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My daughter is following this book (Python for Kids) on her own now, and about a year ago we spent a while reading the Hello World book (http://www.manning.com/

by eccp 14y ago

My daughter is following this book (Python for Kids) on her own now, and about a year ago we spent a while reading the Hello World book (http://www.manning.com/sande/ http://www.manning.com/sande/) which is a very gentle intro to programming, Python and it was great. I liked Hello World a lot because it explained lots of terms in familiar language and the illustrations and characters were very funny. She's 12 now so her expectations about games are more influenced by gaming consoles, so I think the next stop will be doing some simple stuff in the Blender Game Engine, which can be programmed in Python too, once she becomes more fluent on programming. Both books use IDLE as the programming environment, which is fine, but expect to have minor issues along the way: you have to be aware of intentation rules (it's Python) and in one game the library name could not be found because the name started with a uppercase letter ("import Tkinter" in Ubuntu). In Ubuntu you may need to install some extra packages, etc.

TootsMagoon 14y ago
I am working through 'the Hello World book'with my kids and plan to teach an after school course on Python next year. I am very pleased with 'Hello World' but am curious on your thoughts on which one you prefer. 'Hello World' or 'Python for Kids'?
- eccp 14y ago
  It depends, I was more involved with my daughter when we read the Hello World book and it was really nice because some odd things about computers were explained in simple language, and the character of the kid which questions everything is really fit for this type of book. Also, there were lots of small games with different mechanics. Python for Kids is really good also, has a intro about the Python language which feels more focused than the other book and it has a chapter about drawing with a turtle, as I did with LOGO many years ago! ... Python for Kids also has plenty of notes about running it on Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu so you'd be fine on any OS you have. I think you should try both, but the best order would be to finish Hello World first and Python For Kids second.

by eccp 14y ago

TootsMagoon 14y ago

I am working through 'the Hello World book'with my kids and plan to teach an after school course on Python next year. I am very pleased with 'Hello World' but am curious on your thoughts on which one you prefer. 'Hello World' or 'Python for Kids'?

eccp 14y ago
It depends, I was more involved with my daughter when we read the Hello World book and it was really nice because some odd things about computers were explained in simple language, and the character of the kid which questions everything is really fit for this type of book. Also, there were lots of small games with different mechanics. Python for Kids is really good also, has a intro about the Python language which feels more focused than the other book and it has a chapter about drawing with a turtle, as I did with LOGO many years ago! ... Python for Kids also has plenty of notes about running it on Windows, Mac OS X and Ubuntu so you'd be fine on any OS you have. I think you should try both, but the best order would be to finish Hello World first and Python For Kids second.