It started 20 years ago. A passionate schoolteacher, Julia Patterson, left the classroom in order to impact hundreds of thousands of children. She had a dream of using the latest technology to empower children to achieve their full academic potential. It was then that Imagine Tomorrow was born. Today, over 700 locations across the US offer the programs she and her team have developed.

Julia (pictured above) obviously passed on those entrepreneur genes to her daughter, Laura. Today Laura isn’t just a writer for TLC’s Parentables blog but she’s also the Chief Marketing Officer of the Imagine Tomorrow team and has been a driving force behind their partnership with Discovery to form an educational program called Discovery Kids Puter Bugs.

I had the privilege of checking out this intriguing educational resource for parents of children between the ages of 2 – 8 who are old enough to navigate a mouse and keyboard. Not only does the program offer multiple adorable learning adventures to choose from, but your child gets to be the star of the show and save the day (what kid doesn’t love that?).

Laura St John and her husband “Mr Scott” have creatively conspired to make learning to type and use other aspects of computer controls fun and exciting. Kids are sure to love “Mr Scott” who is the only non-animated character. His energy and enthusiasm are sure to get even apathetic children excited about learning.

Once a child is logged in, he or she can choose their own mission – kids love having a choice. Each task presents a computer-based learning objective and helps little ones get familiar with computer skills they’ll be using for years to come. Many of the missions help children become familiar with letter placement on the keyboard in a fun, whimsical way.

I recommend you take a look at the program – a free trial is available so you can see if it is a good fit for your child. If your child is constantly begging to use the computer, but you don’t like them wasting time playing mindless games, Discovery Kids Puterbugs is a great resource to help your little ones become familiar with basic computer skills.

Hannah Camacho is an educator, mom to three wonderful children ages 3 and younger and proud wife of an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran. She is the founder of MyAppinions.com and TheAppNanny.com. When she’s not chasing her three busy little ones, she does freelance work for application developers as a mobile app marketing and pr specialist.