4 ms·

I agree with you assuming they can type, but I have also seen kids get really frustrated with keyboards and typos. It takes them a lot longer to express their t

I agree with you assuming they can type, but I have also seen kids get really frustrated with keyboards and typos. It takes them a lot longer to express their thoughts than dragging blocks. By 4th grade, you're probably right. But 2nd, unsure.

WillPostForFood 9y ago
I still get frustrated by keyboard and typos and I've been out of 4th grade for a long time! Anyway, learning to deal with those issues is, I think, a positive part of the process that has to happen eventually. The Processing IDE is pretty good at lending a helping hand as well.
- 542458 9y ago
  I think I was in the 10th grade when Scratch really made programming click for me. I had tried BASIC a few times before that and gotten nowhere (I was very envious of kids who could actually program...). Syntax seemed like magic, and I didn't understand how programmers knew what was and wasn't valid code. Scratch made syntax something real, and helped my understand how computers broke down lines of code. I feel that most people who know programming really underestimate how hard syntax is for beginners! You can maybe walk a kid through typing in a canned program in other languages, but the scratch "building blocks" environment makes it way easier to let kids explore and go further on their own. Edit: 10th grade is correct - I was able to go on the scratch community website and find some sketches I had uploaded 9+ years ago!
  - andresmh 9y ago
    What is your Scratch handle? I worked on the online community for my dissertation and it's always great to know how the social aspect of Scratch has helped people in their journey.
  - WillPostForFood 9y ago
    I agree, especially about your comment on the difficulty of learning syntax. But there is an inherent value in that process, that is not only ultimately critical for all programming languages, but will help their thinking in their natural language, grammar, and even mathematics.

WillPostForFood 9y ago

I still get frustrated by keyboard and typos and I've been out of 4th grade for a long time! Anyway, learning to deal with those issues is, I think, a positive part of the process that has to happen eventually. The Processing IDE is pretty good at lending a helping hand as well.

542458 9y ago
I think I was in the 10th grade when Scratch really made programming click for me. I had tried BASIC a few times before that and gotten nowhere (I was very envious of kids who could actually program...). Syntax seemed like magic, and I didn't understand how programmers knew what was and wasn't valid code. Scratch made syntax something real, and helped my understand how computers broke down lines of code. I feel that most people who know programming really underestimate how hard syntax is for beginners! You can maybe walk a kid through typing in a canned program in other languages, but the scratch "building blocks" environment makes it way easier to let kids explore and go further on their own. Edit: 10th grade is correct - I was able to go on the scratch community website and find some sketches I had uploaded 9+ years ago!
- andresmh 9y ago
  What is your Scratch handle? I worked on the online community for my dissertation and it's always great to know how the social aspect of Scratch has helped people in their journey.
- WillPostForFood 9y ago
  I agree, especially about your comment on the difficulty of learning syntax. But there is an inherent value in that process, that is not only ultimately critical for all programming languages, but will help their thinking in their natural language, grammar, and even mathematics.