Want your kid to love Linux as much as you do, but worried that he or she might be learning too much about Windows and OS X on the streets (or at school) to feel comfortable with an open source operating system? Qimo is here to help.

Qimo Linux is based on Ubuntu, but it's designed for children over the age of 3. It features large cartoon-like program icons and comes with a bunch of open source and educational games including Tuxmath, Tuxpaint, Tuxtype (a typing game) and even some games that don't have Tux in them like GCompris and Childsplay.

Unlike Edubuntu, Qimo is designed for home use, not classroom use. The operating system can be run from a LiveCD or installed. Qimo uses a simple interface based on Xfce.

[via instant fundas]

A reader dropped us an email recently, requesting information on where to find educational software for elementary and middle-schoolers. That's a great question -- there are plenty of Web-based sites to choose from but, as our reader pointed out, it can be tough to find things to put on your computer to use later without an Internet connection.

If you dig around a little, though, you can find a few gems.

Kaboose has a long list of downloads in lots of different categories, including math, science, social studies, and music. Each list is also broken down by age group and operating system (Mac and PC). Several links point to Web sites that only contain printable PDFs and worksheets, but be sure to hunt around for downloadable software too.

The HomeSchool Mom, a popular Web site among home educators has a mile-long list of free educational materials in every conceiveable subject from typing tutors to Forensic Medical studies. Some of the links are for Web-based activities but many take you to sites where you can download free software or send away to receive goodies in the mail.

Adam Smith Academy offers free educational podcasts you can download and listen to on an MP3 player or your computer's media player. Younger children will enjoy stories from Kipling or Aesop, while older kids will love hearing stories by James Joyce or Nathaniel Hawthorne. The site even has a number of history lessons and college lectures available for download as well.

If you're looking for help with specific topics, be sure to check the Web sites of museums and science centers in major metropolitan cities. You could get lost for days roaming the Web site of the Exploratorium, San Francisco's famous science museum. Though much of the information is Web-based and interactive, there are plenty of links to other sites for additional printables and downloads. Budding astronauts of all ages can find virtually anything related to space, astronomy, and space travel at the educational portion of NASA's Web site.

One of the best places to find free and fabulous educational software is within the open source community. Although a few programs require the Linux operating system to run, most will also run on Windows or Mac. Have a look at this comprehensive list to see what's available and what's recommended for students of all ages and skill levels.

Now that school is officially underway throughout most of the country, help your kids flex their brain muscles with these three terrific educational sites:

NickNews - Yes, that Nick. The folks at Nickelodeon have done a great job putting together a news Web site just for kids. It covers everything from the presidential election to poverty in America in a way that teens and pre-teens can grasp. Have your kids use it as a way to keep up on what's happening in the world, as well as a place to do research on current events.

Funbrain - This is the ultimate "education-disguised-as-fun" Web site. It helps teach important academic basics in ways that are nearly irresistible to kids: math skill builders are hidden in arcade games, reading enhancers are stashed in Web comics. It's as clever as it gets. As an nice added touch, there are even blogs targeted at different age groups.

EdHelper - This one's more for parents and teachers than kids. Use EdHelper to design worksheets, games, and other printables to give kids the extra practice they need in spelling, math, or reading. Total access to the site is available at various pricing levels, but the free area will be more than adequate for most families.

There are activities for every age and grade level from pre-k to high school. In one area of the site, you can enter your child's spelling list for the week and up pops a crossword puzzle using all the words. Another section offers SAT vocabulary word lessons for 9 - 12 graders, and yet another section contains writing prompts and critical thinking exercises. What the site lacks in visual pizzaz, it more than makes up for in educational value.

Stay tuned later this week when we explore ways to find educational software that you can download right to your computer. For even more educational Web site ideas, see this post.

If the television landscape is a "vast wasteland," YouTube must be a vast waste universe. But the thing about YouTube is that for every Chris Crocker there's a UC Berkeley.

The University of California Berkeley has begun posting full length lectures on the video sharing site. There are already over 200 videos online covering topics from biology and physics to the "principles of nonviolence," and university officials plan to continue adding to the collection.

While watching videos won't earn you a degree, you can probably learn a thing or two by virtually auditing these courses. And lest you think the university's giving something valuable away for free, showcasing lectures from some of the most engaging professors is a great promotional tool for the school.

Now, if they could just make a good lecture half as engaging as a video from the "leave Britney alone" guy. So far most of the UC Berkeley videos have only been viewed a handful of times.

[via CNet]

It's like welcoming LOGO to the 21st century. Alice is a Java based 3D toolkit which serves as an excellent foundation for teaching youngsters the basics of programming. The Alice 3D Authoring system is developed and maintained by the Stage3 Research Group at Carnegie Mellon University

Through a simple drag-and-drop interface you can build all sorts of animation by attaching object methods to events, giving clear visual feedback in the form of the animations you build, but also stealthily teaching simple modern programming techniques. Even the only slightly nerdy kids you know will fall in love with animating characters while learning valuable lessons along the way.

Takes you back to writing simple programs in BASIC but, with a whole new modern twist. Alice is a hefty download, at 115MB, and you'll need Java installed as well. Still, it's free, educational and just the perfect thing for a rainy spring day. Take the jump to see some shots of Alice's user interface.