Kids just don't seem to like to study Math, so anything you can do to make it tolerable, if not fun, is a good thing. As soon as my boys are old enough to have mastered handwriting, I'm expecting that they will spend a lot of time with Tux Typing. Not being able to type in today's world would severely limit a person's job prospects. However, it was also a prerequisite for the only computer class my high school offered. When I was in school, typing class was an elective. However, it was quite usable and fun to play. Some of the menu items didn't work, for example. As with most software, and open source in particular, Tux Typing seems to be a work in progress. You also have the choice of practicing the alphabet or simple finger exercises. In this case, your choices are short, medium and long, of course. You can also chose the length of words that have to be typed in order to shoot down the falling objects. Increasing the game level simply causes the fish or comets to fall faster. Tux Typing features animated menus and four levels of game play. As the player types the letter on the comets, they get shot down and explode. In “Comet Zap,” blue comets fall from the sky threatening to destroy the cities below. The crunching sounds Tux makes as he eats are sure to amuse any young child. In “Fish Cascade,” fish fall from the sky, and as the player types the letter on each fish, Tux eats the fish. I'm sure we've all seen the ubiquitous typing tutor games where you type letters in order to “shoot” falling invaders. Of course, you could also use Tux Paint to teach students art concepts like color, line, and texture. Still older children could use this program to create their own comic strips complete with text. Older, pre-readers, could use this program to tell a story in storyboard fashion. In this case, the parent or educator would help the student select colors and draw lines and shapes. So how is this educational? At the lower ages, this might simply be a first introduction to using the mouse. Most of the tools have their own sound effects to help keep the child's attention. You can also see Tux, which kids can put in their art using the “stamp” tool. My masterpiece demonstrates the grass, sparkle and brick tools. Kids can use these tools to create whatever they can imagine. On the “magic” menu, we see two brick tools, a “sparkle” tool as well as a rainbow tool. We also see an icon for “magic,” which gives us the menu we see on the right. On the left side, we see icons for the various functions such as drawing, text, and shapes. As you can see in Figure 2, I'm only slightly more advanced than your average 5 year old art student. It certainly isn't as powerful as the Gimp, but it has a few features that kids should have fun with. What makes Tux Paint any different than the rest? What makes it qualify as an educational program? Well, Tux Paint is really geared toward young children it's simple enough that they can use it with little or no instructions. TUX PAINT PLAY GAME FOR FREE FREEAlmost every computing environment comes with a free paint program. When I first encountered Tux Paint listed as an educational program, I had some doubts. Either way, it's a nice touch for a children's program who doesn't love penguins? In the typing and Math games, Tux shoots down invaders or eats fish as they fall from the sky. TUX PAINT PLAY GAME FOR FREE HOW TOIn the paint program, Tux gives instructions on how to select a color from a pallet. Do you sense a theme developing here?Īll three games feature Tux, the mighty Linux mascot. I use Linux for work almost exclusively so I was a bit curious to see if there were any good children's educational programs for Linux it turns out that there are some very good ones and I'm going to discuss 3 of them today: Tux Paint, Tux Typing, and Tux of Math Command. As a homeschooling family, my wife and I are very involved in our children's education and since we're both a couple of nerds, much of our children's education is done on the computer.
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