Toys

This program uses toys’ names and pictures to help the student to learn listening, identifying, and naming skills. There are eight sub-programs.

Select a program by clicking on the option and then click the “Enter” button to open the program.

Help	Click on the “Help” button to view the help contents. The help file opens in a separate window.
About	Click on the “About” button to view the profile of this company.
Enter	After selecting a sub-program, click on the “Enter” button to open the program.
Exit	To close this “Actions” program, click on the “Exit” button.

Note: In most of our matching and activity programs, the student must wait until the command voice has finished before he/she clicks on the object. For instance, the voice must finish “Match catching” before the student clicks on the catching picture. (If the student clicks on the catching picture before the voice command is finished, nothing will happen.) Therefore the teacher/parent needs to instruct the student to wait for the voice command to finish.

These sub-programs are:

1. Toy Matrix

Select the option “Toy Matrix” and click on the “Enter” button to open this program. Toys are shown here in a two-row, two-column matrix. When the mouse pointer moves over the picture of a toy, an animation related to the toy plays in the box on the right side of the screen. There are, in this program, two pictures and animations for each toy. Click on the picture to view the next picture and animation.
>> and <<	By clicking on “>>” or “<<” the student can view the next or the previous set of toys.
Auto Play	Check this box to run the Toy Matrix program automatically. (The student can just sit back and watch.) To stop the automatic run, uncheck the box.
Sound	When this box is selected, the program pronounces only the name of the toy rather than the whole descriptive sentence, as below.
Label	This option is selected by default. When this box is checked, the name of the toy appears just below the picture. When unchecked, the word doesn’t appear.
Descriptive	When this is checked, a descriptive sentence (for instance “The boy is playing with a ball.”) will be displayed in the text box under the animation box and the program pronounces the descriptive sentence.
Done	Click on the “Done” button to close “Toy Matrix” and return to the main program.

2. Progressive Method

Click on “Progressive Method” and then click the “Enter” button to open the setting dialog box. The setting dialog box offers four categories of choices. These categories are Mode, Settings, Distracters and Selection.
Mode
Training	This option is selected by default. When this is selected, the program can be used to train the student.
Test	Select this option to measure the student’s progress. The “Report” button under “Test” mode is enabled. The “Prompt (Animation)” option is disabled.
Report	This displays results of the “Test”. The report features are similar to those of “Matching Toys Using Pictures”.
Settings
Prompt (Animation)
	This option is selected by default. When this is checked, the correct toy animates in ten seconds to help the student to identify the correct answer. Uncheck this feature to disable it.
Command Text
	This option is selected by default. When this is checked, a short text appears at the bottom of the screen. It tells the student which item to identify. If unchecked, the text won’t be visible.
Distracter
	A “distracter” here means an incorrect choice.
	Toy This option is selected by default. When this is selected, distracters are all toys.
	Non-toy If this option is selected, distracters are not toys but some other items.
	*Mixed* Distracters are either toys or non-toys.
Selection
	The first toy (Ball) is the default. Any toy can be selected from the list shown under “Selection”.
Ok
	Click on the “Ok” button to open this program.
This “Progressive Method” is designed to introduce the toys to the student one by one. This method allows the student to master the toys’ names gradually. This “Progressive Method” runs through seven stages:
Stage 1	Introduction. The selected toy moves from the left side to the center of the screen and a character points to the toy and pronounces its name. This continues until the student clicks the “>>” button to move to the next stage.
Stage 2	Single Toy. In Stage 2, the student is asked to find the toy introduced in Stage1. When the student clicks on the toy, he/she is taken to the next stage.
Stage 3	One Distracter. The toy introduced in Stage 1 and another picture as distracter are shown and the student is asked to find the toy. When the student clicks on the correct toy, the next “find” question comes up. As long as the student clicks on the correct toy, he/she stays in Stage 3. The student can move on to the next stage by clicking the “>>” button. If the student clicks on the wrong toy, then the program returns the student to Stage 1, the Introduction Stage.
Stage 4	Two Distracters. In Stage 4, the toy introduced in Stage 1 and two other pictures as distracters are shown on the screen and the student is asked to find the toy introduced in Stage 1. As long as the student clicks on the correct toy, the student remains in Stage 4. When the student clicks on a wrong toy, he/she is taken back to Stage 1. The student can move forward by clicking the “>>” button.
Stage 5	Three Distracters. The toy is shown with three other pictures as distracters. If the student clicks on the wrong toy, then the program returns the student to Stage 1, the Introduction Stage.
Stage 6	Combinations. The toy that the student identified in Stages 1 through 5 will appear as a distracter or as the toy to be identified. Another toy, (which the student learned earlier) will also appear as a distracter or the toy to be identified. If the student clicks on the wrong toy, then the program returns the student to Stage 1, the Introduction Stage.
Stage 7	This is the last stage. In this Stage, the student is asked to identify all the toys he/she has learned so far. If the student clicks on the wrong toy, then the program takes the student to Stage 1, the Introduction Stage.
>>	When the student clicks on the “>>” button, the program introduces the next toy in the list.
<<	At any time the student can move backward by clicking the “<<” button when the button is visible.
Done	Click on the “Done” button to close this program.

