5 year old navigator

[Mike Substelny <msubstel@xxxx>]

Hi Scott,

You said:

> Mike, My co-pilot/navigator will be my 5 year old son. He is doing
> well with his reading, but multi-syllable words still present a challenge
> for him. Please make the directions simple.

Attached is an Excel spreadsheet with the latest draft of the tour directions. If this format
is no good I will resend it as an ASCII or HTML file. Look it over and decide if you believe
your son can handle it.

The tour takes place in three legs. Each leg will be printed on a different color of paper,
and the same color will be traced on that section of the map using a matching highlighter.

I *might* be able to make even simpler directions. The real problem will be with street
names. I cannot simplify the names. The navigator may need to read 20 some names like
"Edgewater" and "Clifton" and "Euclid." Because you have the directions two months early, you
might reherse the names with your son. By June he could be able to read and pronounce all the
street names, and you would be fine.

The audio tape will also have the directions, with the street names pronounced by yours
truely. The tape is pretty well synchronized if everyone is driving near the speed limit in
normal traffic. The potential problem will be if several tour participants get bunched up at
an intersection or light. This could happen if someone is a leadfoot or tailgater. If this
happens then everyone behind them will have their recording thrown off schedule, and they will
need the navigator to read the directions until they reach the next stop.

- Mike S.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]