From the child's view the registered version and shareware version are very similar, except for the better graphics in the EGA and VGA versions. The registered version has the following additional features: Skips the Shareware screen Easier set up for multiple children Ability to change our choice of word (or eliminate it) Foreign alphabet and Foreign Language capabilities. 40 spots (formerly 25) for personal words. Themes containing 50 words each. At this time, we supply color themes for EGA and VGA versions. You may create your own themes. Registered versions come in CGA, EGA, or VGA graphics. There is no additional cost for the better graphic versions. In general the EGA and VGA versions merely have more colors and more complexity to some drawings. If you have two computers or have a new graphics board in your dreams, include a pleasant note requesting desired versions. I also include Fun with Time, a simple program which will help your child be one of the last persons in America to be able to read time using the clock face and hands. Fun with Matching, the forerunner of the Match Maker is included on the same disk, as well as Fun with Christmas Carols. I also have available the following programs. Registration is $15 each. Match Maker and Fun with Numbers are not released as shareware at this date, but I intend to treat them as such to people who register any of my other programs. Match Maker - The ultimate educational concentration game. I've taken a highly rated program, Fun with Matching, and added as much flexibility, and parent and child control as I could imagine. Games include matches between letters, shapes, words (you may input - foreign languages), numbers, objects (my standard set plus pcx pictures), colors, music (you may input), finger spell graphics, arithmetic (you set ranges), and anything and everything I can think of between now and when you read this. Match Maker may be played with faces showing for very young children, and children learning a new subject, or with faces down like concentration. Your child may play by herself, with a friend, or with the clock. Fun with Designs - using dots and basic (and not so basic) geometrical shapes, as well as a myriad of colors, lets your Van Gogh or Mondrian create designs that will delight both children and parents alike. This is truly easy for 4 and 5 year-olds and promotes creativity. Lisa's Arithmetic Machine - Flexible, forgiving program for practicing all areas of addition and subtraction. Generated quizzes may be attempted at the computer, saved to a file, or printed out. Generates review, standard, or normal quizzes based on descriptions that you may change. Truly easy calculator is also part of the program. Fun with Numbers - Featuring numeral recognition, counting, grouping, adding, and subtracting, all with animation, colorful graphics, and large block numbers. This is not shareware but may be purchased for $15. Contents (pages are relative to this page as page 0) General Guidelines ............ 2 Getting Started Entering the Help Screen General Tips Tips for Level 1 (Letters) Tips for Level 2-5 (Words) Tips for Level 6 (Spelling) Operating Instructions ........ 6 Help Screen Level Descriptions Upper and Lower Case Options .... 8 Picture and No Picture Option Sound on/off, Fingerspell Special Features (Alphabet song) Customization ................... 9 Using your own pictures ......... 11 More than one child ............. 11 Leaving the program ............. 13 Mouse Control ................... 13 A User's Guide to Fun with Letters and Words Dear Parent: When our older daughter, Lisa, was approaching two, we began developing a program to satisfy her curiosity about the alphabet. That initial minimal effort has now grown into a multi-level reading program, which now four years later delights our four year-old Amy. In creating Fun with Letters and Words, we have spoken with reading specialists and parents. We have also picked up ideas watching other children use the program to ensure that Fun with Letters and Words provides a good balance between play and educa- tional activity. We would hope that you will likewise be in- clined to offer your suggestions by dropping us a note. As Lisa and Amy have played at the computer with their special program, we have gained some insights into using Fun with Letters and Words. And so we suggest the following with the hope that you and your child will spend as many enjoyable hours together with the program as our family has. (From here on, all children are understandably referred to as "she.") Best regards, Frank Holmes P.S. The most recent addition to the program is the Finger Spelling Option for levels 1 and 6. These are due to an especially enthusiastic user Dave Spensely and a fellow shareware author, Herb Bartow. Dave was using the program to help his hearing impaired niece, Karina. He runs a Computer Bulletin Board with a section for the hearing impaired. The BBS number is 1-415-364-3001. The graphics for the Finger Spell are from the shareware program, Learn to Sign, by Herb Bartow. He has graciously given me permission to capture his graphics and incorporate them within my program. Herb's address is: 316 Lafayette