Welcome to Early Math! Here your child will gain early math skills with the guidance of a cheerful, animated on-screen teacher. Your child receives one-on-one instruction by a friendly, infinitely patient tutor and coach named Loid who lives on an asteroid. Loid gives positive, constructive feedback to your child throughout the learning process. Loid is always ready for your child, sitting on his favorite stool, riding in his convertible or hopping along in a bucket, eager to play and teach.
Early Math develops basic math skills in children between the ages of three and six. It offers a strong introduction to early math concepts for preschoolers and also provides at-home, consistent instruction for older children.
Early Math teaches your child skills such as counting, addition, number symbols, subtraction, words for numbers, place value, number groups, logic, shapes, spatial concepts and one-to-one correspondence. Early Math combines all of these skills into one interactive environment designed to help your child build a strong foundation in early math knowledge, as well as a positive attitude toward math.
Early Math emphasizes problem solving through analysis. With Loid's guidance, your child will encounter situations such as feeding fish, counting sheep, or manipulating geometric shapes to form a bridge. These activities have been child-tested to ensure strong educational value and playability. Furthermore, the areas covered in Early Math are those outlined in the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Overview
In Early Math, your child discovers significant concepts while playing in Loid's home and yard. There are four rooms in Loid's underground house, each with a different game. Above Loid's house, there are two more games to play that Loid reaches by either getting in his car and driving to the next game or by hopping in his bucket and bouncing to another game.
The activities in these six games involve shapes, patterns, number and quantity, ordering by attributes, following instructions, measurement, counting, and simple addition and subtraction. These may sound like advanced skills for your young child, but Early Math is very child-friendly, so encourage your child to play with these games before you think your child is ready for them. You'll be surprised by how much your child already knows!
Progress of learning
Your child can play any of the games in Loid's world at any time. Some will be more appealing than others depending on your child's interests and mental development. All of the games have been reviewed by an education specialist who has ordered them according to general rules of educational development. The games (from easiest to most difficult) are as follows:
Inside Loid's house:
- Counting Sheep (lower left)
- Complete the Picture (lower right)
- Magic Box (upper left)
- Fish Tank (upper right)
Outside Loid's house
- Tangram Bridge (the car)
- Pattern Bridge (the bucket)
Your child will gradually and naturally progress through various levels in each game. Each individual game is divided into several levels and Loid always begins with the easiest exercises. After your child has grasped the basic concept, Loid will present problems that are more difficult. By increasing the difficulty of an activity, Loid cements your child's knowledge of the mathematical skill involved and allows your child to apply this knowledge to new situations.
For example, in the Pattern Bridge game, Loid asks your child to complete the pattern so Loid will have a smooth bridge to cross. At first, the patterns consist of geometric shapes. As soon as your child has successfully completed several patterns, Loid presents letters and numbers in the pattern sequence. This helps your child apply the rule of patterns to more than one type of object.
Loid is constantly providing audio feedback for your child in all areas and is very happy when your child successfully completes a game. Your child will always know whether or not the answer given was correct. Loid provides only positive feedback for your child. When necessary, Loid will offer advice in the form of a gentle hint.
Your child may enter or exit any of the six games at any time. This allows your child the freedom to learn at a comfortable pace. It will be interesting for you, as a parent, to see which games your child enjoys playing with most. Loid stores information about your child's progress in memory from one session to the next. Both you and your child can access this progression chart and compare which games have been played the most and how many levels your child has completed. To see how far your child has progressed, access the Parent's Screen.
Entering Early Math and choosing a Player Piece
After loading Early Math, the first screen of the game is Loid's asteroid home. There are several elements in this screen:
Parent's Screen keypad: to access the Parent's Screen.
Play: Click "Play" on the asteroid to access the Game Piece Selection screen and play the games.
Quit button: Click on the Quit button to exit Early Math
Click "Play" and the Loid will ask your child to choose a player piece.
Have your child select a toy, then click on it. You may add your child's name to the player piece from the Parent's Screen. Your child will then use this player piece when he or she returns to the program. This allows children who haven't learned to type their names to access their own game. Your child simply needs to click on his or her toy to enter Early Math. The player piece that your child has chosen will be posted above the door to Loid's house. In this way, you can verify that your child is working with the correct player piece.
Once your child has chosen a player piece, the main screen will appear showing Loid's house.
At this point, your child can select a game by clicking on either the car or the bucket, or can click on the door to Loid's house and be taken underground by the elevator. Once underground, your child can enter any of the four games by clicking on the drawing that represents that room. For example, to enter the Fish Tank game, click on the fish tank and Loid will dive in.
Anytime your child wants to exit either a game or the program, he or she can click on a small picture showing the previous screen and Loid will return to thr previous screen. For example, if your child is playing in a game room inside Loid's house, your child will need to click on the screen shot of Loid's house to exit back to the house, then click on the passageway leading to the top of Loid's home to get out, ten click on the small stop sign to go to the title screen, click on the Quit button to exit Early Math completely.
Parent's Screen
To access the Parent's Screen, click on any number on the numeric keypad located at the top right corner of the title screen. There are several elements in the Parent's Screen.
Player pieces: Click on your child's player piece to access your child's specific statistics. You may customize this section by adding or changing the names of the players. Additionally, you can reset the statistics to clear a player piece if you want your child to start over.
Game buttons: There will be stars after each of these game buttons indicating how many levels your child has completed in each game. This will give you an accurate overview of how your child is progressing in each area of development and which areas your child prefers. Clicking on an individual game button will provide you with information about that activity.
Quit button: This option allows you to turn on or off the Quit button that is shown on the title screen. If you turn the Quit button on, your child will be able to exit Early Math and possibly access other important files. If you turn the Quit button off, your child will not be able to exit Early Math.
Security code: This option prevents your child from accessing the Parent's Screen. To set the code, choose a four-digit number that is easy to remember, such as your child's birth year, and write it down. Next, type in this number and press enter. Without the code, you will be unable to acces this screen.
Title Screen button: To exit the Parent's Screen and save any changes tot the settings you have made, click on the Title Screen button. You will return to the title screen.
