MR T's Measuring Games Maths is to do with measuring. Numbers are used to describe heights, lengths and areas. Sometimes, we only need to compare sizes rather than measure things exactly. (In fact, actual measurements such as metres, or feet and inches, help us to compare.) At infant school your child will be answering questions such as: How long? How tall? How high? Are these things of equal height/ length, or are they different? mr T's Measuring Games give your child practice at observing and comparing lengths and heights, and help prepare your child for school work. Growing Races Growing Races is a game for your child to play independently. It calls for concentration, judgement and careful observation. How to use Growing Races Once you have loaded the program it will take only a few minutes to show your child how to play. When the simple rules are understood, your child will be able to play Growing Races again and again alone, although your interest and encouragement will always make the game more fun. Your comments and questions can also help your child to think more about the shapes that appear on the screen, and to expand understanding and vocabulary. In Growing Races two shapes race each other as they grow on the screen. The pair of shapes may be cups or jars, houses or pillar boxes. The shapes may grow upwards, downwards, or across the screen. Somehow or other they will grow longer or wider. Let your child describe what is happening on the screen as the shapes grow. First one shape starts growing, then the second shape grows more quickly to catch up. When both shapes seem to be the same height or length, your child should press SPACE. If the shapes are a correct match, another coloured stripe will be added to the "frame" or score border around the edge of the screen. If they aren't, one of the stripes will be lost, though the one you had at the beginning of the game will always remain. You can help by talking about the shapes as they appear. Ask your child questions like this: "What shape do we have this time? Can you point to the long shape? Are both shapes the same yet?" "What shapes have we got now? (perhaps a bottlle, a man, or a train). Can you point to the short bottle? Can you show me the man that is growing quickly? Can you show me the man that is growing slowly?" "Did we get it right? How do we know? Next time we get it right, show me the new frame that appears." "Let's see what happens when we get it wrong... Next time we get one wrong, can you show me the frame rubbing out the shapes?" It will take several growing races for you to ask all the questions, and for your child to understand exactly how the program works. After that, your child will be happy to play alone and just call you in to celebrate at the end of a game. After 8 successful matfhes, the score border grows to fill the whole screen and the computer plays a tune. Press SPACE to end the display and start another game. Climbing and Growing This is a game for a child to play with an adult. You might use it instead of reading a story - but not at bedtime when the child is tired. In Climbing and Growing your child explores and judges the notions of comparative height (taller and shorter) and comparative position (higher and lower) which were introduced in Growing Races. How to use Climbing and Growing We use the words taller, shorter, higher and lower without noticing them, but the ideas and judgements behind those words are not easily understood by a child. Use Climbing and Growing when you are free to explore these ideas with your child in a relaxed way. If you are pressed for time load Growing Races instead. Climbing and Growing gives you an opportunity to discover how your child thinks about height and position. Play Climbing and Growing together as ofter as you both like over a period of months, or even years. See how your child's judgement improves. All you need to do is provide the necessary vocabulary for your child to make sense of the program, and explain the questions. Don't, however, give the answer or you will not get maximum play value out of the program. The figures in Climbing and Growing can be changed. They can move up and down the stairs, grow and shrink. Your child's job is to arrange the figures in the right order - so that each one will be coloured in. When they are all coloured in, they will jump up and down in delight. There are three levels in Climbing and Growing. The first practises the concepts of "taller and shorter", the second practises "higher and lower" and the final one combines these ideas. 1 Taller, shorter At the simplest level the figures simply grow or shrink. Show your child the "stairs" on the screen. Ask you child to point to the first "flashing" figure. What is it? A rabbit? A flamingo? An owl? Ask your child to show where the figure should touch the "ceiling". Is it too tall for the step it's on, or too short? Should it be made taller or shorter? Show your child those words on the screen. Encourage your child to read the words aloud with you. Let your child tell you what to do to make the figure the right size for its step. Type T to make the figure taller, S to make it shorter. (The idea is that your child says the words "taller" or "shorter" and then sees the result - rather than simply pressing a key.) Talk to your child about what is happening. Is the animal the right size now? Does it need to be made een taller, or even shorter? Let your child first tell you what to do, and then press SPACE when he or she thinks the figure is the right size. If the computer agrees with the child's choice, the figure will colour in and a new figure will appear on another step. Alter the figures as your child suggests until the series is complete. At the end of a game, each step will have an animal or bird on it, which your child has made taller or shorter to fit the space available. 2 Higher, lower In this version, your child has to position each animal on the right step by telling you whether it needs to move higher or lower. Encourage your child to try to judge where the figure will fit exactly before you move it. Type H to move the figure higher on the "steps" Type L to move it lower. 