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I'll just post my Scratch blog post again: http://reddragdiva.tumblr.com/post/127964136013/it-turns-out-scratch-is-probably-the-answer http://reddragdiva.tumblr

I'll just post my Scratch blog post again: http://reddragdiva.tumblr.com/post/127964136013/it-turns-out-scratch-is-probably-the-answer http://reddragdiva.tumblr.com/post/127964136013/it-turns-out... There have been many simple languages for kids, but Scratch appears to be the one that works. Speaking to my daughter's teacher, it's not just the academically-bright kids getting into Scratch - the academically average and academically behind ones do too. It appears to satisfy requirement #1: get the kid interested. The important thing learning to program does is teach kids that the code that runs their world is a humanly tractable thing: that literally everything that any computer does is a more complicated version of a dancing ballerina animation. They don't need to become coders to benefit from having an idea of how the machinery their civilisation runs on works, and not to just think of it as unknowable wizard magic.

MollyR 11y ago
I've noticed lot of web developers I've worked with view hardware as unknowable wizard magic(or maybe disinterest) . Where do you think the line should be drawn between hardware/software? Raspberry Pi seems to have a lot of stuff for children as well.
- davidgerard 11y ago
  Good question! My daughter is a little geek (a gamer in particular ... and identifies as one) and I haven't got her into hardware yet ... if I can think of something a Pi could do that would actually be interesting to her, that would be an excellent approach.
throwaway999888 11y ago
> Speaking to my daughter's teacher, it's not just the academically-bright kids getting into Scratch - the academically average and academically behind ones do too. It appears to satisfy requirement #1: get the kid interested. But will Scratch make kids advance in the rat race in the long run? Because apparently that's what's important.

MollyR 11y ago

I've noticed lot of web developers I've worked with view hardware as unknowable wizard magic(or maybe disinterest) . Where do you think the line should be drawn between hardware/software? Raspberry Pi seems to have a lot of stuff for children as well.

davidgerard 11y ago
Good question! My daughter is a little geek (a gamer in particular ... and identifies as one) and I haven't got her into hardware yet ... if I can think of something a Pi could do that would actually be interesting to her, that would be an excellent approach.

throwaway999888 11y ago

> Speaking to my daughter's teacher, it's not just the academically-bright kids getting into Scratch - the academically average and academically behind ones do too. It appears to satisfy requirement #1: get the kid interested. But will Scratch make kids advance in the rat race in the long run? Because apparently that's what's important.