Apps for teaching kids programming
-
Munchies_Matt wrote:
I guess I naturally gravitated to the low level stuff,
Are you that fat? ;) ;P :-D
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
Gravity and I have an intimate relationship.... Actually no, I chose my pen name from the two atomic bombs, fat man and little boy. Plus fat boy is an affectionate name in Cantoneese (my wife lived there many years and speaks it fluently. SOmething like 'faizai', at least that is how it sounds to me. :) ) I am not particularly overweight, for a 50+ year old programmer at least!
-
The question has been up before, but things change and it's time to see if there are any new programs around worth looking at. My kids are seven and eight and have finished Lightbot. What's your recommendations?
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
I recommend checking out Zachtronics' puzzle games, they're very much programming in disguise. I'd start with Infinifactory as it's learning curve is the least steep. They're all hard and great fun. Depending on the kids' history with games and computers they might get into the harder ones (like Shenzhen I/O and TIS100).[
Here's an article on this
](http://gregorulm.com/programming-game-review-spacechem-2011-by-zachtronics/)[^] But keep in mind - quote :
Sometimes people mention SpaceChem as a good game to introduce people to programming. I would not recommend that at all because an introductory programming course is laughably easy in comparison. If anything, it is a game you may want to introduce a subset of programmers to.
-
The old classic Lego computer: The LEGO Turing Machine - YouTube[^] The Lego version is fun. Yet I will say that my favorite Turing machine, certainly aestetically, but the handiwork iw even more impressing, is Mechanical Turing Machine in Wood - YouTube[^]
-
The old classic Lego computer: The LEGO Turing Machine - YouTube[^] The Lego version is fun. Yet I will say that my favorite Turing machine, certainly aestetically, but the handiwork iw even more impressing, is Mechanical Turing Machine in Wood - YouTube[^]
Very impressive :D There's a few 3D printers that do LEGO-blocks well. Might be a good investment :)
Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
-
I started programming when I was 8 :-O
Quite a few games for kids are programming, even though not done typing programming language statements into vi on a linux machine. I really dislike that "learning programming" idea. What you should learn is "methodologies for problem solving". That is "programming without Linux or vi". And you see that in a lot of children's games. I have no worries about emphasizing that aspect in children's activities. An old example: My bookshelf holds a 1950s book for boys: A forest manager and his two sons, attacking the problem of how to build a cabin out in the woods - the planning of the entire operation, getting the materials, transport, and setting it up. Is is wrapped up in so much nature and forest, watching animals, fighting with the rowboat... A ten year old will read it as a wildlife adventure story. Without noticing, he will also learn a lot about how to approach a large problem, how to solve it. I didn't read the book myself until I read it to a nine year old daughter (she's visually handicapped; that's why I read it to her), and she loved both aspects of it. And I learned a lot about how to build a cabin! You can take a similar approach in a lot of familiy activities, such as planning a long and varied vacation, bringing the kids in on the family budget (exception handlers come in as a natural concept) and so on. Any sort of strategy games. Almost all kids are into such activities, never thinking of the methodologies and strategies. What you could do is to draw the attention of your kids to these aspects so they become aware of them. While discussing the family budget, you bring in the "what ifs" and exception handling (obviously not calling it "exception hanlding"). This way, the kids can continue being kids, doing kids' activities, but maybe more aware of methodologies than their playmates. (I just re-read good old "Tom Sawyer" - that is a kid who can develop a program for the activities of the kids in his gang!)
-
I recommend checking out Zachtronics' puzzle games, they're very much programming in disguise. I'd start with Infinifactory as it's learning curve is the least steep. They're all hard and great fun. Depending on the kids' history with games and computers they might get into the harder ones (like Shenzhen I/O and TIS100).[
Here's an article on this
](http://gregorulm.com/programming-game-review-spacechem-2011-by-zachtronics/)[^] But keep in mind - quote :
Sometimes people mention SpaceChem as a good game to introduce people to programming. I would not recommend that at all because an introductory programming course is laughably easy in comparison. If anything, it is a game you may want to introduce a subset of programmers to.
:omg: Maybe in a few years. :laugh:
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
-
OK, fair enough. (My daughter, 15, looks at what I do and is in horror at the sheer complexity of it! :) )
I raised 3 daughters, now in their 30s. None were interested in programming, but all 3 married IT guys. :)
-
The question has been up before, but things change and it's time to see if there are any new programs around worth looking at. My kids are seven and eight and have finished Lightbot. What's your recommendations?
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
-
I raised 3 daughters, now in their 30s. None were interested in programming, but all 3 married IT guys. :)
They always say a daughter finds a husband like her dad! :)
-
The question has been up before, but things change and it's time to see if there are any new programs around worth looking at. My kids are seven and eight and have finished Lightbot. What's your recommendations?
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
Don't know what level they are at, but my son uses this at school (and has done Scratch too): https://www.khanacademy.org/
-
The question has been up before, but things change and it's time to see if there are any new programs around worth looking at. My kids are seven and eight and have finished Lightbot. What's your recommendations?
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
-
The question has been up before, but things change and it's time to see if there are any new programs around worth looking at. My kids are seven and eight and have finished Lightbot. What's your recommendations?
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
This is in today's newsletter: [CodeGuppy - Coding For Kids in Javascript](https://www.i-programmer.info/news/150-training-a-education/12739-codeguppy-coding-for-kids-in-javascript.html)
-
I had Lego Mindstorms too, was expensive, but really good!