(2007-03-21) Pata Pata

Pata Pata, by Paul Fernhout, is an experiment to support educational Constructivism on the Python platform, inspired by "SqueakSmallTalk" and "SElf", but going beyond those in a Pythonic way. It is intended to mainly support "UnSchooling", "free schooling", and "informal". (Implications of Economics Of Abundance) (Released in July/Aug2006 then nothing?)

More info.

Postmortem

• not satisfied with Prototype Based
• still prefers SmallTalk syntax.
• Generally, a parent working hand-in-hand with a kid to help them learn to use a software tool written for amateurs or professionals (Python, Blender, OpenOffice, Garage Band, or our own Plant Studio :-) is probably going to yield more value for most older kids than anything specifically labeled "educational". One of the bigger potential areas for exceptions is educational Simulation-s like our garden simulator, but even there, kids usually learn more by building their own simulations than by using a pre-made one.