St, Hackettstown, NJ 07840. General Guidelines Page 2 Getting Started. Fun with Letters and Words is executed by typing FUNLW while in MS-DOS. You can make copies of all necessary files... funlw.exe the Fun with Letters and Words program. personal.flw the customized words. numblevl.flw the level and options your child is using. fsignlrg.gxl pcx library of large Finger Spell graphics fsignsml.gxl pcx library of small Finger Spell graphics If there are any additions since the printing of this manual, they are included in the file... readme.flw (this file is informational only and may not be on your disk.) Entering the Help Screen. There are some minimal instructions for changing skill levels and using other features in Fun with Letters and Words. These can be accessed at any time by pressing the ALT and H keys simultaneously. For additional operating in- structions, the second half of this Guide, starting on page 6, is devoted to a more complete description of the program, levels, and options. Both the Help Screen and operating instructions are intended for your use rather than your child's. Children's Help Screen and the Escape Key The Escape key may be set by the parent from the 2nd page of the Help Screen. There are two options for the Escape Key. 1. The key is ignored. This is recommended for very young children, who will be pressing the key inadvertently. 2. The Escape key presents a menu of all levels. The child may press the space bar to point to the desired level, and then the Enter key to select that level. An activity to do together. Like all parents, we appreciate ac- tivities our child can do on her own. However, Fun with Letters and Words is like a first book -- an activity for you and your child to do together for maximum benefit and enjoyment. User friendly. Because Fun with Letters and Words is simple to operate, we recommend letting an older brother, sister, babysit- ter (aged 10 or older), or grandparent help your child with the program periodically. This can increase the fun and provide her with an opportunity to show what she knows to those who are important to her. How long should a session with Fun with Letters and Words last? Stick with the program just as long as your child shows enthusi- astic interest. For younger children, this may only be three or four minutes. Reinforcing the learning. As your child begins to recognize some letters and words, reinforce what she has learned when you are away from the program. 1) Point out letters and words she's learning in books, on signs along the road, on labels at the grocery, etc. 2) We have found sitting down with Lisa with a piece of paper and crayon to be helpful; we write out a word or letter and ask her to identify it. Or we ask her what word she would like for us to write and then have her tell us what letter it begins with. More than one child. If you have more than one child wanting to use the program, we strongly suggest giving each her own list of words. Instructions for this are included on page 10 of this Guide. Random selection. As your child is introduced to each new level of Fun with Letters and Words, she may prefer to randomly select letters and numbers to see what appears on the screen. Once the initial excitement of discovering all the graphics has worn off, encourage her to pause long enough between selections so that you can point out the letters and words. Once she has reached Level 2, have her repeat the word, and ask her if she knows what letter she must have pressed to get that word and picture. Counting 1 - 10. We believe your child, like Lisa, may be as fascinated with numbers as letters and words. Through a random selection or purposefully, she will invariably press the number keys at the top of the keyboard. This will give her the number as a digit and, if at levels 4 and 5, as a word. By pressing F10, the Fun with Letters and Words counting melody is played as numbers 1 through 10 appear on the screen. Build confidence in your child. Praise her often. This is some- thing we all probably know, but when teaching our own children, we sometimes get impatient and push too hard. If your child isn't succeeding on your terms, adjust to hers. Tips for Level 1 (letters) Level 1 -- designed for ages 2 and above. As you are introducing your child to Level 1, we recommend that you resist the tempta- tion to show her the full extent of the program. By concentrat- ing on this level exclusively at first, she will be able to focus her attention on the alphabet and become somewhat proficient using the keyboard. Capital vs. small letters. We think upper case letters are easier to learn at first as they are more distinctly different than lower case letters. For example, the lower case "b" and "d" can understandably become confused. Regardless of which letters you choose to introduce to your child first, don't wait too long to show her the other set of letters. Be sure to go back and forth between upper and lower case letters, and use the "both" option so your child can begin to associate two forms for the same letter. The Alphabet. As your child begins to understand that the pro- gression of letters in a certain order constitutes the alphabet, we believe she will enjoy