Are there any folks on the Squeak list who are either ...

[Jimmie Houchin]

Hi Alan,

The list you refer to is that a mailing-list or just a list of 
interested parties?

Whenever we can put together possibly a mailing list or whenever you are 
ready I can squeaze out some time to write a promotional message to some 
home-schooling communities. I definitely want to be involved but at 
present my Squeak knowledge is weak, I'm working on it. I am definitely 
very-Pro Squeak though.

The home-schooling community is excellent about producing educational 
materials for its advocates. What is excellent about Squeak for 
home-schoolers is that Squeak is an excellent tool for building whatever 
materials you want to produce.

If we can get a good group of home-schoolers on board then the community 
will most likely be excellent at producing materials and expanding the 
scope of Squeak. I know there are probably numerous children (like my 
son) who have infinitely more time to spend on such endeavors than 
myself. I believe with some guidance they can become a productive member 
of the Squeak community.

For home-schoolers the cross-platform nature of Squeak is of tremendous 
benefit due to the diversity of computers being used. Unlike public 
schools each family has the autonomy to choose whatever computer they 
wish. I have 4 Macs and a Linux machine. (No Windows.) :)

I am happy to help any way I can.

Jimmie Houchin


Alan Kay wrote:
> Thanks Jimmie --
> 
> I think making materials that could be used by home schoolers to teach 
> math, science, computing, etc., using Squeak is a very good next step 
> for all. We are trying to create a (much smaller than Squeak.org) open 
> source list of home-schoolers who would be interested in helping make 
> and package Squeak materials. Sounds like you might be the first of this 
> list!
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alan
> 
> ------
> 
> At 11:52 AM -0500 7/3/02, Jimmie Houchin wrote:
> 
>> I am a home-schooling father of 8. I would love to see the home-school 
>> community adopt Squeak and use it to create home-schooling educational 
>> materials. There is little educational software I see that could be 
>> done as well and better in a living interactive system like Squeak.
>>
>> As I get more up to speed on Squeak and passed a few current projects 
>> I hope to actively promote Squeak to home-schoolers.
>>
>> My oldest son (13) is currently going thru the Object-land (yellow) 
>> Squeak book. After that I'll send him thru the white book. He is very 
>> interested in Squeak and just enjoys playing around in it.
>>
>> I have not yet taken him to any of the Squeakland pages or materials.
>>
>> I have pretty good influence at our smalltown public library. At one 
>> point I did all of the computer tech support, installed software, did 
>> backups, maintained hardware, setup network, etc. We have a new 
>> librarian and I no longer do such, but never-the-less I have their 
>> respect. My employer is also the President of the Library board.
>>
>> For a smalltown (1700+ pop) library we are doing quite well. About 
>> 30,000 volumes and close to a dozen computers, a few of which are 
>> solely for staff. The library also has a t1 line (I think).
>>
>> Jimmie Houchin
>>
>> Alan Kay wrote:
>> [snip]
>>
>>>
>>> P.S. We are also very interested in home-schoolers, who also use 
>>> libraries and online a lot ....
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Alan
>>
>> [snip original message]