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We have been teaching kids Scratch for 3 years in a weekly free class in downtown Oakland. The response has been wonderful. It unleashes the creativity in kids,

We have been teaching kids Scratch for 3 years in a weekly free class in downtown Oakland. The response has been wonderful. It unleashes the creativity in kids, and some children that are utterly silent and shy open right up when they have questions about how to make their game do this or that. I have literally heard kids shout out "Oh! That's why we learned those x y things in school!" when learning how to move sprites about on a grid. They have no idea they are learning math, and they generally have a spectacular time making even the simplest game, like a scrolling shooter, or moon lander. My favorite discovery during our three years has been seeing how kids name their games. It's never "David's Moon Lander." It's always something more like "David's Super Awesome Cat Launching Space Lander With Flame Throwers." It's like watching kids draw anything they want with crayons: they get to theme and tweak games however they see fit. As a volunteer organization, we can always use more teachers to help us spread Scratch to the masses. Our classes are free and offered to kids ages 8 to 14, and we do a simple game each week. http://www.themade.org http://www.themade.org

thunderbong 12y ago
I'm also looking at using Scratch in a school curriculum starting with children from grade 4 through grade 6. Are there any course ware, workbooks available for those grades? How old are the children in your class? Can you give any other suggestions about other programming languages that can be used as kids grow older?
- waimate01 12y ago
  Scratch is totally awesome, but the huge conundrum has always been where to go "after Scratch". Python isn't it, because its too textural and you can't easily share graphical games unless the recipient also has pyGame installed. Javascript hasn't been it for a lack of appropriate on-ramp, and many of the available resources (eg, CodeAcademy) are too vocationally-based and lack the fun of Scratch. But there's now a free online tutorial system aimed at "Scratch kids" who want to take the next step. http://s2js.com http://s2js.com -- tutors kids through the bits of Javascript they need to know in order to write graphical games that'll run on their smartdevices. It's tutorial, simple development tool, private image storage, and deployment facility all in one. It's "Javascript as told to Scratchers", and the goal is to provide a bridge that gets them from the delights of Scratch, onto something else that will take them on their journey. S2JS isn't the destination, it's the "enthusiasm transfer tool".
  - jonaldomo 12y ago
    Lookup the concept of turtles: Netlogo http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/docs/dictionary.html http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/docs/dictionary.html and Python https://docs.python.org/2/library/turtle.html https://docs.python.org/2/library/turtle.html
  - fractallyte 12y ago
    Why not Smalltalk? It was, after all, designed for kids (and look where that got us... Java - pffft!) Squeak has a comprehensive ecosystem; here's an excellent book for high-schoolers: http://www.apress.com/9781590594919 http://www.apress.com/9781590594919 The complete pdf can also be downloaded from the associated website: http://rmod.lille.inria.fr/botsinc/ http://rmod.lille.inria.fr/botsinc/ Now imagine this combined with hardware robots...
- sdg1 12y ago
  You should take a look at the ScratchEd community - they have a lot of resources for educators: http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ Also, we have started to build a Scratch Extension system, where Javascript can be used to extend the functionality of Scratch (you can define blocks that call web-apis, etc.) We will have more information about that in 2015.
- krsmith35 12y ago
  I run a nonprofit in Arizona where we introduce 8-13 year olds to coding at 10 libraries and other locations. We start the young ones with code.org for a "quick win" and most of them dig into scratch with relish by the second week. I agree with the original post about seeing the creativity unleashed. It's amazing. After scratch we have seen some of the kids get excited about js mostly through the khan academy resources (have you tried it)? Also code combat has been a recent favorite. Our older and more advanced coders are ok with codecademy. Also we have some that really want to get their work out to the world, so after a while on scratch they teach themselves html and css. We are very particular about not lecturing, not forcing a learning approach, just facilitating as different learning styles find their way. Also if anyone is interested we are giving away our "code club kit" including resources for starting a code club. It has been the most rewarding part of my career. Just let me know and I'll send it in email.
  - mlady 12y ago
    I'm starting a coding club for a few kids in my neighborhood and would appreciate any help with introduction resources!
    - krsmith35 12y ago
      just email me at my HN username at gmail and I'll send it
  - VonGuard 12y ago
    Gimme gimme gimme! alex at themade.org thanks!
    - krsmith35 12y ago
      just sent. thanks!

thunderbong 12y ago

I'm also looking at using Scratch in a school curriculum starting with children from grade 4 through grade 6. Are there any course ware, workbooks available for those grades? How old are the children in your class? Can you give any other suggestions about other programming languages that can be used as kids grow older?

waimate01 12y ago
Scratch is totally awesome, but the huge conundrum has always been where to go "after Scratch". Python isn't it, because its too textural and you can't easily share graphical games unless the recipient also has pyGame installed. Javascript hasn't been it for a lack of appropriate on-ramp, and many of the available resources (eg, CodeAcademy) are too vocationally-based and lack the fun of Scratch. But there's now a free online tutorial system aimed at "Scratch kids" who want to take the next step. http://s2js.com http://s2js.com -- tutors kids through the bits of Javascript they need to know in order to write graphical games that'll run on their smartdevices. It's tutorial, simple development tool, private image storage, and deployment facility all in one. It's "Javascript as told to Scratchers", and the goal is to provide a bridge that gets them from the delights of Scratch, onto something else that will take them on their journey. S2JS isn't the destination, it's the "enthusiasm transfer tool".
- jonaldomo 12y ago
  Lookup the concept of turtles: Netlogo http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/docs/dictionary.html http://ccl.northwestern.edu/netlogo/docs/dictionary.html and Python https://docs.python.org/2/library/turtle.html https://docs.python.org/2/library/turtle.html
- fractallyte 12y ago
  Why not Smalltalk? It was, after all, designed for kids (and look where that got us... Java - pffft!) Squeak has a comprehensive ecosystem; here's an excellent book for high-schoolers: http://www.apress.com/9781590594919 http://www.apress.com/9781590594919 The complete pdf can also be downloaded from the associated website: http://rmod.lille.inria.fr/botsinc/ http://rmod.lille.inria.fr/botsinc/ Now imagine this combined with hardware robots...
sdg1 12y ago
You should take a look at the ScratchEd community - they have a lot of resources for educators: http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ http://scratched.gse.harvard.edu/ Also, we have started to build a Scratch Extension system, where Javascript can be used to extend the functionality of Scratch (you can define blocks that call web-apis, etc.) We will have more information about that in 2015.
krsmith35 12y ago
I run a nonprofit in Arizona where we introduce 8-13 year olds to coding at 10 libraries and other locations. We start the young ones with code.org for a "quick win" and most of them dig into scratch with relish by the second week. I agree with the original post about seeing the creativity unleashed. It's amazing. After scratch we have seen some of the kids get excited about js mostly through the khan academy resources (have you tried it)? Also code combat has been a recent favorite. Our older and more advanced coders are ok with codecademy. Also we have some that really want to get their work out to the world, so after a while on scratch they teach themselves html and css. We are very particular about not lecturing, not forcing a learning approach, just facilitating as different learning styles find their way. Also if anyone is interested we are giving away our "code club kit" including resources for starting a code club. It has been the most rewarding part of my career. Just let me know and I'll send it in email.
- mlady 12y ago
  I'm starting a coding club for a few kids in my neighborhood and would appreciate any help with introduction resources!
  - krsmith35 12y ago
    just email me at my HN username at gmail and I'll send it
- VonGuard 12y ago
  Gimme gimme gimme! alex at themade.org thanks!
  - krsmith35 12y ago
    just sent. thanks!