New Directions for Using the Computer for Kid Pix and Writing

1. Turn everything on by pressing the button on the power switch on the floor
2. When the computer first comes on the screen will say "press a key". Do that.
3. You'll get another message soon telling you about some problem and asking you to press any key to continue. Do as the computer commands.
4. Next you will get a message saying the network adapter is not working correctly. Click on the "OK" button to continue.
5. Next you will get a screen asking for a user name and password. DO NOT put in a password. Instead, click on CANCEL.
6. From the main screen click on Kid Pix Studio. The main screen will come up. It will have 6 choices. The most prominent one says Kid Pix. Click on the Kid pix Icon. The main Kid Pix Screen will come up.
7. Encourage the child to use the mouse to make her or his picture. The child can select a stamp set from the "Goodies" Menu. To do this click on "Goodies." Next, click on "Pick a stamp set". You will see 3 rows of stams. There are actually several more rows. To see the additional rows, click on the down scroll arrow on the right side of the screen. When the child sees a row of stamps that s/he likes, s/he clicks on any stamp to select that row of stamps. The selected row gets framed in red. Then click on OK to select that stamp set.
8. The screen will change back to a blank screen. To select stamps, click on the stamp icon on the left side . The stamp icon is below the typewriter icon and above the truck icon. Clicking on that icon brings up a row of stamps.
9. There are actually 7 rows of stamps for each stamp set. You get to see additional rows by clicking on the arrows on the right side of the stamp set on the bottom of the screen. When the child finds a stamp s/he likes, s/he clicks on it to select it. Then s/he moves it with the mouse and positions it where s/he wants it on the screen. Once it is where the child wants it, s/he clicks the mouse to place it at that location on the screen. Then the child can select other stamps. Different stamps can be combined to form some larger object.
10. At any time that a child makes a mistake s/he can undo it using the "oops guy." The "oops guy" is the bottom icon (picture of a face) beneath the eyedropper on the row of icons on the left side of the screen. Clicking on the"oops guy" undoes the last action taken.
11. The child can select a different stamp set to use with the picture s/he has started. That is stamps from many different stamp sets can be combined as part of one picture. To get a new stamp set select a stamp set from the "Goodies" Menu. To do this click on "Goodies." Next, click on "Pick a stamp set". You will see 3 rows of stams. There are actually several more rows. To see the additional rows, click on the down scroll arrow on the right side of the screen. When the child sees a row of stamps that s/he likes, s/he clicks on any stamp to select that row of stamps. The selected row gets framed in red. Then click on OK to select that stamp set.
12. The child can also create some very interesting special effects using the paintbrush. The paintbrush icon is the fifth down from the top on the left side of the screen. It looks sort of like a paintbrush. When you click on that icon yet get a bunch of special effects boxes on the bottom of the screen. Have the child experiment with these special effects if she wants to. Each special effect can be done in any of a large selection of colors. To choose the desired color, click on the square of the desired color in the color palette on the bottom left of the screen.
13. Remember: the amount of time you spend on this activity is "yoked" to the player you were assigned. You must budget your time so the child will only spend the same amount of time as his/her player counterpart spent the previous week. When the child feels ready to complete the picture, you must save it. To save the picture, choose FILE, then choose SAVE A PICTURE. When you choose save a picture make sure the Directories box says c:\kpstudio. In that box you will see several subdirectories. Click on the yellow file folder icon next to the subdirectory that says ybrstory. The FILENAME box will say *.bmp. Position the cursor so it sits between the * and the . Backspace to erase the *. Then type the first two letters of the child's first name, the two digits of the month and the two digits of the day. For example if a child named Jen did a picture on March 2, you would type je0302. So the complete filename for that picture would be je0302.bmp Then click OK and you will be brought back to your picture.
14. Next, print a picture of the child's story. To do so click on FILE, then on PRINT. It will say printing. After the first picture has printed out, print a second copy. Punch holes in the picture and put one in the child's notebook and bring one to our meeting.
15. Then click FILEi, RETURN TO STUDIO. Then click FILE and then click QUIT.
16. Next, double click on the WPWin icon to bring up WordPerfect. When the screen comes up, hit return 5 times.
17. Then choose GRAPHICS. From GRAPHICS choose IMAGE. You will get the file menu. Look in the QUICKLIST. In the QUICK LIST box choose KIDPIX PICTURES. That will bring up a list of the kids pictures. Select the one your chid did and click on it. The picture will come up in small size. Click on one of the little handles and drag it to enlarge the picture. When it's a reasonable size, click on the CLOSE button on the top right of the graphics toolbar.
18. Position the cursor on the top of the screen. Ask the child to name the story. Type the child's name and the name of the story and today's date. Then type the story verbatim as the child tells it to you.
19. Save the story. Click on FILE, SAVE AS, . From the Quick List choose Kid Pix Stories. Then name the story as first two letters of the child's first name followed by the date eg je0203. Then click OK.
20. Print the story. Choose FILE, then choose print. Then from the screen for the EPSON printer choose the print button and the story will print.
21. Click CLOSE. Then click FILE and then EXIT.