WordMatch is a word and picture matching and spelling game for young children... whenever they first begin spelling or recognizing starting and ending sounds of words. Some adult coaching will probably be needed - if you find that it isn't, the game may be too easy for your child. For starters, you might try making a file with some words your child has studied in school, for example, the numbers from 1 to 10. I put such a file on Genie if you would rather use mine; it's called 'Numbers to Match'. Wish I had a Mac II so I could do the colors - (hmmm - think my wife would buy that reasoning???).
Note that this program can use Macintalk if available (see below). I can't distribute Macintalk, but you can obtain it from many Mac bulletin boards. Currently the Macintalk file MUST be in the same folder as WordMatch or it won't be found.
WORDMATCH IS A SHAREWARE PRODUCT. IT IS NOT FREE SOFTWARE. If you keep it and use it, I ask that you send in your $10 registration fee. This entitles you to future updated versions of this product, which may include improved Macintalk or other user-suggested enhancements. And it encourages me to write more and better software for our children.
All features of WordMatch are enabled in this version of WordMatch. The program has not been intentionally crippled (though it does have it's natural limitations) to tantalize anyone into paying a shareware fee to get a fully functional version. Presumably if you're interested in this program, you have young children like mine. So we both know what educational materials cost - I believe $10 to be a VERY modest amount.
One last thing - I welcome any criticisms, suggestions, or ideas for other software. There just isn't enough for the very young. And I'd like to do something about that. What would you like to see available? The Mac has incredible capabilities, limited only by our imaginations and programming skills.
This program is admittedly crude, especially in it's ability to create and edit files. As far as I can tell, the playing modes which the children would be using are relatively bug-free. Of course, that is NOT guaranteed. Let me know if you encounter any bugs and I'll see what I can do about getting rid of them.
Enough said. I hope your children enjoy it and learn something.
INSTRUCTIONS/INSTRUCTIONS/INSTRUCTIONS...
WordMatch has three modes, which can be changed via the MODE menu:
1) Match Simple word/picture matching game
2) Spell Harder - shows picture, child must spell the word
3) Edit Allows file creation and editing
Changing modes does not change the mode of any files that are already open, only for new files that you open after the mode change.
1) Match
This puts four simple pictures on the screen, and the four words that go with them. Use the mouse to draw a line connecting the pictures with the right words...
2) Spell
This puts a single picture up, and an empty text box. Type in the word that goes with the picture. If Macintalk is present, clicking on the picture will make WordMatch speak the word that it is expecting. Remember, Macintalk MUST be in the folder containing WordMatch itself or it won't be found. If you miss a letter, try again. After three misses on the same letter, WordMatch will do one of two things:
a) if Macintalk is available, it will speak the word and the correct spelling. Unfortunately, Macintalk's pronunciation is very crude, and sometimes quite unconventional... but usually understandable.
b) If Macintalk is not available, it will fill in the correct letter and let you go on.
Words where WordMatch helped with letters are added to a repeat list to be drilled again later.
3) Edit
Open a new WordMatch file. Open a Macpaint file. When the WordMatch window is active, New from the file menu creates a blank space in the file where you can paste in pictures from the Macpaint file. Type in the corresponding word. Pick simple pictures and words suitable for your child's age.
Note that you can't do any picture composition (yet) from inside of WordMatch. I suggest that you do this in Macpaint or a similar program since you have more control there. Leave your pictures spaced out enough to copy them once you get into WordMatch. You can use desk accessories to get artwork into WordMatch also - play with the scaling until it looks right. If you don't like the way a picture looks when you paste it into WordMatch, just use clear and try, try again. For those analyticals among you, the picture rectangle in WordMatch is 144 x 144 pixels (DON'T ask me why). Programs like Superpaint will let you display the ruler in pixels, making more precise picture sizing possible.
To cut and paste from an existing WordMatch file to a new one, open the new one first, THEN open the existing one. If you open the existing file first, the New command will create a blank space in that file rather than creating a new empty file.
Edit is the crudest part of WordMatch. Note that a word can be no longer than 32 characters; I haven't found that a problem with my 5 year old, but maybe your child is smarter than mine...
