Explore the World of Software 2: Kids, Adults, Educational

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Text File | 1993-06-01 | 13.5 KB | 296 lines

Bert's Whales and Dolphins (Including All the Bert's Coloring Programs) A Coloring Program For Introducing Young Children to the Computer Shareware Version 3.0 User's Guide Introduction This instruction manual was produced for use with the Bert's Whales and Dolphins program. Several other Bert's coloring programs are also available and these instructions are for use with these programs as well. Bert's Whales and Dolphins is an enjoyable coloring program for children of all ages, but is especially useful for introducing young children to the computer. Bert's Whales and Dolphins was designed by educators to be used by young children with a minimum of assistance by adults. As a coloring program Bert's Whales and Dolphins is superior to many other children's coloring programs in that it allows the user to place the various sea mammals, all in four different sizes, on a variety of backgrounds. This allows children to easily create their own picture before coloring. The opportunity to create their own picture will allow children to take pride in their unique creation. When first started Bert's Whales and Dolphins displays a title screen and then the drawing surface with eight buttons on the left. Children can operate the program with the mouse alone. A window is provided which allows children to write a short story about their picture using the keyboard. The fact that they created the picture will help provide the motivation to write about it. One of the best ways for children to learn to read is to write, even if their initial attempts include phonetic spelling which is not always correct. If your child is not ready to attempt writing his/her story, then another good strategy is for you to type in your child's story as he/she dictates it to you. Then have your child read back the story he/she created. This is another very effective beginning reading strategy. They will love creating a setting, writing or dictating their own story and printing out a copy. Installation Bert's Whales and Dolphins requires an IBM compatible computer with at least 512K of memory, a VGA display and a Microsoft compatible mouse. The installation process is quite easy. First, make a backup copy of your Bert's Whales and Dolphins program disk. If necessary consult your PC-DOS/MS-DOS manual for a description of the Diskcopy command. Save the original program disk in a safe place and use the copy as the working program disk. Second, while it is possible to use Bert's Whales and Dolphins on a floppy disk system, a hard disk system is a necessity for reasonable speed and storing a number of pictures your child has created. To in- stall Bert's Whales and Dolphins on a hard disk use the following steps: 1. Insert the floppy disk in your computer in drive A 2. Type A: 3. Type INSTALL A C Bert's Whales and Dolphins Version 3.0 Page 1 of 5 Any combination of drive letters can be used, the first is the source and the second is the destination. For example, INSTALL B D will install the program from floppy drive B to hard drive D. The installation will create a directory called BERT3 on your hard drive and you will need to enter a CD\BERT3 to change to the Bert's Whales and Dolphins directory before running the program. Once installed just type BERT to start the program. If your computer gives a series of beeps when you run Bert's Whales and Dolphins it is probably because it cannot find the image files it needs to run, and other problems are showing up as well. All the files for Bert's Whales and Dolphins need to be in the same directory for the program to operate successfully. You should not mix the .DOT image files from Bert's Whales and Dolphins with those of versions previous to 3.0 as they are in a different format. Operation of Bert's Whales and Dolphins is quite easy. The eight buttons are configured to do the following when the left mouse button is clicked on them. The Command Buttons SELECT AN SEA MAMMAL When beginning a new picture six small backgrounds are displayed. The user clicks with the mouse on the selected scene to have it drawn on the screen full size. Next, a group of six sea mammals are displayed. Clicking the mouse on any one of the sea mammals will select it. If the stop sign is clicked on, no sea mammal will be selected and you are returned to the drawing surface. Clicking the mouse on the box between the stop sign and the green arrows sets the voice status. Voice can be set to on, off or voice only - meaning the sea mammal's only say their name through the computer's internal speaker. The sound quality is somewhat limited due to PC speaker quality, but the advantage is that no additional hardware is needed. If the down green arrow is selected the next group of sea mammals will be displayed for possible selection. The up arrow returns to the previous group of sea mammals. The selected sea mammal appears in four different sizes. After the sea mammal of the desired size is chosen, a rectangle outlining its size will appear in the upper left. When the left mouse button is held down on the rectangle it can be dragged into its desired position. When the left mouse button is released, the sea mammal will be drawn and any previously drawn lines under it will be erased. This allows you to place one sea mammal in front of the next. It is best to first place all the desired sea mammals on the drawing surface before filling with color, as some colors cannot be drawn over with an sea mammal outline. An additional feature is that the sea mammal figures can also be drawn in reverse. To reverse a figure simply hold down the right mouse button as you release the left one when you position the sea mammal on the drawing surface. SELECT A COLOR When this button is clicked a group of thirty colors is displayed. When a color is chosen it fills the crayon in the button. This color will fill the portion of the picture clicked on. Clicking outside the color box restores the screen with no action. Bert's Whales and Dolphins Version 3.0 Page 2 of 5 WRITING A STORY Clicking on this button displays a