Play and Learn 2

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CONTENTS page INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 HARDWARE & SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . 1 MAIN MENU WINDOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 USING A MOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 SELECTING SOUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 SUBMENUS OR LEVEL WINDOWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 MUSIC COMPOSITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 MUSIC LEVEL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 MUSIC LEVEL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 MUSIC LEVEL 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 SAVING YOUR TUNES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 DRAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 SPIDER WEBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SPACE TUNNELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SPACE WORMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SPACE RIBBONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SPELLING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 ALPHABET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 RANDOM WORDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 NEW SPELLING HOMEWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 LAST SPELLING HOMEWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 OLD SPELLING HOMEWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 STARTING A NEW HOMEWORK FILE . . . . . . . . . . 8 ENGLISH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ENGL LEVEL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ENGL LEVEL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ENGL LEVEL 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ENGL LEVEL 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 page MATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 LASER BLAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 BUG NUMBERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 APPLESPIDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 TIMETABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ADDITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ADD LEVEL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ADD LEVEL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ADD LEVEL 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ADD LEVEL 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 SUBTRACTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 SUB LEVEL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 SUB LEVEL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 SUB LEVEL 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 SUB LEVEL 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 MULTIPLICATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 MUL LEVEL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 MUL LEVEL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 MUL LEVEL 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 MUL LEVEL 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 DIVISION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 DIV LEVEL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 DIV LEVEL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 DIV LEVEL 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 DIV LEVEL 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 ALGEBRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 EXAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 MAKE EXAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 TAKE EXAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 SEE SCORES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 PRINT EXAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 TIME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 TIME LEVEL 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 TIME LEVEL 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 TIME LEVEL 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 TIME LEVEL 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 MANUAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 SOME FINAL NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 SCHOOL-MOM Ver. 4.1 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, Spelling, Math, Exams, Time and Manual. 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. We think you'll like what we've done with this software package. We also think you'll agree it's the most comprehensive children's educational software available at any price. HARD & SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS The minimum hardware requirements for running School-Mom are 640K RAM and color graphics adapter (CGA). A mouse and EGA are recommended for some options. The minimum software requirement is DOS version 2.0 or higher. -1- MAIN MENU WINDOW This window lists all the main options that you may choose from such as Music, Art, Spelling, English, Math, Exams, Time and Manual. 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. You may also press the key corresponding to the first letter of the desired option until the option is highlighted then press the ENTER key. Accept END 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 Draw option to draw and in the option windows to select options. To select an option using the mouse just move the mouse up or down until your desired option is highlighted then press the left button to accept. SELECTING SOUND Use the right and left arrow keys, or the mouse to select whether or not you want sound. Most options will use sound to indicate wrong answers. In all the options, if the sound is on, a tune is played for every 100 points received. The sound option must be on if you want to use the Music Composition option. SUBMENUS OR LEVEL WINDOWS All options have submenu windows. These windows are used to select learning levels or to choose a particular suboption. Choose from this menu 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 END, or press the ESC key, or press the right mouse button to return to Main Menu. -2- MUSIC COMPOSITION The Music Composition 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; therefore, 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 delete the previous notes by pressing the BACK-SPACE key. When you are 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 Main 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. -3- SAVING YOUR 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 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 in the Main Menu paragraph. This selected tune will be played and displayed ready for editing. ART Art has five options. These are Draw, Spider Webs, Space Tunnels, Space Worms, and Space Ribbons. The following paragraphs describe each of these. DRAW This option allows you to draw freehand with a mouse or joystick in multiple colors. If you want to use a mouse, be sure to load the mouse driver before you start. If you're using a mouse, change the color by pressing the right button and raise 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. 