I’m building client tools for posting to the blog, and for editing existing items already posted. On top of that, I will be teaching a Smalltalk class – I use Squeak with 8-10 year olds. They have a blast, and there’s no way I could get anywhere using something like Java with this age group.
I remember the good old days (possibly different than your good old days) when Pascal was the only thing available (besides Logo) to teach basic programming principles. Nowadays I’d make the argument that Python might be well suited to take over this role. For an example, check out the Python in Education SIG at python.org.
I don’t have any experience in Smalltalk to comment on how well it might be used in education. However, if you can make it stick with a group of 8-10 year olds, you’ve got to be doing something right.