Learn My Numbers
                          Version 1.0 - July 10, 1993
                       Copyright 1993, By Anthony Watson
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                         THIS PROGRAM IS SHAREWARE!!!
                If you enjoy this program, please send $10 to:

                           Mountain Software
                           6911 NE Livingston Road
                           Camas, Washington  98607

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     The idea for Learn My Numbers came to me about four weeks ago. My
daughter was turning four and we were out shopping for birthday presents. As
my daughter is approaching school age, I was interested in the various
electronic toys that teach children their numbers, letters, etc. However, one
look at the outrageous price tags for these items quickly turned us away from
them. In the end we ended up getting simpler (and cheaper) items like puzzles
and books. But, I still felt there was a place for these educational games.
So, armed with a minimal knowledge of educational toys, I set out to write
"Learn My Numbers" as an educational game on my STE.
     Learn My Numbers, is intended for pre-school age children, most likely 2
to 4 years old? It REQUIRES a machine with the STE DMA sound hardware! Any
STE, TT, or Falcon will have this hardware, whereas the older ST's do not. It
will run in any graphics resolution greater than 640 x 200. ST Medium is the
recommended graphics mode based on graphics and memory use. Higher
resolutions, or those with more colors will only use more memory and slow down
operation of the program. Learn My Numbers should operate on any ST with at
least 1 meg of RAM. (Maybe even a 512k machine?)
     The program is quite simple to operate. There are two different modes of
operation. The default is the game play mode. In this mode, the computer will
ask your child where a number is, and it is up to them to find it. If your
child wants to repeat the question, they only need to click on the 'repeat'
button to have the question spoken again. They have up to 9 incorrect or 9
correct answers before the game ends. The best a child can do is 9 correct
answers with 0 incorrect answers. If a child gets more correct answers OR gets
the same number of correct answers but has fewer incorrect answers, the new
achievement will be saved to disk! Each game is compared to this 'best
achievement' scoring. The secondary mode is the practice mode. In this mode,
the numbers are simply displayed, and they will be spoken when your child
clicks on them.
     I was unsure of how my daughter would take to this game, but she
practically kicked me off the computer before I had even finished the game!
She kept telling me "MY GAME!!" I said, "Not until I finish it!" Ha. Ha. In
the first hour I could easily watch her recognition and understanding of
numbers improve. And the audible response meant that I didn't have to watch
over her constantly to tell how she was doing!
     As a safety measure, you must hold down the CONTROL key when clicking on
the Quit button. My daughter has used other programs on the computer, and has
accidently exited them. I caught her once in the middle of formatting a floppy
disk! Glad I keep my boot disk write protected! Ha. Ha. Anyway, this should
give a reasonable amount of protection against that sort of thing. (Just don't
let your child see you do it... They learn quickly! Ha. Ha.)
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     As is the usual request, I am asking for $10 if you use this program. I
have not disabled the program in any way, and you are free to try it out in
it's entirety. However, I do not program as a hobby, but as a business. And if
I am to continue doing so I must have your support. I believe strongly in the
Shareware concept, as I think it benefits both the user and myself. If I were
to sell this program commercially, it would cost a great deal more, and you
would be less likely to try it out! So, please do your part and send that $10!
It's a small price to pay for your childs education!

     If you enjoy this program, and show your support, I may consider doing a
"Learn My Letters" or a "Learn My Colors"?

                                  Thank You,

                                 Anthony Watson