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. -4- 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. 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. -5- SPELLING This option has five suboptions -- Alphabet, Random Words, New Spelling Homework, Last Spelling Homework, and Old Spelling Homework. The following paragraphs describe these five. 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. 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. The following three options will test your ability to spell words. The Random Words option uses existing libraries of words while the New Spelling Homework option requires you to input your own words. After being drilled on these words you have the option of storing them for later use with the last two options, Last Spelling Homework and Old Spelling Homework. RANDOM WORDS This option has four levels of difficulty. The first level contains words that are three characters long, the second level contains words that are four characters long, the third level contains words that are five characters long, and the fourth level contains words that are six characters long. Each level is identical except for the length of the words. Large word libraries are included on the disk and words are chosen at random from the libraries. A word will be shown in the word box. When you think you know how to spell it press the space bar. The word -6- will disappear and you must spell it. If you still need help, press the down arrow key to see the word again. If you spell it wrong you'll be asked to try again. If you spell it right you must press the space bar to continue. This allows you time to examine the correct spelling of the word. After you press the space bar the new word will be shown and you'll have to press the space bar again when you're ready to spell it. NEW SPELLING HOMEWORK This option allows you to enter your daily spelling homework. You are allowed to enter up to 50 words of variable length. The only limitation on length is that the words must be shorter than 17 characters. When you choose this option you are only quizzed on those words you have entered. When you choose the New Spelling HW option you are asked how many words you want to enter. Just type the number and then press ENTER. If you choose to enter 10 words or less you may enter all the words on the same screen. Type each word then press ENTER. All editing functions such as delete, back-space, insert, and arrow key movements are allowed while you type the words. You may also use the up and down arrow keys to move from one word field to another. Press the F10 function key when you think you have them all spelled correctly. After you've entered all your words you will be quizzed on them. This occurs exactly the same way as in the Random Words option. In fact, all the spelling quiz options operate the same once the words are entered or recalled. If you choose to enter more than 10 words you may only enter one word at a time. Again, all editing functions such as delete, back-space, insert, and arrow key movements are allowed. Press ENTER when you have the word spelled correctly then type the next word. If you decide not to enter as many words as you originally -7- planned just press the F10 key. If you change your mind and want to quit just press ESC. When you are done with this option you can store the words you just entered for later use. If you choose yes, the words are stored in the Last Spelling Homework data file and added to the end if the Old Spelling Homework data file. These words can be recalled later when using the last two options. LAST SPELLING HOMEWORK This option can be used to recall the last previously stored spelling homework exercises. This can save you the time of retyping the words. Note that only the last set of spelling words can be recalled using this option. OLD SPELLING HOMEWORK In this option you are quizzed on all the words you previously stored in the Old Spelling Homework data file. When you store words in this file they are added to the end of the file. The file gets bigger each time you store more words. Use this option to review all your old spelling homework. STARTING A NEW HOMEWORK FILE If at the end of the school year you want to start a new file of old spelling homework you can use DOS commands to copy the old file to a new name or delete the old one. For example type RENAME HW-WORDS.DAT HW-WORDS.BAK then press ENTER. The next time you store words a new file called HW-WORDS.DAT will be created. When you're done using any of these spelling options, press ESC to return to Level Menu if you're in the Random Words option or to return to Spell Menu if you're in the other options. After you escape from a spelling option your misspelled words will be shown. -8- ENGLISH This option has four levels. In the first level you learn nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. The second level develops skill in forming sentences by asking you to unscramble sentences. The third level teaches you the 5 basic sentence patterns and the fourth level teaches subject-verb agreement. ENGL LEVEL 1 In Level 1 you are first given the definition of a noun and a list of nouns to choose from. Choose a noun by using the arrow keys to highlight your selection and then press the ENTER key. 