4 ms·

Ask HN: Offline Learning Resources for Children

8 points by prawn 5y ago

I have an old 2007 iMac that I planned to set up in my 9yo son's room, but keep it offline. Are there any offline learning resources (general knowledge, programming, etc - especially interactive) that might be appropriate? I assume there are offline versions of Wikipedia, but anything with content filtered? There are some serial killer pages on there that are pretty NSFL even for adults.

hojjat12000 5y ago
I know you said iMac, but if you are OK installing Linux on it, I think Endless OS* is what you're looking for: * https://endlessos.com/home/ https://endlessos.com/home/
- he11ow 5y ago
  This is amazing, thank you
- prawn 5y ago
  Doesn't look like it supports a Mac, but that appears to be a great option for others. My most recent Windows-based machines are unfortunately much older and tragic.
kody 5y ago
I would scour DRM-free ebooks (Humble Bundle has some good stuff occasionally; otherwise Internet Archive) and load them into Calibre. If your child is very hands-on/project-oriented, set up an IDE/word processor/image manipulation program and let em make stuff.
- prawn 5y ago
  I would love an easily managed, interactive/offline programming course, but not sure it exists without a bit of setup hassle. My fallback is just word processor and typing practice which isn't a waste, but image manipulation is a good idea. I've just remembered I have an unused 2015 MacBook Pro so I might try him on that plus Unity and some downloaded game making tutorials.
open-source-ux 5y ago
BBC Bitesize An educational resource for UK school kids. There's a vast amount of content for all ages. Here's an example of explaining programming constructs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zh66pbk/revision/2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zh66pbk/revision/2 You would need to crawl the site in order to download the content for offline use. I suspect the interactive quizzes won't work in offline mode. Also, modern websites saved for offline use are unlikely to display correctly in a 2007 Web browser. As an aside: your question is very interesting because no-one makes offline content anymore. Learning resources on CD like Encarta (CD encyclopedia) no longer exist. However, you can probably find old educational CDs on eBay e.g. from The Learning Company - titles are of variable quality.
- fiftyacorn 5y ago
  You can install a Wikipedia locally. Not sure if a children's version exists
  - open-source-ux 5y ago
    There is a project for offline knowledge resources called 'Internet-in-a-box' which includes an offline Wikipedia too (presumably unfiltered) : Internet-in-a-Box brings the very best of the World’s Free Knowledge (Wikipedia, Khan Academy, OpenStreetMap, E-Books and many others) to those who are offline — e.g. anybody nearby with an old smartphone, tablet or laptop. http://internet-in-a-box.org/ http://internet-in-a-box.org/
  - prawn 5y ago
    I came across this, but searching didn't unearth whether there was a cutdown kids version: https://www.kiwix.org/ https://www.kiwix.org/ I have considered just scraping/grabbing all the countries, planets, stars and maybe notable pre-modern people, and leaving him to gradually work through those for a bit.
- prawn 5y ago
  Thanks - I'll take a look. Yes, I'd searched for a modern, offline equivalent of Encarta but couldn't find anything. When he was a toddler, I'd looked for simple games for the same computer and found virtually nothing for a Mac. Mac gaming used to be especially tragic and younger gaming options were even worse. Fast forward and we have five iPads and an Apple Arcade account.

8 points by prawn 5y ago

hojjat12000 5y ago

I know you said iMac, but if you are OK installing Linux on it, I think Endless OS* is what you're looking for: * https://endlessos.com/home/ https://endlessos.com/home/

he11ow 5y ago
This is amazing, thank you
prawn 5y ago
Doesn't look like it supports a Mac, but that appears to be a great option for others. My most recent Windows-based machines are unfortunately much older and tragic.

kody 5y ago

I would scour DRM-free ebooks (Humble Bundle has some good stuff occasionally; otherwise Internet Archive) and load them into Calibre. If your child is very hands-on/project-oriented, set up an IDE/word processor/image manipulation program and let em make stuff.

prawn 5y ago
I would love an easily managed, interactive/offline programming course, but not sure it exists without a bit of setup hassle. My fallback is just word processor and typing practice which isn't a waste, but image manipulation is a good idea. I've just remembered I have an unused 2015 MacBook Pro so I might try him on that plus Unity and some downloaded game making tutorials.

open-source-ux 5y ago

BBC Bitesize An educational resource for UK school kids. There's a vast amount of content for all ages. Here's an example of explaining programming constructs: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zh66pbk/revision/2 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zh66pbk/revision/2 You would need to crawl the site in order to download the content for offline use. I suspect the interactive quizzes won't work in offline mode. Also, modern websites saved for offline use are unlikely to display correctly in a 2007 Web browser. As an aside: your question is very interesting because no-one makes offline content anymore. Learning resources on CD like Encarta (CD encyclopedia) no longer exist. However, you can probably find old educational CDs on eBay e.g. from The Learning Company - titles are of variable quality.

fiftyacorn 5y ago
You can install a Wikipedia locally. Not sure if a children's version exists
- open-source-ux 5y ago
  There is a project for offline knowledge resources called 'Internet-in-a-box' which includes an offline Wikipedia too (presumably unfiltered) : Internet-in-a-Box brings the very best of the World’s Free Knowledge (Wikipedia, Khan Academy, OpenStreetMap, E-Books and many others) to those who are offline — e.g. anybody nearby with an old smartphone, tablet or laptop. http://internet-in-a-box.org/ http://internet-in-a-box.org/
- prawn 5y ago
  I came across this, but searching didn't unearth whether there was a cutdown kids version: https://www.kiwix.org/ https://www.kiwix.org/ I have considered just scraping/grabbing all the countries, planets, stars and maybe notable pre-modern people, and leaving him to gradually work through those for a bit.
prawn 5y ago
Thanks - I'll take a look. Yes, I'd searched for a modern, offline equivalent of Encarta but couldn't find anything. When he was a toddler, I'd looked for simple games for the same computer and found virtually nothing for a Mac. Mac gaming used to be especially tragic and younger gaming options were even worse. Fast forward and we have five iPads and an Apple Arcade account.