pressing F8 to see the alphabet as upper case letters and F9 to view the alphabet as lower case letters. Both are accompanied by the ABC song. Tips for Levels 2 - 5 (beginning and customized words) When will my child be ready for Level 2...Level 3...Level 4... Level 5? Level 2 can be introduced as your child is showing some mastery of letters. Before going to the next levels, please bear in mind that approximately 50 new words and graphics are added with each level. You and your child will need to decide when she is ready for the next level. A phonics approach. To see a particular word or graphic, your child must identify the beginning sound and then press the letter that word begins with. We chose words that are frequently used by young children or commonly seen as they go about their daily routines -- e.g. walk, pull, stop, up. Talk with your child about what word she wants to see. Ask her what letter she thinks she should press. Encourage her to "sound it out" as she makes her choice. Capital or small letters. Again, mix it up with upper and lower case letters. Customized words. Probably the one feature of Fun with Letters and Words you and your child will enjoy most is the customiza- tion. We know that young children are anxious to learn to read the words they frequently use on a daily basis -- names of family members and friends, address, and birthday. Words like "Mommy", "Daddy", and her own name will be the words your child will learn first. Words 1 - 10 are for your child's full name and the names of family members. Word 12 is to enter the sex of your child. We believe the best use for words 13 - 19 is for names of friends and addi- tional family members (e.g. Grandma, Grandpa, etc.). You might also want to periodically use words 13 - 19 to concentrate on a particular beginning letter. The last five words are for pets' names and your child's address and birthday. No pictures? Please try levels 2 - 5 without pictures. Although the graphics are what your child will probably like best, it will become evident when the pictures are taken away that she does not really know some of the words you thought she knew -- she has been relying totally on the graphics. This is normal; just stick with it. Using the "no pictures" option, you can have your child search for a word. When she thinks she has found it, have her press the "/" key for the accompanying graphic to appear. Tips for Level 6 (spelling) When will my child be ready for Level 6? Even a child who is at Level 1 will enjoy typing at the keyboard and seeing the block letters appear. Therefore, feel free to use this level early on ...just don't expect your child to type actual words. Getting the most out of Level 6. As your child begins to recog- nize words from levels 2 - 5 and her own customized words, she can try to spell them. We have had the best luck with names of family members. As your child tries to spell a word, talk about the letters and sounds; the appearance of the graphic will show her she has spelled the word correctly. Operating Instructions Page 6 Help Screen At any time when you are using Fun with Letters and Words, you can press the ALT and H keys to call up the Help Screen. This screen has been designed to give you an overview of skill levels and some of the options Fun with Letters and Words offers. Here is a more complete description of the program, levels, and options. Levels 1 - 6 The level is changed by pressing the ALT key and numbers 1, 2. 3, 4, 5, or 6 while the program is running. In the Help Screen, changes to and from levels can be made by selecting the appropri- ate number or letter with or without the ALT key. Level 1 features the alphabet (ALT 1). The appropriate full- color block letter or number appears on the screen as your child presses a letter or number key. You may designate upper case letters only (ALT U), lower case letters only (ALT L), or both (ALT B). Levels 2 - 5 introduces your child to beginning words. The four levels have been designed with increasing difficulty to keep pace with your child's expanding capabilities. Briefly... Level 2: Beginning words -- one word per letter plus all customized words (refer to discussion on Customization on page 8). ALT 2 Level 3: More beginning words -- three words per letter plus all customized words. ALT 3 Level 4: More words -- up to five words per letter plus all customized words. ALT 4 Level 5: All 147 words plus customized words. ALT 5 Every time a letter is pressed, a word beginning with that letter appears accompanied by a full-color graphic and sometimes music. The exception is the letter "x" where the words that appear con- tain this letter but do not begin with it. As in Level 1, full- color block numbers appear along with the word when your child selects a number key. Almost all words have graphics. For the few that do not, the word is displayed both at the bottom and middle of the screen. All letters have at least three words. Beyond Level 3 in levels 4 and 5, you will note that the number of words per letter var- ies. The program has been designed, however, to allow all words within a letter to be used equally in these levels. As in Level 1, you may designate upper case only (ALT U). Other- wise