What To Load On a 4-Year-Old's Netbook?

nostrodecus writes "I have a nephew who is very young, but who has the techie gene — he found the Gruffalo on YouTube before anyone knew he could spell. Now he's almost 4, and I was thinking of giving him my netbook (Acer running XP), which I hardly use any more. So, of course, I will be deleting all the porn, but what should I load up on it? Are there tools/apps that I can load up on it to protect it and him from things he shouldn't see until college? Also, what apps or games could I load on it that a 4-year-old will get some use out of?"

Comments

Regardless

[Dyinobal]

Regardless of what you install there's no guaranteed way to stop your kid from stumbling upon boobs on the internet. Plus who's to say it's something to worry about at all. They certainly didn't traumatize me.

Re:Regardless

[BadAnalogyGuy]

I'm going to agree.

My 5 year old has his own account on the Vista machine at home. He knows how to load up Chrome. He has accounts on Youtube and Netflix and can watch what he wants whenever he wants.

It keeps him occupied for hours at a stretch. It really frees me up to go shopping and other things that would have been tough with him along.

Re:Regardless

[gman003]

Most filters are effective at stopping accidental viewings. If the user actually tries to access porn, it will fail sooner or later, emphasis on the sooner. But, given that the kid is four, it seems unlikely he's going to be typing "free porn xxx" into Google.

If you just want casual filtering, I would recommend OpenDNS. Just set your DNS server to 208.67.222.123, and it will quietly block porn, malware and warez sites. I haven't found many false positives either. It won't catch everything, but if you want to delay teaching your kid about such things until he's mature enough to understand it, it works well enough.

As for productivity software, try letting the kid loose on Blender. Open-source 3d modelling/rendering program. Might be a bit slow on netbooks, but if the kid's creative, he'll find something to do with it.

Re:Regardless

[skyride]

Blender? for a 4 year old? are you actually serious?

The thread below this pretty much sums up my feelings here.

Re:Regardless

[Keebler71]

Install Windows Steady State on the machine after you set it up and before you give it to him. It is designed for places like computer labs, libraries, schools, etc... that don't want kids or malicious user wrecking too much havoc. Lots of features but the gist is you have full control over what users can do (by account), how long they can be online, what drives and resources they have access to, etc. There is even a rudimentary site blocker so you can allow playhouse disney, or whatever kids sites you know are safe without letting them have free reign over the net or having to manage this at the firewall. Highly recommend it.

Re:Regardless

[hairyfeet]

I may be the token Windows guy around here but as to what apps? I'd just load Edubuntu and call it a day. I believe in the right tool for the job and Edubuntu not only has plenty of learning apps for ALL ages, it also has built in "net nanny" style filtering he can turn on if he is worried about teh titties. Although frankly it is a waste of time, as we old guys didn't have the Internet and still found teh titties just fine, thank you VERY much.

I never understood the "fear of teh boobies" we seem to have in this country. It reminds me of that old saying Joe Bob Briggs had "You can't show a titty unless it has a knife in it. This is America dammit!"

Huh?

[Brett Buck]

Why in God's name would you give a computer to a 4-year-old? Give him a damn baseball or something, the last thing he needs in his formative years is to vegetate in front of a screen.

        Brett

Re:Huh?

[Nikker]

If anything give him a screw driver and let him take it apart tell him what all the parts do and possibly even get it back together.

Re:Huh?

[Picardo85]

I agree with Brett ... young kids should run around hurting themselves so that they learn not to do certain things later in life when they don't heal as easily. Climbing trees, biking, playing soccer, building stuff with hammer and nail ... in general stuff where you can hurt yourself or even better ... encourage him somehow to just use his imagination ... Personally i would give a 4-year-old DUPLO - the young kids version of LEGO

Re:Huh?

[Daniel Phillips]

Because taking apart a screwdriver is such an enriching experience.

Re:Huh?

[Nikker]

Hey man you take what you can get.

Re:Huh?

[jhigh]

I agree with this. Giving a four year old a laptop is dumb if you plan on using it as a babysitter. However, let the kid play games on age-appropriate sites and this would be a great replacement for television time.

In response to the OP, and at the risk of starting a flame war, the first thing that I would do is wipe the thing and put some flavor of Linux on it. Expose them at a very young age to the fact that there is more to the world of technology than Microsoft and Apple. My kids are 8 and 10 and share a laptop with Kubuntu on it, and they love it. I like showing them all of the stuff that they can do it on and the fact that I can load it with software that does everything that they want to do without having to pay for any of it or violate (admittedly dumb) copyright laws.

How about the OLPC/Sugar system?

[pearl298]

One Laptop per child has emulators for regular PCs and their software is ideally suited to a small child: http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Software_components They even have a "live boot" based on Fedora Linux

FreeDOS

[damn_registrars]

Format it, and then install FreeDOS and nothing else. Let him figure out the rest on his own. It should keep him out of trouble for quite a while. If you're feeling generous, install some sound card drivers for him (though not necessarily the best ones, or even the right ones).

Re:Hmm

[ds_online]

Yes I take my 5 year old and my 3 year old shopping weekly, there is no screaming, there is no disciplinary action. if you can't handle raising children who listen to you, maybe you shouldn't have had them in the first place. Leaving a 5 year old at home is child abuse. and most state agencys would agree.

Re:Hmm

[BadAnalogyGuy]

That's insane. What police state do you live in?

Re:Hmm

[BadAnalogyGuy]

I'd love for you to try it.

Number One Observatory Circle
3450 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington, DC 20007

202-762-1489

Ask for Joe.

Re:LOLWHAT?!?! You posted your add. and #?!?

[BadAnalogyGuy]

People here are all talk. Keyboard warriors.

In real life, they are pussies and won't do a goddamned thing about it.

Re:LOLWHAT?!?! You posted your add. and #?!?

[Anonymous Coward]

Google "Vice President of the United States residence"

Re:how about a fishing pole

[Alarindris]

It's more fun when you are a kid. Just like playing house or cowboys and indians. I can't believe I'm explaining this.

Re:Hmm

[Belial6]

Your right. It isn't child abuse for them to be outside by themselves, so everyone should remember that if they want to make a quick run down to the corner store, they should lock the kid outside. It will keep the parent out of trouble.

Seriously, just a generation ago, it was simply no big deal for a 5 year old to spend a short amount of time alone. By 10 or 11, they could spend the night alone, and by 12 or 13, they were babysitting other kids for the weekend. I don't know what kind of mass genetic disease has spread through the populations, but for those kids whose genetic code is still in tact, leaving a 5 year old at home is NOT child abuse. No matter what most state agencies say.

Re:Hmm

[Hognoxious]

Few if any of those who didn't survive are posting on slashdot.

According to a study performed by the universities of Dublin and Warsaw, sterility is genetic. If your parents don't have any children, chances are you won't either.