I don't know if this has already been suggested, but I have
recently learned the programming language R, and it seems that
it's exactly what you would like to use to teach your kids
how to use a computer:

(a) it's free and available for _all_ systems [M$, Linux, Mac]

(b) it's simple to use

(c) it's powerful enough to treat numerical data

For example, if you want to show the plot of a point,
you just start R and type:

  plot(10, 10)

and it plots a small ball at coordinates (10,10). If
you want then to add another point, just type:

  points(12, 12)

and the plot will be updated, showing the two balls.
[notice that the first plot fixes the size of the graphic
window, so points will only show points inside the picture].

Of course, rtfm and you will see that _much_ more can
be done - it took me 1 hour to learn how to implement the
visualization of the theorem of the eight points and the
cubics ["given 8 random points in the plane, there is a
9th point such that every cubic that passes through the
8 must pass through the 9th"], based on a previous
program I had written for Matlab/Octave.

The Wikipedia entry for R is under "GNU-S" :-)

Alberto Monteiro

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