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Author here. Thanks for the feedback. My son's experience has generally been self-driven via Scratch. I introduced him to Scratch at around age 7 through Coder
by neovive 10y ago
Author here. Thanks for the feedback.
My son's experience has generally been self-driven via Scratch. I introduced him to Scratch at around age 7 through CoderDojo and he really enjoyed it (I'm a big fan of Scratch for kids--it's the perfect balance of art, creativity and logic with programming concepts mixed in.
I introduced Python, then Javascript, after he asked me about what I do (I was excited that he actually asked, so I ordered the book). I'm more of a web designer/developer, not a software engineer, so I showed him to the tools I know (trying to keep things at his level) and set him on his way. The thought of being able to write his own video game keeps him motivated. He plays with the examples on phaser.io/examples and sees it as something he might be able to do after working through the lessons.
My biggest concern is pushing him into something that he doesn't want for himself. It should never feel like work. He likes the CodeSchool videos, jingles and exercises, so he does it. He got tired of the books, so he stopped. There are many long gaps, diversions and pivots, which is totally fine. If he just wants to play outside, build with Legos, read, watch a movie or do nothing, I don't bother him. Programming is not his job, it's just a skill that I think will be useful for him and is something I can actually help him with.
Side Note: I originally had a section in the post about how in the past it was more common to pass knowledge and skills down to your children in the form of trades (farming, sewing, blacksmithing, etc.) and is "computer programming" something worthy of passing down. I thought it digressed a bit too much, so I removed it.
- smnplk 10y agoDon't overthink it. Just introduce him to something basic. Hell, why not even BASIC hehe ;) I remember when I was 9, my father enrolled me into some "bootcamp", I don't know what it was called back then, but it was some comp programing class for kids, about 3 hours a day for 2 weeks. I remember a teacher, she would just write little BASIC programs on the blackboard and we would just copy them into QBASIC. I remember that I understood very little and the other kids weren't interested much too, we were just eagerly waiting for recess, so we could play Prince of Persia 1 for 15 minutes.At the end of this BASIC "bootcamp", I didn't even touch programing again, I just went home and continued with my mastery of pp and prehistoric 1 & 2 games. But it looks like it planted a seed in my head, because in high school i started wondering what we did 5 years ago in those classes and I somehow found a book on basic and now here I am, writing GOTO statements for profit ;) Just kidding on that last part :) The moral of the story is - Kids can also develop interest much later from the time of exposure to new things.
- qb45 10y agoYes, BASIC was all the rage, 30 years ago. Today everything is Web and Cloud. I liked computers because I could make them do things which were cool then. Now I would probably want to do things which are cool now. As long as the kid is fine with JS I see no problem. If GOTOs haven't rotten our minds (or have they? omg!) maybe NaNNaNNaN Batman! won't mess up his...
- barbs 10y agoThis guy installed QBasic through DOSBOX and used it to successfully get his son into programming: http://www.nicolasbize.com/blog/30-years-later-qbasic-is-still-the-best/ http://www.nicolasbize.com/blog/30-years-later-qbasic-is-sti... Hacker News discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11636383 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11636383
- smnplk 10y agoawesome guy ! thanks for posting.