In the twenty-first century, the home computer is becoming a common and everyday household object, much as is the car, telephone and television.

Yet despite the computer’s new arrival as a daily necessity, it has one great difference from its other technological brothers and sisters - unlike the phone and the TV - it is also a school tool, to be used to aid a child’s education and development. Parents who are computer literate themselves may be surprised to see how adept their own child is at using a computer when in the classroom - and how well the school computer is set up to deal with the small hands and growing minds which operate them. Parents who do not use a computer themselves may find their child’s new technological skills intimidating, and worry that they are getting left behind!

Fortunately, the computer market is, as usual, one step ahead, and is able to help all sorts of people to set up a home computer system to keep all members of the family happy. Although the big PC outlets may seem very helpful, they are not able to create the tailor-made package that independent PC specialists can offer. Putting a system together to suit the whole family takes time and consideration - the ages of the users, level of ability, needs and requirements from the system, your budget, even how much ‘office’ space you have!

With families in mind, certain independents have realised that home PC systems require special attention, and very sensibly offer a range of extras to accommodate the children’s needs; such as ‘one-click’ mice, Internet protection software, controlled vetted website lists, recommended software packages and (virtually) indestructible hardware. A real benefit is the independent’s home service, whereby the system is professionally installed in the home, set up to your personal specifications, and all those scary gremlins eliminated. Special easy to use software is available to protect your child from the outside world and protect the computer from your child. So your family can relax, play and learn in peace.

"Parents who do not use a computer themselves may find
their child’s new technological skills intimidating,
and worry that they are getting left behind!"

Educationally, the independents are well aware of the need for computers to meet the school’s standards, and can advise on suitable software packages (a mine-field if you just go by what’s written on the side of the box!). Programmes may state ‘educational’ in the blurb, but just what that means, and how easy it is to use, can be another matter altogether - good advice here always saves a lot of time and money.