Education and demonstration – Business or economics – Coin or currency identification or counterfeit detection
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-11
2001-05-01
Rimell, Sam (Department: 3712)
Education and demonstration
Business or economics
Coin or currency identification or counterfeit detection
C434S107000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06224381
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for teaching special needs children about money, its value, and budgeting. It provides a product designed for two primary categories of children with special needs. The first category is Educable Mentally Handicapped (EMH) children, who are able to be taught in a classroom setting and have the potential to progress into a vocational-tech career path. The second category is Trainable Mentally Handicapped (TMH) children, who have the abilities to understand and use what they have learned, but on a limited basis. Both groups of children, if properly taught, have the possibility of moving into Independent Living Environments.
Until recently, the needs of such children have not been adequately addressed. One particularly critical, unaddressed skill for independent living is the ability to recognize and use money.
The product may also benefit individuals with motor or cognitive difficulties that are not necessarily categorized as mentally handicapped. For instance, the items could be used by adults who need special assistance with fine motor skills, including individuals who suffer from strokes or other impairments that require some type of therapeutic intervention.
An effective training system teaches an important and useful skill that is fun for the student. The system should be designed to the level of the learning ability of the student because one that is too complicated will frustrate and cause confusion. This is especially important when training persons with learning disabilities and also those having short attention spans who may become easily frustrated. Many of the currently available training systems for teaching a student about money are geared to skill levels above persons in these groups.
Existing training tools are often complicated. Even after a student has been instructed on how to perform the lesson, they may still be apprehensive and uncertain when required to perform the lesson independently. These types of training systems are often not enjoyed by the students resulting in their reluctance or refusal to use them.
Therefore, there is a need for a system of training students how to recognize money and develop rudiments of budgeting that uses intuitive and relaxed methods that students can understand and use independently after a minimal amount of instruction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention fulfills this need in the art by providing an apparatus to educate special needs children about money including an easel arranged to display a display page to a child, a graphics card mountable on the display page and having money information visible thereon, and specimen money adapted for mounting on the graphics card and display page in an arrangement correlated with the money information visible on the graphics card.
In one embodiment the display page includes top and bottom edges, and the easel includes a frame hinged to the top edge of the display page and a base hinged to the bottom edge. The frame and base have engagement points spaced from their respective hinges to the display page to interlock the frame and base to form the easel into a triangular form to position the display page for display to the child. The engagement points may include a bar on the frame and notches on the base, so that the bar can engage selected ones of the notches for selectively setting a vertical angle of display of the easel to the child.
Preferably, the display page has ferromagnetic properties and the graphics card and specimen money have magnetic properties so that the graphics card and specimen money will be supported by magnetic attraction to the display page.
In one embodiment, the graphics card includes numeric depictions stating values of various ones of the specimen money, so that the child can place corresponding specimen money on the graphics card in association with the numeric depictions to learn to match the appearance of the specimen money with the numeric amount depicted.
In another embodiment, the graphics card includes depictions of various ones of the specimen money. This permits the child to place several items of specimen money on the graphics card of lesser value than the depicted money to arrive at the value of the depicted specimen money to learn to equate the value of several items of the lesser value money with the depicted money. The depictions may include depictions of a one dollar bill, two quarters, one dime and one nickel.
In another embodiment, the depictions include numeric depictions stating values of twenty dollars, ten dollars, and five dollars. This permits the child to place specimen money on the graphics card corresponding to the numeric depictions and several items of specimen money of lesser value than the numeric depiction to arrive at the value of the numeric depiction to learn to equate the value of several items of the lesser value money with the depicted money.
In another embodiment, the graphics card includes a first card with a budget category identifier and a second card for an amount for the budget category. With this embodiment, the child can place specimen money on the display page corresponding to the amount for the budget category to learn to equate the value of the money placed on the display page with the amount needed for the budget category.
The graphics card may include a budget category name card with the budget category identified in letters and a budget category illustration card that shows a non-alphanumeric illustration of the budget category. Putting these items on separate cards gives the child the opportunity to place corresponding first and second cards together on the display page to learn to identify the name of the budget category with the type of benefit obtained by spending money in that category. Preferably, the budget categories and non-alphanumeric displays are as follows:
Budget Category
Non-alphanumeric Illustration
rent
a picture of a dwelling place
groceries
a picture of a grocery bag
medical
a picture of a pill bottle
transportation
a picture of a bus
clothing
a picture of a jacket
utilities
a picture of a light switch, faucet and thermostat
Other budget categories can be substituted or added.
In a preferred embodiment, the second card for an amount is blank and receptive to temporary marking with an amount to be used as a budget amount for an exercise and changeable to a different amount for a different exercise.
The specimen money may include simulations of $1.00 bills, $5.00 bills, $10.00 bills, $20.00 bills, $50.00 bills, $100.00 bills, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies.
In a most preferred embodiment, the apparatus includes a full collection of all of the above-mentioned graphics cards, so that the child can be given a variety of educational experiences.
The invention also provides a method of educating special needs children about money including arranging a display page to be within reach of a child, mounting a graphics card on the display page having money information visible thereon, and providing the child with specimen money adapted for mounting on the display page in an arrangement correlated with the money information visible on the graphics card.
Mounting may include supporting the graphics card on the display page by magnetic attraction to the display page.
Mounting may also include mounting a graphics card that includes numeric depictions stating values of various ones of the specimen money. The method may include asking the child to place corresponding specimen money on the graphics card in association with the numeric depictions. This gives the child the opportunity to learn to match the appearance of the specimen money with the numeric amount depicted.
Alternatively, mounting may include mounting a graphics card that includes depictions of various ones of the specimen money, and the method may include asking the child to place items of specimen money on the graphics card of lesser value than the depicted money to arrive at the value of the depicted specimen money. This gives the child the op
Caldwell Dean A.
Culberson Judith L.
Lockhart Christie
Calkins Charles W.
Kaplan Companies, Inc.
Kilpatrick & Stockton LLP
Rimell Sam
LandOfFree
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