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Somewhat off-topic: For you parents out there...what has been your experience with/advice for teaching your kids a programming language? It's definitely someth

Somewhat off-topic: For you parents out there...what has been your experience with/advice for teaching your kids a programming language? It's definitely something I want my kids to get comfortable/familiar with early but I get concerned about over-exposing them to too much "screen time" at a young age and the deleterious effects that might have (even ones we don't know about yet). Don't have kids right now, or any on the way, but that's something on the horizon for me so I've been thinking about it.

616c 10y ago
The guy who taught his son programming langs from early days and that son was largely responsible for the Clojure Instaparse project. The duo discussed it on the Cognicast. That topic is the bulk of the interview. http://blog.cognitect.com/cognicast/122 http://blog.cognitect.com/cognicast/122
- remarkEon 10y ago
  Thank you that was very helpful.
- hcs 10y ago
  Very interesting, thank you! The father (Mark Engelberg) also designed a mass-market programming board game/puzzle, Code Master [1], which seems neat. I just grabbed a copy at Target. [1] http://www.thinkfun.com/products/code-master/ http://www.thinkfun.com/products/code-master/
akkartik 10y ago
I've been exposed to the question a bit by teaching a few students now (http://akkartik.name/post/mu http://akkartik.name/post/mu and a couple of other posts). I'd say any screen time on a simple text-mode terminal is fine. Though one other consideration is eye strain. I'm still undecided on that one..
- davidzweig 10y ago
  I use a 43" TV @ 1.7m plugged into my x230. Bigger the better. 1080p is fine but 4k is probably a bit nicer. It's great, I can work all day, eye strain due to focussing stress is not longer a problem. I really wonder why I don't see more people using this kind of setup, especially if you are under 28 or so, using a laptop all day can contribute to myopia.
  - akkartik 10y ago
    Interesting. Somebody lobby employers to provide this setup. Though my original point was about kids.
    - davidzweig 10y ago
      Personally I equate eye strain with too much 'close work,' which must surely also be the major impetus behind the growing prevalence of myopia in children and young adults. I read a little about it a while back. I think giving young children glasses is probably a bad idea, as they could perhaps outgrow it otherwise. Under communism (Eastern Europe) there was a different approach, would be interesting to find out more. I suppose this discussion is really for another thread. http://www.nature.com/news/the-myopia-boom-1.17120 http://www.nature.com/news/the-myopia-boom-1.17120 I use a hisense 43m3000 4k 43" (~$350 USD). It's great. Cheaper than eye surgery (and more pleasant.)
  - solnyshok 10y ago
    how far from the screen do you sit?
    - davidzweig 10y ago
      This one, the 43", about 1.7m. So I a 50" would be about 2m away, but even more cumbersome to transport. This would give the same working area as a 25" @ 1m. The difference between focusing at 1m vs 2m is significant, it's the difference between 1 diopter and 0.5 diopter of accomodation for your eye (vs about 2 diopter working at 50cm on a laptop, or probably 3 on phone). I don't know how that relates to muscle tension or eye fluid pressure. Working all day on the 43" my eyes get a little 'cramped', but it's a world better still. I also experimented with projectors, doable, but they can have other issues, some make lots of heat or noise, or others have a soft image.
Houshalter 10y ago
Not a parent, but I greatly enjoyed the computerCraft mod for minecraft. It adds computers and robots to the game, that are programmable with lua.

616c 10y ago

The guy who taught his son programming langs from early days and that son was largely responsible for the Clojure Instaparse project. The duo discussed it on the Cognicast. That topic is the bulk of the interview. http://blog.cognitect.com/cognicast/122 http://blog.cognitect.com/cognicast/122

remarkEon 10y ago
Thank you that was very helpful.
hcs 10y ago
Very interesting, thank you! The father (Mark Engelberg) also designed a mass-market programming board game/puzzle, Code Master [1], which seems neat. I just grabbed a copy at Target. [1] http://www.thinkfun.com/products/code-master/ http://www.thinkfun.com/products/code-master/

akkartik 10y ago

I've been exposed to the question a bit by teaching a few students now (http://akkartik.name/post/mu http://akkartik.name/post/mu and a couple of other posts). I'd say any screen time on a simple text-mode terminal is fine. Though one other consideration is eye strain. I'm still undecided on that one..

davidzweig 10y ago
I use a 43" TV @ 1.7m plugged into my x230. Bigger the better. 1080p is fine but 4k is probably a bit nicer. It's great, I can work all day, eye strain due to focussing stress is not longer a problem. I really wonder why I don't see more people using this kind of setup, especially if you are under 28 or so, using a laptop all day can contribute to myopia.
- akkartik 10y ago
  Interesting. Somebody lobby employers to provide this setup. Though my original point was about kids.
  - davidzweig 10y ago
    Personally I equate eye strain with too much 'close work,' which must surely also be the major impetus behind the growing prevalence of myopia in children and young adults. I read a little about it a while back. I think giving young children glasses is probably a bad idea, as they could perhaps outgrow it otherwise. Under communism (Eastern Europe) there was a different approach, would be interesting to find out more. I suppose this discussion is really for another thread. http://www.nature.com/news/the-myopia-boom-1.17120 http://www.nature.com/news/the-myopia-boom-1.17120 I use a hisense 43m3000 4k 43" (~$350 USD). It's great. Cheaper than eye surgery (and more pleasant.)
- solnyshok 10y ago
  how far from the screen do you sit?
  - davidzweig 10y ago
    This one, the 43", about 1.7m. So I a 50" would be about 2m away, but even more cumbersome to transport. This would give the same working area as a 25" @ 1m. The difference between focusing at 1m vs 2m is significant, it's the difference between 1 diopter and 0.5 diopter of accomodation for your eye (vs about 2 diopter working at 50cm on a laptop, or probably 3 on phone). I don't know how that relates to muscle tension or eye fluid pressure. Working all day on the 43" my eyes get a little 'cramped', but it's a world better still. I also experimented with projectors, doable, but they can have other issues, some make lots of heat or noise, or others have a soft image.

Houshalter 10y ago

Not a parent, but I greatly enjoyed the computerCraft mod for minecraft. It adds computers and robots to the game, that are programmable with lua.