I would love to see the research you are referencing. > Start instead with something they would find motivating or useful, not you. Making a game, or creating

I would love to see the research you are referencing. > Start instead with something they would find motivating or useful, not you. Making a game, or creating a useful little app/tool that solves some problem they think is important, etc. The thing is, I can't look into their head. Before my children had done any programming whatsoever I had no concrete reference point for the type of programming they would enjoy. My best reference point was my own experience being their age. And when I was their age this approach was the interesting, fun way to do it. This is a very common story. It is anecdote and suffers from all of the bias and unreliability that entails. But then again I've seen lots of un-reproducible "research" that suffers from bias and unwarranted assumptions also, especially when it concerns human behavior and motivation. I'd love to see, specifically, the research you are referencing.