4 ms·

4 and 8 year old sisters impress judges in programming contest

46 points by pclark 17y ago

ErrantX 17y ago
> beating 68 other contestants, mostly 11 and 12 year olds. Not quite the same wow factor as beating, say, 25 year olds :) Title is a little misleading in that respect.
- clistctrl 17y ago
  I was impressed when my five year old could multiply large numbers in his head. I think the difference between a 4 and an 11 || 12 year old is quite significant.
  - ErrantX 17y ago
    The sister is eight though. My cousins are 9 and 5 and they work together well - probably to the standard of a 10 yr old or more. I doubt the gap is that massive (and more in "maturity" than intellectual)
mahmud 17y ago
Armed with just the basics in the Squeak programming language Yes! \o/ Even more surprising than kids able to hack, are adults in school technology ACTUALLY able to push through real hacking tools, instead of the industry-prep crap often "donated" by big IT. These children are loved.
- MaysonL 17y ago
  Indeed - God, do I wish I had had Squeak to play with when I was 4 years old. I wish that more kids were exposed to such tools at an early age.
cesare 17y ago
[Edited to add more substance. Was: Constructivism FTW! :-)] Isn't this another proof of the success of constructivist learning? Learning by doing using tools specifically designed to encourage this approach?
euroclydon 17y ago
Which programming languages and tech stacks would be the least difficult for my young sons to start programming with? I want them to be able to do something graphical, 2D or 3D with motion.
- jules 17y ago
  Suggestions: Logo, Squeak, Hackety Hack.
  - mahmud 17y ago
    Also, tell him about Alice and Scratch :-) http://www.alice.org/ http://www.alice.org/ http://scratch.mit.edu/ http://scratch.mit.edu/ I have played with Scratch longer and its just pure fun. It actually teaches code-sharing; kids can push their projects to a central repo where other kids can see a screenshot and run the program in their browsers (java applet) or download the source code. You will often see "forks" of someone's game show up with interesting changes.
    - igrekel 17y ago
      I second the recommendation for Scratch. It is an environment where you have sprites and other objects. You program by assembling visual blocks that are either control structures, instruction top modify properties of objects, event triggers etc. It is good because it greatly reduces the part of learning to program where you find the syntax errors in your code. It is also a lot of fun because the result of your program is visual, animated and interactive. I introduced it to my nieces a few month ago. I installed it, opened it and told them they could use it to create games, I didn't teach or showed them anything about it. Since then, they have created a few games and started a contest with their cousins on who creates the best game. Also scratch itself is constructed in Squeak, the environment the kids used in the original article.
- jodrellblank 17y ago
  Oh for the days of QBasic. SCREEN 12 LINE (2,2) - (200,200) Or possibly Python with http://vpython.org/ http://vpython.org/ ( http://vpython.org/contents/bounce_example.html http://vpython.org/contents/bounce_example.html )
biohacker42 17y ago
as well as encouragement - but no help - from mum and dad ?...
- sunir 17y ago
  It can happen. In 1983, I was 4 and I learnt how to program on a VIC 20 my Dad bought on a whim at a garage sale for $20. My sister was either 8 or 9 at the time, and she taught me the basics of, well, BASIC. I was motivated because she taunted me with the prototypical: 10 PRINT "NINA IS COOL" 20 GOTO 10 My parents had no idea how to use the computer but they thought it was a good thing for us to learn.
  - biohacker42 17y ago
    I can't even remember a damn thing from when I was 4. And I'm pretty sure at 4 I wasn't drinking any booze, but then again I can't be 100% sure...
    - extension 17y ago
      Reading this, I just realized that my earliest code does in fact predate my earliest memories, a peculiar thought. I remember not being able to tie my shoes, not knowing left from right and having to jump to turn on a light, but I don't remember not being able to program.
  - vidarh 17y ago
    I was 5 when we got ours, and while not many of my friends started programming I was certainly not unique. More kids should get their hands of a programming environment when they're that age.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]

