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If you use a nice text editor, whitespace shouldn't be an issue. Even with any other language, you would want to show them how and why to indent. If it becomes

If you use a nice text editor, whitespace shouldn't be an issue. Even with any other language, you would want to show them how and why to indent. If it becomes an issue, they may be writing code that's too complicated. In other words, I think a child will more easily learn about indentation, than handle writing flat code, which can get difficult to understand pretty quick

simion314 8y ago
You did not mentioned if you teach python to kids, things that are intuitive to us are not for them, yesterday I was working with my son on Physics exercise, something like how much Km are 1234cm (we are using metric system here) and in all similar exercises he did everything reversed, like a few centimeters are a few millions of Km which is obvious absurd but it was not easy for me to make him understand(plus the teacher at school). My point is that something that is obvious and simple for us for someone else makes no sense(he is 12 and I don't have experience teaching other children), For now I gave up on teaching coding to him, maybe he needs to grow a bit more to understand the abstract thinking required.
- core-questions 8y ago
  This is why extremely rapid feedback is the key to learning for these kids. BASIC and Logo have a decades long proven track record for your first language as a child. Python is something a highschooler or talented middleschooler could maybe pick up, but it's not suitable for a 6 year old unless they have a very strong driving personal interest. When you're trying to get your kid into something that doesn't come naturally, they're more liable to give up quickly if they can't make rapid strides.
- setr 8y ago
  That just sounds like a direct result of not memorizing the prefix orders; not of anything related to actual understanding (or failing thereof). What happens if you give him a reference sheet? (I have little experience teaching kids but I’m a firm believer in that the only good test is one where all the puzzle pieces are provided; its the composition thats worth testing, knowing the pieces by heart is just to speed things up)
  - simion314 8y ago
    It is not that, he knows that 1Km=1000m and 1m=100 cm, the issue is when you want to transform Km in cm or reverse, I assume he memorized how to do it in school but it was not natural, did not understand it and at home it applied the things he learned but in reverse. What surprised me was that he could not realize how absurd the results are. A thing I learned by doing the homeworks with my son is that is also easy to think that the child learned/understood your nice explanations/graphics/examples he does all the exercises/problems correct and then 1 week later he won't be able to do the exercises again, so I will repeat them again after 1 or 2 weeks to make sure he still knows how to do it. This may be different with other children or different teachers

simion314 8y ago

You did not mentioned if you teach python to kids, things that are intuitive to us are not for them, yesterday I was working with my son on Physics exercise, something like how much Km are 1234cm (we are using metric system here) and in all similar exercises he did everything reversed, like a few centimeters are a few millions of Km which is obvious absurd but it was not easy for me to make him understand(plus the teacher at school). My point is that something that is obvious and simple for us for someone else makes no sense(he is 12 and I don't have experience teaching other children), For now I gave up on teaching coding to him, maybe he needs to grow a bit more to understand the abstract thinking required.

core-questions 8y ago
This is why extremely rapid feedback is the key to learning for these kids. BASIC and Logo have a decades long proven track record for your first language as a child. Python is something a highschooler or talented middleschooler could maybe pick up, but it's not suitable for a 6 year old unless they have a very strong driving personal interest. When you're trying to get your kid into something that doesn't come naturally, they're more liable to give up quickly if they can't make rapid strides.
setr 8y ago
That just sounds like a direct result of not memorizing the prefix orders; not of anything related to actual understanding (or failing thereof). What happens if you give him a reference sheet? (I have little experience teaching kids but I’m a firm believer in that the only good test is one where all the puzzle pieces are provided; its the composition thats worth testing, knowing the pieces by heart is just to speed things up)
- simion314 8y ago
  It is not that, he knows that 1Km=1000m and 1m=100 cm, the issue is when you want to transform Km in cm or reverse, I assume he memorized how to do it in school but it was not natural, did not understand it and at home it applied the things he learned but in reverse. What surprised me was that he could not realize how absurd the results are. A thing I learned by doing the homeworks with my son is that is also easy to think that the child learned/understood your nice explanations/graphics/examples he does all the exercises/problems correct and then 1 week later he won't be able to do the exercises again, so I will repeat them again after 1 or 2 weeks to make sure he still knows how to do it. This may be different with other children or different teachers