LETTERS AND NUMBERS LEARNER

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FUNCTION: Elementary alphabet and counting program for very young children.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS: IBM-PC or compatible with an EGA color display.

CONFIGURATION: ALPHA.EXE is a stand-alone program that can be run from any
disk drive or directory.

DEVELOPMENT LANGUAGE: Turbo Pascal version 5.0

DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM: PC's Limited 386-16 with EGA and Logitech mouse. Testing
was performed on this machine and no other.

AUTHOR: Jeffrey H. Birkel. Contact via PC-OHIO, Compuserve (74017,3700), or
Cleveland Free-Net (ac167).
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Alpha is an elementary program for very young children that may help them
learn the alphabet and counting. It is intended to be fun first and
educational second. Initially I just wanted a program that would respond in
a simple and direct way to keystrokes so that my daughter could play on the
keyboard and get some comprehensible feedback. At the time my daughter was
about 15 months old and could barely manage to press single keys at a time.
As she grew I added color and music and the routines built into function
keys F1 through F10. The counting key, F9, is the latest and at the moment
quite beyond my daughter who is now about 20 months. The program works best
as a parent-child activity, where you can pronounce letters and help with
counting, etc. Please do not think of this program as a way of pressuring
your child into learning at a very early age. My daughter and I have
great fun with the program and I consider it some of our most pleasurable
time together. If she learns at the same time that's a benefit but not the
main idea at all.
I expect that I will continue to add features to the program in an effort
to hold onto my daughter's attention span as she grows into a little girl.
If you have any ideas I would be happy to hear of them. You can contact me
via the bulletin boards mentioned above. Have fun!

Some Keys: F1..F4 : Variations on the alphabet song.
F5..F8 : Variations on a counting song (0..9).
F9 : Counting key.
F10 : Re-displays opening.
CTRL-ESC : Exit program.

SALES PITCH

The program opens with the title "Cristina's Letters and Numbers Learner."
If you would like it to come up with your child's name instead of mine send
me your name and address, your child's name and $10 and I will be happy to
send you a customized version of the program on a DS/DD 5-1/4" floppy disk.

LICENSE

This version of the program is released into the public domain for personal
use only. You may distribute this program as you please but you may not sell
it or use it for personal gain. A license for professional use may be granted
in return for reasonable compensation. The author is not responsible for the
use of this program or its consequences.

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Letters and Number Learner, copyright (C) Jeffrey H. Birkel, 1989.

All rights reserved.