46 points by pclark 17y ago

> beating 68 other contestants, mostly 11 and 12 year olds. Not quite the same wow factor as beating, say, 25 year olds :) Title is a little misleading in that respect.

clistctrl 17y ago
I was impressed when my five year old could multiply large numbers in his head. I think the difference between a 4 and an 11 || 12 year old is quite significant.
- ErrantX 17y ago
  The sister is eight though. My cousins are 9 and 5 and they work together well - probably to the standard of a 10 yr old or more. I doubt the gap is that massive (and more in "maturity" than intellectual)

mahmud 17y ago

Armed with just the basics in the Squeak programming language Yes! \o/ Even more surprising than kids able to hack, are adults in school technology ACTUALLY able to push through real hacking tools, instead of the industry-prep crap often "donated" by big IT. These children are loved.

MaysonL 17y ago
Indeed - God, do I wish I had had Squeak to play with when I was 4 years old. I wish that more kids were exposed to such tools at an early age.

cesare 17y ago

[Edited to add more substance. Was: Constructivism FTW! :-)] Isn't this another proof of the success of constructivist learning? Learning by doing using tools specifically designed to encourage this approach?

euroclydon 17y ago

Which programming languages and tech stacks would be the least difficult for my young sons to start programming with? I want them to be able to do something graphical, 2D or 3D with motion.

jules 17y ago
Suggestions: Logo, Squeak, Hackety Hack.
- mahmud 17y ago
  Also, tell him about Alice and Scratch :-) http://www.alice.org/ http://www.alice.org/ http://scratch.mit.edu/ http://scratch.mit.edu/ I have played with Scratch longer and its just pure fun. It actually teaches code-sharing; kids can push their projects to a central repo where other kids can see a screenshot and run the program in their browsers (java applet) or download the source code. You will often see "forks" of someone's game show up with interesting changes.
  - igrekel 17y ago
    I second the recommendation for Scratch. It is an environment where you have sprites and other objects. You program by assembling visual blocks that are either control structures, instruction top modify properties of objects, event triggers etc. It is good because it greatly reduces the part of learning to program where you find the syntax errors in your code. It is also a lot of fun because the result of your program is visual, animated and interactive. I introduced it to my nieces a few month ago. I installed it, opened it and told them they could use it to create games, I didn't teach or showed them anything about it. Since then, they have created a few games and started a contest with their cousins on who creates the best game. Also scratch itself is constructed in Squeak, the environment the kids used in the original article.
jodrellblank 17y ago
Oh for the days of QBasic. SCREEN 12 LINE (2,2) - (200,200) Or possibly Python with http://vpython.org/ http://vpython.org/ ( http://vpython.org/contents/bounce_example.html http://vpython.org/contents/bounce_example.html )

biohacker42 17y ago

as well as encouragement - but no help - from mum and dad ?...

sunir 17y ago
It can happen. In 1983, I was 4 and I learnt how to program on a VIC 20 my Dad bought on a whim at a garage sale for $20. My sister was either 8 or 9 at the time, and she taught me the basics of, well, BASIC. I was motivated because she taunted me with the prototypical: 10 PRINT "NINA IS COOL" 20 GOTO 10 My parents had no idea how to use the computer but they thought it was a good thing for us to learn.
- biohacker42 17y ago
  I can't even remember a damn thing from when I was 4. And I'm pretty sure at 4 I wasn't drinking any booze, but then again I can't be 100% sure...
  - extension 17y ago
    Reading this, I just realized that my earliest code does in fact predate my earliest memories, a peculiar thought. I remember not being able to tie my shoes, not knowing left from right and having to jump to turn on a light, but I don't remember not being able to program.
- vidarh 17y ago
  I was 5 when we got ours, and while not many of my friends started programming I was certainly not unique. More kids should get their hands of a programming environment when they're that age.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]