Background:

The Mini-Computer is a concept which was initially introduced to
our daughter in kindergarten.  The Mini-Computer has been utilized
throughout the first several years of her elementary education. 
The program has served to greatly improve her Mini-Computer skills.
The program has since been dedicated to our daughter, Cassie.

System Requirements:

The program was written to run on an IBM compatible computer with
a 640 x 480 EGA or VGA graphics monitor.

          / ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿   ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ \
          | ³      ³      ³   ³      ³      ³ |<--Quadrant
          | ³  80  ³  40  ³   ³  8   ³  4   ³ |
 Square-->| ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄ´   ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ /
          | ³      ³      ³   ³      ³      ³
          | ³  20  ³  10  ³   ³  2   ³  1   ³
          \ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ   ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
              Ten's Digit       One's Digit

Instructions:

The above diagram illustrates a "Mini-Computer".  The four
quadrants of the right square represents a single digit, the ones
digit.  The four quadrants of the left square represents the tens
digit.

The quadrants of each of the above squares are labeled with their
corresponding value.  The number which the square represents is
determined by adding the values of the quadrants which contain a
dot.  The values will never add to more than nine.

Though the concept of the Mini-Computer appears initially to be
complex, it provides children with a graphical means of performing
math.  It teaches the concepts of different number bases, carrying
and borrowing while working with small numbers, at an early age. 
For example, when adding numbers, the dots of the two corresponding
squares may be combined into a single square.  After doing so, they
can easily see that two dots in the ones quadrant carry to one dot
in the two's quadrant.  A similar approach may be taken for
subtraction.

Identification, addition, subtraction, and multiplication exercises
are provided.

A configuration option is also provided.  This option allows you to
select the desired foreground and background colors.  This option
also allows you select the maximum multiplicand used in the
multiplication problems.  I found this useful as children learn
their multiplication tables.

Suggestions/Donations:

I welcome any suggestions which you may have concerning this
program, or the need for similar programs.

If you or your children find this program useful, you may make a
contribution to:

     Bill West
     2931 Middlesborough Ct.
     Fort Collins, CO 80525

Any contributions received will be used to continue educational
program development.  If you cannot afford, or do not wish to
contribute, I still welcome your comments and suggestions.