3. Matching Toys Using Pictures

Click on “Matching Toys Using Pictures” and then click the “Enter” button to open this program. The default selections for this program are: Level 3, Training Mode, Toy Distracter, Command Text, Prompt with Blink, Congratulatory Animation, and Select All. Here a toy is shown at the top of the screen. The student is asked to click on the matching toy shown among others at the bottom of the screen.
Level 1	When this option is selected, one toy appears at the top of the screen. The same toy picture is shown at the bottom of the screen to be matched with the one at the top, without any distracter.

Level 2	When this option is selected, one toy appears at the top of the screen. Two pictures are shown at the bottom of the screen. You can choose a Toy or Non-toy distracter. “Mixed” gets disabled.

Level 3	This level is selected by default. One toy appears at the top of the screen. When this option is selected, three pictures are shown at the bottom of the screen to be matched with the one at the top of the screen. There is one correct choice and two distracters. You can choose a Toy, Non-toy, or Mixed distracter.

Training	The Training mode is selected by default. This program uses toys’ pictures to train listening and matching skills.

Test	Here, the student can test him/herself. “Prompt” and “Congratulatory Animation” are disabled. The test results are recorded and “Report” becomes enabled.

Report	Only under “Test” mode is “Report” enabled. After doing any number of test problems, you can click on “Done” to see the report. When you click on “Done” the settings screen appears. Now click on the “Report” button under “Test” to see test results. First the current test result will be shown with the date, starting time, end time, and level of the test. It also shows the percentage of correct answers. There are also buttons for showing test results in different forms. “Report” allows the teacher/parent to measure the student’s progress. The following are available.

	Detailed Report This screen shows test results including the grade, object identified, distracters, and time taken to finish the test.
	View Old Records If there are old test results, they will be shown on this screen. The current test result is always on top.
	*Bar Chart* If you wish to see test results on a bar chart, click this button.
		*Overalls* This button appears on the Bar Chart Screen. Here, the student can see the average of all test results of up to the last ten attempts. Written vertically on the bar are: overall percentage of correct answers, and date and starting time of the tests. When there are any old results, they will be shown, left to right, from oldest to latest.
		*Right Arrow* This changes the display to the next more recent set of test results. When the current test result is on the screen, this button is grayed.
		Left Arrow This changes the display to the previous set of test results. When this button is grayed, there is no earlier test to see.
		On the top left corner, the display indicates which record is being shown out of total records.
	*Print* When this button is clicked, the printer prints the current screen.
	Delete All existing records will be erased if this button is clicked. (But a warning message box pops up and asks for confirmation.)
	*Done* Click on this button to close the screen and return to the previous screen.
Distracter
	*Toy* This option is selected by default. When this option is selected, the distracters are toys. This option is disabled for Level 1 and available for Level 2 and Level 3.
	*Non-toy* When this option is selected, the distracters are some items other than toys. This option is disabled for Level 1 and available for Level 2 and Level 3.
	*Mixed* This option is available only for Level 3. When this is selected, one distracter is a toy and the other distracter is a non-toy.
Command Text
	This is checked by default. When checked, a short command text is visible at the bottom of the screen. If unchecked, the command text will not be visible.
User Defined
	This feature allows the teacher/parent to customize the screen by selecting particular matching objects and distracters and choosing their locations on the screen. When this box is checked, the next screen will be the “SELECTION” screen. This screen allows the teacher/parent to choose the matching object (toy to be identified) and its location on the screen. It also allows the teacher/parent to choose the distracter/s. There are no distracters for Level 1. Therefore the teacher/parent should select only the matching toy. For Level 2 and Level 3, the teacher/parent has to select the matching toy, its location, and distracters from the User Defined “selection” screen before clicking the “Ok” button. The picture-matching screen has a “Back” button. The student can return to the User Defined setting screen by clicking this button. Click the “Done” button to close the User Defined program.
Prompt
	This is checked by default. If the student fails to match the correct toy within ten seconds, the program guides him/her to the correct picture. This is available for “Training” mode but disabled for “Test” mode.
	Uncheck this box if the prompt is not needed in “Training” mode.
	Prompt with Blink This option is selected by default. If the correct toy is not chosen after ten seconds, it blinks.
	*Prompt with Label* The names of the toys appear below the pictures.
	Prompt with Animation If the correct toy is not chosen after ten seconds, the correct picture animates.
Congratulatory Animation
	This box is checked by default. This is available only for the “Training” mode. When this is checked, clicking the correct toy invites a congratulatory animation. This animation runs for ten seconds. Click anywhere on the screen or press the space bar to stop the congratulatory animation.
	Uncheck this box if the student doesn’t need congratulatory animation.
Selection	Click on the check box to select or deselect the toy.

Select All	Check this box to select all toys. Uncheck to deselect.

Ok	Click this button to open this program after choosing the settings.

Done	Click this button to close this program and return to the main menu

4. Matching Toys Using Similar Pictures

Click on “Matching Toys Using Similar Pictures” and then click the “Enter” button to open this program.

This program runs like “Matching Toys Using Pictures,” but the pictures shown are similar but not identical.