3 Taller, shorter, higher, lower At this level, your child will have to use both sets of commands to make the figure fit a step accurately. This game is more difficult because it involves making two separate decisions. Also, children easily confuse the ideas of taller and higher. (For instance, young children carried shoulder high often say they are "taller" than the person carrying them.) A child who thoroughly understands the program may enjoy trying it independently. A child who can recognise the words on the menu will enjoy the satisfaction of being able to "read" them alone, or to friends. Additional Activities Look out for opportunities to demonstrate the idea that someone can be both higher and shorter than someone else. You can involve dolls, teddies and friends, as well as your child and yourself. Take a few momements now and then to arrange and rearrange people on stairs, low walls and chairs. Move someone who is lowest and shortest to a position where they are highest. Move them back again. Make up sentences with your child describing what is happening. You could start at the bottom of the stairs together. For each step you climb your child could climb four or five steps. Each time you stop you could both take turns to make up sentences. "I am taller than you." "You are higher than me" and so on. Repeat the game coming down stairs. Make it fun - not an interrogation. Pretend you are surprised by what happens. Send your child on a treasure hunt for things of certain heights. One time you could say "Look for things taller than me": another time "things shorter than me" or "things the same height as me". Measuring Games Supervised measuring games can also be played with rope or thick string. String should be weighted with a heavy bead or a button and Blu-Tak or plasticine. (Obviously these could cause accidents if young children are playing alone.) Cut lengths of string to match the height of various members of the family. The strings can then be used for measuring items around the room, and comparing their height with "Mummy", "Baby Mary", and so on. The child can sit on the stairs and dangle strings through the bannisters until they touch the floor. Encourage the child to say what is happening. For instance: "Mummy's string is seven stairs tall." "Daddy's reaches the ground from nine stairs up." "Mine reaches the ground from four stairs". Some long wet afternoon you might let your child produce full- size silhouettes of people. Use an old roll of wallpaper, lie your child on the paper and draw around with a felt-tip pen. Help your child to cut out the shape. Do the same for friends or other members of the family. Use Blu-Tak to fix the silhouettes on the wall in order of height. Measuring across the floor or other surfaces is another interesting actiity. "Would the kitchen table be long enough for Mummy to lie on?" "Could four people as tall as you fit head to toe across the carpet?" Encourage your child to guess the answer first, followed up by measuring. Relative and absolute height Record the heights of your child and various friends (adults) and children) over a period of time. Make a pencil mark on the door to show the height and label it with the name and date. Measure your child every four months. Measure any visitors you can. Your child will enjoy learning to read their names as well as talking about their heights. Who gets taller? Who stays the same height? Does anyone grow shorter? The words used in this activity are simple, but the rules your child is discovering are complicated. Height can be relative (higher. lower) or absolute (taller/shorter). Relative height can be altered - it is under our control and is reversible - but absolute height is comparatively constant. We grow slowly over a period of time. Absolute height is irreversible and not under our control. It takes plenty of practice to work out such complicated ideas: these activities will help. Mr T credits __________________________________________________ Program idea and Parents' Handbook: Pamela Fiddy and Liza Webb _______________________________________________ Technical design and programming by FIVE WAYS SOFTWARE ________________________________________________ Five Ways' is the trademark of Five Ways Software Limited. _________________________________________________ Copyright © 1983 The National Magazine Co Ltd _________________________________________________ Mr T is the trademark of the National Magazine Co Ltd ________________________________________________ Published by Ebury Software National Magazine House 72 Broadwick Street London W1V 2BP ___________________________________________________ All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publishers. __________________________________________________ All Ebury Software cassettes are copy protected. Attempts to copy the program may damage the contents of the cassette and infringe copyright. __________________________________________________ Printed by The Devonshire Press Limited, Torquay. __________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ USING THE PROGRAMS You will only need to use two keys to control all the Mr T programs: 1 Press Q to: * choose a game * change the colour, sound, or difficulty level. 2 Press the space bar SPACE to: * start the first game on the tape * play a game again. 3 SPACE is the only key your child will need to know to play the games designed to be used without help. on the screen is a reminder to press SPACE. Choosing a game: The Menu Screen 1 Press Q and the Menu Screen will appear. 2 To choose a game, type the number next to the name of the game you want. The line you choose will change colour. 3 If you change your mind, just type a different number. 4 Press SPACE to start the new game. Changing the options: The Parent Screen 1 From the Menu Screen, press Q for the Parent Screen. From any other point, press Q twice. 2 Setting the difficulty level Press 1 to make the game easier. Mr T will move to the left along the scale at the top of the screen (unless, of course, he is already as far left as he will go). Keep pressing until he is at the level you want. Press 9 to make the game harder. Mr T will move to the right each time you press the key. When you load the program, Mr T will always be at the left or "Easier" end of the difficulty scale. 3 Changing the difficulty level Press 2 to change from "Mr T decides" to "You decide" and back again. The glowing bar shows which option you have selected, On "Mr T decides", the game will move automatically along the difficulty scale to match your child's rate of success. You can check your child's current level at any time by seeing where Mr T is on the scale. "You decide" keeps the level of difficulty fixed where you have set it. This is particularly useful if the games are being used by a group of children, as you may want to reset the difficulty level for each child's turn. 4 Press 3 to turn the sound on and off. 5 If you hae a black and white set, press 4 to give the best contrast. 6 Press 2,3 or 4 again to reverse your original choice. 7 When you're ready press SPACE to start the game.