Details of how to play the games are in the Player Guide (or inside the front cover if in jewel case). This Parent/Teacher Guide gives extra information about how to get the most from the programs and how to customise them to suit your child's needs. Further points are in the Readme file (where provided).
You can see the exact areas covered by any 10 out of 10 product by loading the program and selecting Player information from the Main Menu. Then the Achievement record will be displayed with numbers below the game titles ranging from 1 to 6 - indicating the difficulty of the challenge. If you move the mouse pointer to one of the numbers, the topic covered by that level of the game will be displayed.
* Some packages have Practice Levels. Letters a, b, c or d in the boxes on the Achievement Record show that the levels are assessed. Some products have Practice Levels that are not assessed and are only intended to help the child grasp the subject matter. You can discover whether a subject has Practice Levels (and how many) by pressing the letter I on one of the Game Menus. If they are available, a display of their content will be given. They are selected by pressing function keys F1 to F6 (corresponding to the available Practice Levels 1 to a maximum of 6) while a Game Menu is displayed.
If all this sounds a bit tricky, load 10 out of 10, look at the Achievement Record on screen and move the pointer around. You will find the on-screen interpretation quite easy to follow - you will have no problem following your child's progress and discovering strengths once he or she starts playing the games.
When you view an Achievement Record for a new player - by selecting Player Information from the Main Menu or Information from a Game Menu - all the numbers are on black backgrounds. As the child plays and learns from the games, these records change to one of four colours as follows:
* Red: The child has played the game and achieved under 50% - needs more practice or assistance.
* Yellow: The child has scored 50% or more so probably knows the facts buts needs more practice. They can now go on to the next level - but should return to the yellow one and try to turn it green.
* Green: The child knows the facts and has proved it by achieving 100%.
* Blue: This is a colour to encourage the real experts and is available in most packages - although the criteria for its award vary depending on the age range and subject matter of the package. Details are in the ReadMe file where appropriate.
Note that the Achievement Record always shows the progress of the current player and is only updated if the number of players is set to one.
THE LEVELS
Every game has six levels - each one stretching the child further than the last. When a player first loads a game it will be set on Level 1. Progress to the next level is possible when the current level has a yellow record. (Over 50% accuracy). Parents or teachers can select any level - see Customisation.
THE SCORING SYSTEM
All 10 out of 10 programs have two scoring methods - the Achievement Record and the High Score Tables. The Achievement Record is based on the percentage of questions the child answers correctly, speed etc. are not taken into account.
The scores also take into account the level it was achieved on, the speed of answering, bonuses and so on. To rise up the High Score Tables children have to become proficient with academic challenges in the package and also apply knowledge with accuracy and speed.
Note that when two or more children play a game, they each aim for their own high score but the total percentage will be joint. No change is therefore made to the Achievement Record. On the High Score Table, to show that a percentage has been achieved by teamwork, a small dot is displayed after the % sign.
THE PLAYERS
When you first load 10 out of 10 you or your child should enter their name by selecting New Player. This will be saved to disc. Many features of 10 out of 10 are selected automatically by the software but a parent or teacher can alter the choice - either by key presses or from the Customisation Screen.
To access the Customisation Screen press Shift + Ctrl + C (Shift + Ctrl + X on some versions) while the Main Menu is displayed. You can then set the following:
* In 10 out of 10 foreign language packages, wherever possible, the target language is used. English may be used for the first easier three levels and the appropriate language for the higher three. If you would like a foreign environment to be used throughout the package, highlight the Environment option.
* At the end of a game the child is awarded a rating and during the games some messages may be displayed. If you prefer these messages not to be displayed they can be turned off from the Customisation Screen.
* Some packages allow various features to be turned off from the Customisation Screen - for example the beetles in Essential Maths.
* Sound can be turned on or off.
* The 10 out of 10 Series uses six graded levels in each game. From the Customisation Screen you can choose whether the word Level or Grade is used to describe these.
* Children cannot progress to a higher level until they have achieved yellow on the record for the current one. You can select any level from the Customisation Screen or by pressing Ctrl + F1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 while a Game Menu is displayed.
* When achievements are saved to disc they are saved in Classes. The class number (1 to 64) is set from the Customisation Screen - if the number is in green it already exists, but if it is red it will be set up. Note that this feature is for hard disc and network users. There is only room on the floppy disc version for one class - for more classes use a separate backup disc for each class and save the results on it in
* Class 1. Site licences are required - please ring for details.
* When the achievements are printed out as text, the software has to given the length of paper and how much gap to leave at the top and bottom. Set these from the Customisation Screen.
* Default puts all other options back to their starting values.
The choices you set out in the Customisation Screen, together with the access code, are saved to disc and will be used every time a child uses the package. If options are set from the Game Menu they will only be used during that game.
DATA PROTECTION
To prevent children from altering any of the stored information, access to Change Player, New Player and Remove Player can be restricted by use of an access code which is set to 0000 when you first load 10 out of 10. With it set to this, free access is allowed to all features and the code is not asked for.
However, if you press Ctrl + F10 and enter a new four-digit code, it will be saved to disc and you will in future have to enter the code before altering players.
If you choose to use an access code please remember it. If you forget it you will have to resort to your backup disks and all achievements etc. will be lost.
SPECIAL NEEDS
Many programs in 10 out of 10 Suites have several sets of graphics. These are automatically selected depending which level is selected - lower levels use graphics that appeal to younger children. However, parents and teachers can select the graphics that will be always used from the Customisation Screen. (1 = Youngest, A = Auto-select).
If graphics are available alterations can be done for a single game by pressing one of the three keys Ctrl + F7, 8 or 9 while the Game Menu is displayed. Once a parent or teacher has selected the graphics for a single program by this method they are used, whichever level is selected, until another program is loaded.
PRINTING
A major encouragement for the child is that a certificate showing the current achievements can be printed by simply selecting the option from the Main Menu.
If you want to print the Achievement Record, select Player Information from the Main Menu and, when the record is displayed, press Ctrl + P to print a text list of the achievements. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + S to save the colour screen to disc for you to print out using an art package.
If you want to print the achievements of more than one child, press Ctrl + M while the Achievement Record is displayed. A list of names will be displayed and you should highlight the ones you're interested in, using the Right Hand mouse button. Start printing by clicking with the Left hand one.