both upper and lower case will be used when you have asked for either lower case (ALT L) or both (ALT B). Level 6 is for spelling (ALT 6). At this level, your child can type and watch as block letters appear at the bottom of the screen. As letters are typed, three lists of words are checked to see if a match is found -- the program's 147 words with graphics, your customized words, and a secondary dictionary of 490 words compiled just for this level. More specifically, the following will occur when a word is matched: If one of the words used in levels 2 - 5 is matched, a graphic will appear to verify for your child that the word has been spelled correctly. If there is no graphic for the word being typed, that word will then be rewritten in the middle of the screen. When a customized word is matched and there are graphics (dog, cat, sister, etc.), these will be shown when the word is spelled correctly. Otherwise, the word is rewritten in the middle of the screen. When a Fun with Letters and Words dictionary word is matched (there are no graphics for these words), the word is re- written in the middle of the screen. We have tried to in- clude words most commonly used by young children. Letters, periods, apostrophes, hyphens, and blanks can be used, but the first key pressed must be a letter. Letters will be proportionately spaced. If there is insufficient room on the line for the letter pressed, the entire line is erased. The RETURN key will clear the line. The BACKSPACE key or the left arrow key will erase the right-most letter. Again, you may designate upper case letters (ALT U) only. When using either the ALT L or ALT B options, the letters typed will appear as lower case letters; upper case letters can be created by using the SHIFT or CAPS LOCK keys. Matches do not depend on correct use of capital letters. However, once matched, the typed word will reappear with correct capitalization, and the matched word is shown with correct capitalization as well. Options Page 8 Letter Options Upper Case Letters: ALT U. Only upper case letters are shown for all levels. Lower Case Letters: ALT L. Only lower case letters are shown for Level 1. Words are displayed in lower case letters with correct capitalization for levels 2 - 6. Both upper and lower case letters: ALT B. Both upper case and lower case letters are used for all levels. Picture Options Pictures: ALT P. Graphics appear with words in levels 2 - 6. No Pictures: ALT N. No picture appears in levels 2 - 6. When the "/" key is pressed, the picture appears. Sound On/Off Music played for numbers, birthday, the alphabet songs, and cake may be turned off from the second page of the Help Screen. Finger Spell graphics On/Off The Finger Spell graphics were created by Herb Bartow, shareware author of Learn to Sign. He has graciously granted me permission to include his graphics within Fun with Letters and Words. If you would like a copy of Learn to Sign, please ask when registering Fun with Letters and Words, or contact Herb directly at 316 Lafayette St, Hackettstown, NJ 07840. Finger spell graphics will appear in level 1 and level 6. You may turn this option off from the second page of the Help Screen. Special Features Alphabet, upper case letters:F8. The alphabet is displayed in upper case letters accompanied by the ABC song. Alphabet, lowercase letters:F9. The alphabet is displayed in lower case letters as the alphabet song is played. Counting 1 - 10:F10. The Fun with Letters and Words "counting" melody is played as the numbers 1 through 10 appear on the screen. Customization Page 9 By pressing the ALT and C keys, you enter the customization screen. Here you can add, or change at any time, 25 customized words for your child. Words 1 - 14 are for your child's full name, the names of family members and other personal information. The next 4 words can be additional family or friends' names or words that intrigue your child. The last five words are for pets' names and your child's address and birthday. To add or change a word, enter the number of the particular word as a response to the question at the bottom of the screen, press the RETURN key, fill in the word, and press the RETURN key again. For example, if you wish to add the name of a brother, enter the number 7, press the RETURN key, type in the name, and press the RETURN key. Similarly words can be eliminated by choosing the appropriate number, pressing the RETURN key, and then pressing it again when the new word is asked for. After every change you will be shown the complete list of custom words. All words are tested to ensure that they use only letters, hy- phens, blanks, periods, and apostrophes. If a word contains an upper case letter, then it will always be displayed with an upper case letter. Words are also tested to ensure that they will fit on one line when using the "both" option for upper and lower case letters. Words that will not fit on a line using all upper case letters are automatically converted to lower case letters even when the "upper case" letter option is in effect. Uses of customized words are as follows: Family names are used with the word Family. Your child's first name is used when starting the program, ending the