I was lucky. During the "core" years of my childhood (8-12), my dad worked from home. This is also when I started getting into computing. He always arranged his days so that he was off work by the time we kids came home from school. My desk was in his office, and in the summers he'd always answer my questions or at least point me in the right direction if I asked him something when he wasn't on a call. He always seemed to have this superpower of being able to switch his full focus instantly. Mom was a full-time mom until I was 15, when financial conditions ('08) meant they both needed to work. She has a masters in math education, so there was always at least one well educated person I could annoy at any time.
I remember when dad first gave me the ability to use the internet by myself (2001, iirc). He told me how it was an unprecedented way of accessing information and learning, something he felt would have put him years ahead of where he was if he had it when he was in college. I discovered so many niche communities for the things I was interested in (LEGO Mindstorms, AVR, Rokenbok, model trains, etc.). I kinda yearn for the days when the internet wasn't the advertisement ridden and siloed hellscape it is today.
Incredible. I hope my children are interested in programming/IT as I am; because it's both something I'm good at an passionate about and I'd love to share that with them.
I work from home now, and have done since Covid; so I've spent (almost) every day of my children's lives at home with them. I'm currently trying to work out how best to set up the older child (3yo) with a computer to learn on; Something like a child-friendly / fun version of Monkeytype [0] to get her reading/spelling/typing as she's always shown an interest in what I'm doing on the computer.
I have a bunch of Pis and mechanical keyboards so I'm thinking I'll let her choose some sort of enclosure we can "print" (3D printing is just "printing" to her, because how could it have fewer than 3 dimensions?) and set her up nearby.
The internet really isn't what it was when I was a child (not too far from yourself), but I guess that's the price for it going mainstream.
One of my earliest and fondest memories is my father taking apart and fixing the family PC at the kitchen table while on the phone with Zeos support. Seeing your parents genuinely interested and doing these activities is priceless.
I'll be looking for a similar project soon. My 2yo also just knows 3d printing as printing ("blue tape... printer hot!") and we recently built the Otto DIY robot[0] together. I'm looking into building something like a modernized TRS-80 model 100[1] with bigger font and maybe a better screen angle. The robot has been great in that we could build it with minimal components and add parts to improve functionality, and I'd like to carry that spirit into our computer build as well. (Bonus points if I can get the computer to send instructions to the robot!)
I've learned a tremendous amount on the internet and I'm still learning. There's never been a better time to get information, but some of it is getting harder to find.
I think gcompris might be what you're looking for. It runs nicely on Raspberry Pis and there are several activities that are suitable for three year olds, as well as activities for older learners.
I remember when dad first gave me the ability to use the internet by myself (2001, iirc). He told me how it was an unprecedented way of accessing information and learning, something he felt would have put him years ahead of where he was if he had it when he was in college. I discovered so many niche communities for the things I was interested in (LEGO Mindstorms, AVR, Rokenbok, model trains, etc.). I kinda yearn for the days when the internet wasn't the advertisement ridden and siloed hellscape it is today.