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I can fully recommend HtDP for beginning programming - tried various options for my 11 year old. I needed it to involve very little help from me - tried some sc

I can fully recommend HtDP for beginning programming - tried various options for my 11 year old. I needed it to involve very little help from me - tried some scratch, mit50x, both which helped but did not spark and sustain interest. Then we came across https://www.edx.org/course/how-code-simple-data-ubcx-htc1x https://www.edx.org/course/how-code-simple-data-ubcx-htc1x - love it and does not need any help from me :) planning to move on to https://www.edx.org/course/how-code-complex-data-ubcx-htc2x https://www.edx.org/course/how-code-complex-data-ubcx-htc2x after that! edit: corrected typos

jimhefferon 8y ago
> we came across There are YouTube videos (I don't know how well they fit with the current course) and they are excellent.
- PopeDotNinja 8y ago
  +1 to learning programming thingies from YouTube videos.
rz2k 8y ago
Do you mean the online HarvardX CS50 course? I started it when MOOCs were first appearing, and it includes Scratch. It looked very enthusiastic and buzz-worthy to me (which can be very good for a lot of people). However, past students doing a music and dance routine on stage about how exciting it had been, and the first lectures concluding with announcements of pizza parties with Facebook recruiters was too much for me, in that I felt too old. Alternatively, the MITx 6.002 course on Computational Thinking is also for undergraduate students, but it had a greater focus on programming being integral to the sciences and other fields. I don't recall the the curriculum exactly, but even though the course is an introductory one I think some of the concepts might be a little daunting for a young teenager. In addition to the UBC courses, another introductory treatment that won't overwhelm to a committed young learner is the DartmouthX C Programming with Linux. One of the instructors, Petra Bonfert-Taylor, taught a very accessible introductory complex analysis course on Coursera, and seems especially interested in first experiences students have with topics so that they are not discouraged. She has written a number of articles on teaching an introductions to new subjects.
- tshanmu 8y ago
  my bad - yes, I meant the Harvard CS50 course. Thanks for MITx 6.002 and DartmouthX C Programming with Linux - The DarmouthX one would be a good second course if the interest still continues.

jimhefferon 8y ago

> we came across There are YouTube videos (I don't know how well they fit with the current course) and they are excellent.

PopeDotNinja 8y ago
+1 to learning programming thingies from YouTube videos.

rz2k 8y ago

Do you mean the online HarvardX CS50 course? I started it when MOOCs were first appearing, and it includes Scratch. It looked very enthusiastic and buzz-worthy to me (which can be very good for a lot of people). However, past students doing a music and dance routine on stage about how exciting it had been, and the first lectures concluding with announcements of pizza parties with Facebook recruiters was too much for me, in that I felt too old. Alternatively, the MITx 6.002 course on Computational Thinking is also for undergraduate students, but it had a greater focus on programming being integral to the sciences and other fields. I don't recall the the curriculum exactly, but even though the course is an introductory one I think some of the concepts might be a little daunting for a young teenager. In addition to the UBC courses, another introductory treatment that won't overwhelm to a committed young learner is the DartmouthX C Programming with Linux. One of the instructors, Petra Bonfert-Taylor, taught a very accessible introductory complex analysis course on Coursera, and seems especially interested in first experiences students have with topics so that they are not discouraged. She has written a number of articles on teaching an introductions to new subjects.

tshanmu 8y ago
my bad - yes, I meant the Harvard CS50 course. Thanks for MITx 6.002 and DartmouthX C Programming with Linux - The DarmouthX one would be a good second course if the interest still continues.