| Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp |
| Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp. All rights reserved. |
| about the book |
| The Homeschool Diner's Guide to Homeschooling by Subject How do Homeschoolers Learn Computer Skills? by Julie Shepherd Knapp, copyright 2006 Curriculum , free online tutorials, and other resources to help children learn about common applications, programming, video game development, multimedia arts, website development, etc... Every Day Computer Applications Super Kids Software Reviews: Typing Programs -- a nice resource for choosing a program your child will like Mrs Sterling's Word Pad -- free online lessons for using Word, aimed at 5th to 6th graders Microsoft Office 2000 Tutorials -- some nice free online tutorials for 200 versions of Word, Excel, Power Point, etc. Avoiding Power Point Poisoning -- tips for improving presentations Rutgers University Writing Program Tutorials -- free online tutorials for Microsoft Word 2003 (and a variety of other software of that time period) Here are the official Microsoft 2003 tutorials, too Get up to speed on Microsoft Word 2007 -- helpful free online videos from microsoft. Here is a simpler version Word 2007 Tutorial put together by Florida Gulf Coast University How It Works: Your Guide to Notebook Technology -- a great series of 5 articles by Dustin Sklavos of NotebookReview.com give you a basic understanding of how notebooks and laptops work, so that you will be more comfortable choosing which one to buy. Articles 2-4 aren't cross-linked, they are here: Motherboards, Processors, Memory, and Graphics (pending). Make a Wiki -- free space for educators (homeschool educators included), has demos and directions on how to make them Playful Endeavors (video games) Youth Digital Arts Cyber School --inexpensive online tutorials designed to teach kids in 3rd grade to high school to create amazing video games, music, paintings, films and documentaries, animations, Manga, comics, Anime, and cartoons Click Team -- for kids who want to make their own video games, a suite of software programs (basic to advanced) that give kids a level of basic skills and familiarity with game development methods, will prep kids for more complicated programming languages, visit the Education section of their website for demos and more info Game Maker -- create video games by drag-and-drop, no programming needed (but it is an option), make games with backgrounds, animated graphics, music and sound effects, and even 3D games iDTech Camps -- computer summer camps for kids, offers 50 locations with week long adventures in video game development, design, programming, and modding; animation, and film/video, outrageously expensive.... but classes fill up quickly Make Your Own Hangman Game using Flash Action Script (not free) Nintendo Wii Fanboy -- game news, gaming industry news, reviews, etc. Nintendo DS Fanboy -- it's all about the Gameboy Double Screen Creative Endeavors (art and music) Stagecast Creator -- software that lets kids create interactive simulations, stories, games without needing a programming language. Alice -- a 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web, free online tools designed to be a student's first exposure to object-oriented programming. ASCII Art -- learn how to make those creative signature line pictures How to Make GIF Animations by stevemd Scratch -- a free download from MITof a new programming language that lets you create your own interactive stories, games, music, and art, website includes kid-friendly tutorials, aimed at grades 3 - 8 The Animation Learner's Site by the University of Toronto How to create an Awesome Logo in Photoshop Photoshop Curriculum by Jane Pawlowski of W.T. Clarke High School Photoshop exercises -- Donna Pauler of Austin Community College PhotoShop Warhol Style -- explore the style of Andy Warhol, then learn to use Adobe Illustrator and PhotoShop to create similar images Photoshop Lessons by Kevan Nitzberg, Anoka High School Sim Tunes -- "...allows kids to make their own "musical pictures." Just select and draw from the color palette - each color corresponds to a different musical note. Then watch and listen as the quartet of animated Bugz dance around the screen, triggering bursts of light and sound each time they pass over a different colored dot or line. String the colors together to create a tune." Not free, but cheap ;-) For more creative computer music applications check out the Diner's Online Music Enrichment section For more creative computer art applications check out the Diner's Online Art Enrichment section Making Websites Kids can create websites without using any fancy software. They can also make and view their own websites without publishing them to the Internet. Check out the Web Monkey site (below) for free online tutorials. For more info on publishing your child's website to the Internet read this Diner article, So, Your Homeschooler Wants to Make a Website? Lisa Explains it All and Web Monkey -- free, easy to understand online tutorials for making websites. On the Web Monkey website, begin with the Web Basics section under tutorials. Lisa Explains has more content, but also has pop-up ads to contend with. Building a School Website -- basic tutorials for a simple website Web Primer by W3Schools -- summaries of everything you need to know about the Web if you want to make websites L3 Integrated Development Environment -- a free 2-week download to create L3 files, a highly interactive Internet graphics scripting technology for pictures and sound, A tool for web designers and also an environment for teaching programming, Visit the Magic Square website for details Flash -- a free online tutorial with free 30-day download of Flash software Designing and Animating Characters in Flash 8 For many examples of musical applications to website design check out the Diner's Online Music Enrichment section Programming Computer Programming for Homeschool Students -- free online tutorials by Richard G. Baldwin, a community college professor. Designed specifically for teaching computer programming to homeschool students and their parents. Uses (free) programming languages: Scratch (ages 8 and up), Alice (middle school and up), and Java (high school and college). KidsSoftware.com - links to free online tutorials aimed at kids for computer programming with Visual Basic, Visual C#, Visual J#, and Java Snake Wrangling for Kids: Learning to Program with Python by Jason R Briggs -- a free downloadable book (you'll need to download Python separately, as instructed in the book) Check out Pygame, another free source, after you learn Python! ;-) Hello World! Computer Programming for Kids and Other Beginners by Warren D. Sande and Carter Sande -- teaches Python programming language in a kid-friendly way, available by download (first chapter free) Code Rules -- a free online game aimed at teens that teaches the basics of programming in VisualBasic.Net Related Resources Majoring in Graphic Design -- the pros and cons graphic designer -- career profile Majoring in Commercial Art and Advertising -- the pros and cons Advertising Art -- career possiblities Desktop Publishing -- career possibilities Video Game Artist -- career possibilities and prospects How to Get a Job in the Gaming Biz by Cliff Bleszinski, Epic Games Mothers, Don't Let Your Children Grow Up to Be Game Developers -- an inside look at game industry work ethics |
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