to 12.  It wasn't fun and it
wasn't easy.  That's when I developed the Mighty Math system.

      It wasn't a program yet, we didn't even own a computer.
Mighty Math then was just a big chart on a poster, taped to the
refrigerator door in our kitchen.  But that chart was the same
one you'll find in the Mighty Math program.  And it made learning
the times tables fun at last.  The only bad part was that all
that work didn't get used long -- the boys learned the tables in
less then a week, and the chart was retired.

      Why does the Mighty Math chart work?  I don't think there's
only one reason; its a combination of several things, all of them
important to kids trying to tackle this bane of childhood.  But I
believe the main reason is that the chart makes kids realize that
there really aren't 169 problems in the times tables -- they're
only about a third of that.  And they can see all of them on the
chart at one time.

      Mighty Math reduces the number of the problems from 169 to
66 by eliminating problems involving 0 and 1, and then discarding
duplications.  Almost two-thirds of the problems most children
are forced to learn are unneccessary; the only purpose they serve
is to wear the kids down and confuse them into thinking the task
is more difficult than it is.  It is not necessary to "learn"
(i.e. memorize) 13 problems involving 0.  Once you know that 0
times any other number is 0, you have no need to "memorize"
any problems with 0 as one of the numbers.  The same thing is
true for 1: once you know that 1 times any number is that number,
you don't have to memorize any 1 times tables.

      Eliminating 0 and 1 from the times tables leaves 132
problems.  But when you look at those problems closely, you will
soon see that 66 of them are nothing more than duplicates of the
others.  The problem "7 x 12" is exactly the same as "12 x 7".
All you, as a kid learning the times tables, need to know is that
the order of the "multiplier" and the "multiplicand" (or whatever
they call the darn things these days) is totally irrelevant and
immaterial.  Once you know that, you can eliminate the 66
problems that are duplicates from the tables.  This leaves you
with 66 problems to memorize.  You already feel 100% better.

      The chart shows this reduction in the problems at a glance
-- you see on the chart all of the problems you have to learn,
and they don't seem so difficult that way.  Another good thing
about the chart is it shows you that each time you learn another
table, you have one less problem to learn on the next table.  You
learn "2 x 2" through "2 x 12" on the two times table, but you
only have to learn "3 x 3" through "3 x 12" on the threes table.
(The "3 x 2" problem was eliminated as a duplicate of "2 x 3".)
By the time you get to the 12 times table, you only have ONE
problem to learn: "12 x 12"!

      Another nice thing about the chart is that you can jump
around to randomly select problems when you want, or you can stay
near the top of the set if you want.  That's what the Range
option does.  You can set the Range to 1 at the beginning, and
work your way through the problems one by one until you get to
unknown (un-memorized) territory; again, you see right where you
stand with respect to all the problems on the board every step of
the way.

      Mighty Math adds further advantages: hints at the right
times, timing and scoring to introduce competition as an extra
incentive to learning, and it saves the problems you missed and
lets you review them later, whenever you wish.

      All in all, I think you will find Mighty Math a tremendous
helper in teaching any child (or adult) the times tables.  You
may even find that it can help you refresh your own memory.  And
it's fun!


16.  About the Quick Study program


      I have written another program, similar in approach to
Mighty Math, called Quick Study.  When you order a registered
copy of Mighty Math, you get a free disk with the other program.
See part 17 below for more information.  I'd like to take this
opportunity to tell you about Quick Study. It goes hand in hand
with Mighty Math in working on basic learning skills.

      Quick Study is a lot like Mighty Math.  It has a similar
chart with all problems shown at a glance.  It operates on the
same principles and achieves the same quick results.  It is a
serious program, designed to help the learning process by showing
that the task is not so hard.  I think you will find that, like
Mighty Math, Quick Study not only makes learning fun, but
achieves immediate and clear results too.

      Although it works on the same principles, Quick Study is
much more comprehensive then Mighty Math.  It lets you create
your own groups of problems and stores them in disk files for
future use.  It keeps separate scores for each group of problems.

      Quick Study helps with spelling words.  Unlike Mighty Math,
which has a fixed set of problems you can't change, Quick Study
lets you enter your own problems to work on. Each "problem" you
enter includes a "question", an "answer", and a line of text
(called the "prompt") to accompany the question and answer; if
you want, you can omit the prompt line.  You enter the problems
in sets of 10; the sets can be combined in groups of up to 5
sets, making 50 maximum problems in a Group.  The sets act like
tables in Mighty Math. You store each Group in a separate disk
file.  When you choose a Group to work on, all the sets in the
Group are loaded by the program.  You can then choose a range of
sets to work on, like you choose a range of tables in Mighty
Math.

      You only have to enter the words in a Group one time;
they're saved in a disk file and can be recalled at any time.

      When you work on a Group of words, you can set the Range as
in Mighty Math, to present the words in order, or in a random
fashion.  Words you miss are stored for review.  Many other
features parallel those in Mighty Math.

      With Quick Study, you and/or your child can enter a set or
a whole group of spelling words, and learn them quickly and
easily, using the same proven system demonstrated in Mighty Math.
And parents and teachers can be relived of much of the tedium of
assisting the learners, because the words are all stored on the
computer, and can be reviewed by the learner without anyone
else's assistance.

      Quick Study isn't limited to memorizing spelling words,
however.  You can use it to learn any kind of information that
can be grouped, and encapsulated in short questions and answers.
Quick Study can help you learn: names, capitals, and postal
abbreviations of the States, world countries and their capitals,
historical facts and figures, foreign languages; it can help you
increase your vocabulary in English, memorize the elements and
their atomic numbers and symbols in Plysics, learn basic chemical
formulas in Chemistry, and improve your memory in general.

      The list could go on forever.  There is no limit to the
possibilities, because you decide what you want to learn, you
save the words and problems you want to use, and the number of
Group files you use is limited only by the amount of disk space
you want to devote to them.  Sample Group files are provided on
the Quick Study program disk, and you can create any number of
your own.


17.  How to register and order additional copies


      Just send $35.00 for each registered copy of Mighty Math
you want to:

            Robert Homes
            Brief*Case
            P. O. Box 500
            Gulfport, MS 39502
            [phone]

      Make sure to include your name, address, phone number, and
preferred disk format (either 5¼" or 3½").  When you order,
please send along your comments and suggestions; I want to keep
supporting and improving this program, and I can do so only with
your help.

      With each registered copy of Mighty Math you order, you'll
receive a free disk of my other educational program, Quick Study,
and a bound User's Guide with instructions for both programs.

      You'll also receive notices of future updates, a special
discount on the price of upgrades, and free telephone support.

      And Registration removes the forced notice that appears
when you enter and exit the unregistered version of the program.

      If you are with an institution that requires more record
keeping than your cancelled check, you may find the file
INVOICE.DOC useful.  It contains a blank invoice form which you
should be able to print out with any word processor, or with the
DOS command "print invoice.doc".  You may need to print a test
run to make sure the top and left margins are right for your
printer.

      Site licenses at reasonable rates are available for schools
and other institutions.  Call for more information.