Teach Kids to Count with the ZX81

Some education theorists suggest that learning to count and read is enhanced if you create a large, sharp image in a child’s mind. This image should be easily recognized and repeated often.

Rapidly moving TV pictures get credit (and blame) for generating very powerful attention-grabbing images that anyone watching learns quickly. With your ZX81 and some intelligent program design, your TV can provide sharp graphic images of concepts you want to teach.

I wrote this program, COUNT, to help my three-year-old son learn to equate a group of objects with a number. The game draws a random number of objects on the screen and asks, “How many?” If he answers correctly, the computer tells him he’s right and draws another set. If he’s wrong, the computer asks for another answer.

Since my son can barely count much less read, written text is kept to a minimum. To keep things interesting, the program generates several shapes that occur randomly.

COUNT fits in a 1K machine, with a little extra room if you want a fancier win display. Once you enter the listing and save it, just tell your child to push R for RUN. The game repeats until you pull the plug.