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 the last word has been chosen, 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 are usually very amusing. Press the SPACE BAR to repeat the process with new words. Press the ESC key to quit and return to Level Menu. ENGL LEVEL 2 Here you are given several words that can be used to make a correct sentence. One of the words will be 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 are 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 will receive an additional 10 points. While you are placing the words you will notice that a small arrow will be moving from the right of the screen -9- 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! You can change the arrows speed using the < and > keys. ENGL LEVEL 3 In Level 3 you are first shown that sentences have two basic parts -- the subject and the predicate. Definitions are also given. After pressing the SPACE BAR you are 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 again, definitions of each part are given. Finally, you will be given examples of each of the 5 sentence patterns. Press the SPACE BAR 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 to highlight the correct pattern then press the ENTER key. Each correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. Press ESC to quit or simply select END from the list of patterns. Press the SPACE BAR to see another randomly chosen sentence. ENGL LEVEL 4 When you choose this option you're first given some necessary instruction on how to insure that the verb agrees with the subject. It then presents a sentence with a missing word (usually a missing verb). You are then 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 then press ENTER. Each correct answer is rewarded by the addition of 10 points to your score. Press ESC to quit or simply select END from the list of words. Press the SPACE BAR to see another randomly chosen sentence. When you escape from any of the English options you will -10- be placed back into English Level Menu. Choose a new level or escape again to return to Main Menu. MATH This option is divided into 6 options. These are Laser Blast, Bug Numbers, Applespider, Timetable, Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and 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 blocks 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 blocks. To shoot, simply push the SPACE BAR. To return to Main Menu press ESC. To get numbers 0 through 4, start the game by pressing the number key "1". To get numbers 5 through 9, press "2" to start. 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. If you want to change the background color just press c. Be careful not to choose a background color that matches one of the floating numbers. If this happens you will not be able to see that particular number. 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 -11- 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 large bugs in the far right box. Type this number and press ENTER. This gives you the least significant digit. Next, count the number of groups that contain 10 bugs and enter this number. This gives you the next most significant digit. Finally, count the number of groups that contain 100 bugs and enter this number. This gives you the most significant digit and you're done. Ten points 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 press A to be drilled in addition, S for subtraction, M for multiplication, or D to be drilled in division. Next, you must choose your playing speed. Press 0 to get the slow speed for beginners or 1 through 4 for faster speeds. 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 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. -12- As always, press ESC to stop. TIMETABLE After selecting this option you'll have to enter a number from 1 to 7. This will be the number used in the multiplication tables. Press a number then press ENTER. A worm will move that many apples onto the screen in one row. Then, you'll have to multiply the number you chose by 1 to continue. Let's assume 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 beginners level, stars are shown beside each number. The number of stars equals the number. For 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 -13- 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 100 points. You can press ESC to quit and return to Level 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 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 -14- 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 100 points. You can press ESC to quit and return to Level Menu when you're done. 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. -15- 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 Level Menu when you're done or press any other key to continue. 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. -16- 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 Level 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 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 Level Menu when you're done or press any other key to continue. EXAMS The Exam module has four options. These are Make Exam, -17- Take Exam, See Scores and Print Exam. Each of these is explained in the following paragraphs. MAKE EXAM In this option you are 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. 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. 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 -18- 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 select END from the answer list. Your running score will be shown at the bottom of the screen. After you're done, this 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. 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. If you change your mind you may quit by pressing ESC. Next, you'll be asked if you want to send the scores to a printer or to the screen. Type p then press ENTER if you want it sent to a printer (don't forget to turn the printer on) or type s then press ENTER if you want it sent to the screen. 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. -19- There will be five questions per page. The last page will contain the answers. 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. 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. For every 100 points you will be rewarded with a tune. -20- MANUAL This option allows you to read the School-Mom manual on the screen. 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. You may use the Up Arrow key or the Page Up key to back 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. 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. I HAVE WORKED VERY HARD TO GET ALL THE BUGS OUT OF THIS PROGRAM. HOWEVER, I CAN'T 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. SCHOOL-MOM DEDICATION 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 4 years writing this program. Second, to my 8-year-old adopted son who provided the inspiration 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. -21- Dr. Andrew Motes, Professor of Electrical Engineering. CompuServe ID# 73757,1111 Ph. (501)-524-8741 Please call after 6:00 pm (central). This is a home phone number. All rights reserved, 1992. Motes Educational Software. ________________________________________________________________ ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ (R) ──│ │o │────────────────── │ ┌─────┴╨──┐ │ Association of │ │ │─┘ Shareware └───│ o │ Professionals ──────│ ║ │──────────────────── └────╨────┘ MEMBER SCHOOL-MOM is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. -22-