window where a story can be typed. Along with the normal alphanumeric characters, the backspace and delete keys will erase characters. In addition the left and right arrow keys will move the cursor to any position in the window. The complete window is displayed, which consists of 8 lines of 38 characters. Pressing the Enter key or filling the entire 8 lines closes the story window. If you have problems displaying the window because it was previously filled to overflowing try typing a backspace before opening the window with a mouse click. ERASE This selection will erase the current drawing surface as well as the story area. The user must verify the erase by choosing a happy face for erase or sad face to cancel the erase. SAVE The drawing surface and story area can be saved by clicking on this button and then selecting the save box with the arrow pointing inward. While simple for adults, this function may need explaining with young children. Care must be taken because selecting the retrieve box with the arrow pointing outward will load the stored image and story, erasing the one currently on the screen. When storing an image the user is prompted for a name. It should be a simple eight character or less file name with no extension or path name. When retrieving an image a large window appears containing the names of the images previously saved. Simply clicking on a name will retrieve the image. Many drawings can be stored by giving them different names. Again, this may be confusing for small children. A suggestion is to use his or her name with numbers for easy recall, ie. bert1, bert2, bert3, etc. Clicking outside the load/save box restores the screen with no action. PRINT The image and story can be printed on several different types of printers: Epson or IBM dot matrix printers that support either 9 or 24 pin graphics, the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet series of printers and the Hewlett-Packard PaintJet and DeskJet 500C color printers. Other printer brands that support these formats will also be compatible. The user need only click on the type of printer he has to begin printing. Once a printer has been selected, the program will remember the last printer selected and assume that it will be used for future printing. Clicking on the print button will then use this as the default printer. If the type of printer needs to be changed simply hold the right mouse button down while clicking the left one on the print button. This will allow you to choose the printer you desire. UNDO Clicking on this button erases the last sea mammal that was placed on the drawing surface. Misplaced sea mammals can be removed with this command without effecting the image underneath. If the right mouse button is held down when releasing the left one the last color fill will be Bert's Whales and Dolphins Version 3.0 Page 3 of 5 undone. In both cases the undo function will only work on the most recently placed sea mammal or color fill. STOP Selecting this button exits the program. A second check on a happy or sad face must be done to confirm exiting the program. After a support shareware message is displayed, clicking the mouse will return the user to DOS. Additional Programs Available Bert's Whales and Dolphins has been written in a way that it can restructure itself depending on the image files that it finds available. If image files for Bert's Whales and Dolphins, Bert's Dinosaurs, and Bert's Prehistoric Animals are found by the program, the user is prompted to choose which program to run. Each program contains a different set of topic images which your child will enjoy. The following programs are currently available and others may be added. Bert's African Animals Bert's Dinosaurs Bert's Prehistoric Animals When registering your copy of Bert's Whales and Dolphins these additional programs are available for a small increase over the registration price. Registered users may purchase additional programs at any time. Registration You may freely copy and distribute this shareware Version 3.0. Shareware users who find Bert's Whales and Dolphins useful should support the author and register their copy. The form found below should be used for registration. Registered users will receive a copy of Version 3.1 of Bert's Whales and Dolphins with additional images and a printed manual. The registration fee is $20. ($30. outside the United States.) Please include $2.00 for shipping and handling. A complete listing of the program, which is written in the newest version of Borland C++, is also available for an additional $20.00. Additional programs such as Bert's Dinosaurs, Bert's Prehistoric Animals, etc. are available for $5.00 each when registering your program. Checks should be made out to: Theron Wierenga, P.O. Box 595, Muskegon, MI 49443 Bert's Whales and Dolphins Version 3.0 Page 4 of 5 Registration Form Bert's Whales and Dolphins 3.0 Name____________________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________________________ City_______________________________________State_____Zip________ Disk size desired: 5 1/4 in._______ 3 1/2 in._______ Registration fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00 __________ Registration fee (Outside the USA) . . . . . . 30.00 __________ Borland C++ program code . . . . . . . . . . . 20.00 __________ Additional program ( ) . . . 5.00 __________ Additional program ( ) . . . 5.00 __________ Additional program ( ) . . . 5.00 __________ Additional program ( ) . . . 5.00 __________ Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ___2.00___ Total enclosed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . __________ Method of payment: Check or MO______ MasterCard______ Visa______ Account number____________________________ Expir. date__________ Signature (necessary)___________________________________________ How did you receive your copy of this program?__________________ ________________________________________________________________ Suggested improvements__________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Bert's Whales and Dolphins 3.0 is a software product of Theron Wierenga P.O. Box 595 Muskegon, MI 49443 Bert's Whales and Dolphins Version 3.0 Page 5 of 5