program, and in "book"; first and last names are used in "mail"; and all parts of his/her name are used in "name". The names you enter under brother, sister, aunt, uncle, etc. will appear together with those words in levels 2 - 6. A boy and girl appear with the brother and sisters names. The names you give for mom and dad (e.g. mommy, papa) will appear with pictures of a man and woman. The dog's name and cat's name will be used with a picture of a dog and a cat respectively. Your child's city will be used with "mail" and on its own without any graphics. Your child's state will be used only with "mail." Your child's birth month and day will be used with "birthday." Friends name appears with your childs name. Age appears with "years old". Phone number appears with "phone". After adding or changing words, you must decide whether or not to save the new words. Entering "s" at the prompt saves your addi- tions and/or changes; entering "q" ignores all changes since the last save. You do not need to do this for each new word indepen- dently, only once as you exit the customization screen. This action is completely separate from exiting the overall program when you are saving the level of operation and options, not the customized words. Using your own pictures Page 11 Designs made with my children's drawing program, Fun with Designs, or pictures from other sources may be included as personal words. In order to make this happen, the picture files must be in the PCX file format. This format is used by PC Paintbrush by ZSoft and other programs. For this version of Fun with Letters and Words, pictures must be in CGA mode, 320 by 200 resolution (4 colors). In addition, although the program will display pictures that take up the entire screen, you should limit the size of the drawing to 320 by 155, therefore allowing the word to be printed at the bottom. File names must have the suffix .P11 in order for Fun with Letters and Words to find the pictures. Fun with Letters and Words will look only in the current directory for files and drawings. Therefore, the accessory files 'numblevl.flw' and 'personal.flw' must be in the current directory along with your drawings. The word - or drawing name - must be entered as one of the custom words, using the customization screen. You may reuse a word used elsewhere in Fun with Letters and Words. For these custom words to match with a drawing give the drawing the same name. Blanks, "'", '-', and '.' may be used in the custom word but are dropped in the drawing name. If more than eight valid characters are used, the drawing name should be truncated. Matches occur without respect to upper or lower case. You may use DOS to rename files to the proper names. Examples: Custom Entry Drawing Name my picture mypictur.p11 Amy's picture amyspict.p11 tunnel tunnel.p11 Akron Oh. akronoh.p11 More than one child The most straightforward approach in providing each child with her own set of customized words would be to create a floppy disk for each child. Unless you have a hard disk, we strongly recommend this approach. However, if you have a hard disk and are familiar with batch (BAT) files and directories, you might create separate director- ies each containing a separate version of numblevl.flw (the file which will keep track of the skill level), and personal.flw (the file with each child's customized words). Then in your BAT files, use the path command to ensure that the appropriate files are used. One example of how this might work... a hard disk would contain the following directories and files: Directory:Lisa Files: numblevl.flw (Lisa's skill level and other information.) personal.flw (Lisa's customized words) Directory:Amy Files: numblevl.flw (Amy's skill level and other information.) personal.flw (Amy's customized words) Directory:Play Files: funlw.exe dolisa.bat doamy.bat Contents of dolisa.bat path c:\play(to find program funlw.exe in the play directory) cd c:\lisa (to find Lisa's personal files) funlw (executes the program) cd c:\play (returns to c:\play directory) Contents of doamy.bat path c:\play(to find program funlw.exe in the play directory) cd c:\amy (to find Amy's personal files) funlw (executes the program) cd c:\play (returns to c:\play directory) Leaving the program Page 13 Exit with Save: ALT E. This saves the current level, letter option, and picture option for the next time your child runs the program. Exit without Save: ALT Q. This exits the program without saving your current level or options. The next time your child runs the program, she will use the same levels and options as when you started this time. Mouse Control If you install a mouse before running the program, your child may control the program entirely using the mouse. However, the Help Screens do not have mouse control. Clicking the left button on a large number or letter on the screen, has the same effect as pressing that number or letter. Clicking the right buttom will bring up the complete alphabet, numbers, and a box to get you to the child's menu. At the child's menu, clicking either button will select and start a game. For further information, please contact me at: Wescott Software Frank Holmes PO Box 7010 Evanston, IL 60204 (708) 328-1367