As someone who started programming at a young age where using three meta keys on the ZX Spectrum was something my hands literally couldnt do... I say to all the

As someone who started programming at a young age where using three meta keys on the ZX Spectrum was something my hands literally couldnt do... I say to all the people suggesting give kids a raw language interface, think about how accessible that interface really is. First you have to learn typing and unlike the spectrum you need to remember and learn most keywords. You are eliminating perfectly smart kids immediately. Because they have a massive barrier to the reward of programming. I remember using a pencil in my mouth to get the third meta on that keyboard. Fairly sure thats a health and safety nightmare. But the frequently used commands were single finger. As my desire to program increased the interface to my own goals got harder. I had the advantage distribution of my software to friends was trivial too. Thats not true anymore outside of JS in the browser. Raspberry Pi goes some way to aid that for scratch.