NewDeal Hot Tip 1502
General UseThe first thing you may want to do before introducing your kids to NewDeal is go to NewManager, click on Confirm Delete and Confirm Replace, then click on Save options. This will give you a slight safety net against the accidental disappearance of important files. Now that I have your confidence built up (grin), a few ideas...
One question... how young is too young? That's up to you. I've been an elementary school computer teacher for many years now and introduce kids to computers in Kindergarten. There are some great opportunities for exploration within the NewDeal software environment. All it takes is some creativity and a good computer insurance policy (just a joke!).
You could easily type a row of letters (start with the home row and lots of repetition) then skip a line. Have your child type in the line you skipped copying the line above. Whether practicing typing or writing a simple story, be sure to adjust the font size to at least 18 pts, possibly 24. This will match the font size in the primary grades' readers and will give your child the feeling that he/she is accomplishing something (fills up the page fast).
For older kids...
Do you remember your teacher telling you to write a first
draft then refine it to a final copy? If you're like me,
your first draft was also your final copy. If you can get
your kids to write reports in NewWrite, the ease of editing
will make it much more likely that they'll improve on their
work. Be sure to show them how to use the spell checker!
Want to get sneaky? Show your kids how to use an online encyclopedia or one on CD ROM. Once your child has mastered the art of searching and locating the information that is needed, and has learned to use Copy and Paste or Quick Copy (drag and drop) to paste it into NewWrite, report writing will be easy and you may never get your computer back.
Hope you enjoy these tips and will get your kids involved with NewDeal software.
Last Modified 2 Mar 1999