My six-year-old has expressed an interest in learning how to program. I'm not really sure where to start. He definitely has the right kind of inquisitive mindset for it, though.
I taught a high school class for a little while, but that had a specific, very set curriculum.
And I taught myself when I was just a few years older than he is now. But that was with a Commodore 64 in BASIC. So I don't really want to start him there.
Anybody have any experience teaching young kids programming? I do know of the MIT Scratch language, but aside from that?
@danjones000 Scratch is the way to go imho
@danjones000 I remembered when I wanted to use #linux and tried to install RaspberryPi OS onto my device, I actually failed.
Nonetheless, I'd say that #raspberrypi and Scratch are good places to start for kids. And RaspberryPi often releases their books, so most parents don't need to worry about preparing some kind of lesson plans.
I'm still learning how to use #linux and a lot. It's good that you encourage your kid to learn how to code.
Edit: Here's the link for RaspberryPi publications - https://www.raspberrypi.com/books-magazines/
Thanks! I'll check that out.
@danjones000 I saw a talk in either pycon or europython this year about it. The presenter said that the best age is around 10, when they already have some level of abstract thinking enough to grasp some of the concepts. I'm not saying you shouldn't try, but have this in account so the experience does not become just a litany of frustration.
I'll keep looking for the link, I posted it here, but as I said elsewhere, Mastodon is not a good place to save knowledge.
My wife was telling me that she did this in elementary school, but couldn't remember the name.
@danjones000 I like Makecode Arcade. I haven't taught kids that young but it's as accessible as Scratch.
Thanks. I'll definitely look into that.
simple HTML, use the Font tag!
Kids love making GIANT text in crazy colors.
There is a "graphical" programming language for kids called "Logo" mentioned here...
https://softwareprogramming4kids.com/
Python is also a good choice IMO. LEGO robotics maybe?
I friend of mine who has worked with several kids over the years suggests that you find out what they want to do, then meet them there. Or, to cut things short... GAMES! 😉
@danjones000 I have a public repo with a list of coding resources for kids!
Cool! I'll definitely check that out! Thanks.
In addition to Scratch and such, you might try looking at games.
Codemancer (https://codemancergame.com/) for example claims to be for 6-12 year olds and aims to teach programming within a story based game.
Or something like Gladiabots (https://store.steampowered.com/app/871930/GLADIABOTS__AI_Combat_Arena/) where you make simple AI routines for robots to fight each other.
Or Minecraft has redstone logic circuits.
No personal experience with any of these specifically, but such things do exist, and might be easier to get into.
@danjones000 I've used both Scratch and Hopscotch. I haven't tried it with someone quite that young, but why not? Beware all the pre-made programs out there. He might want to just play the games that are there. You could guide him through modifying a game that he likes, but the good ones are going to be complex and difficult to understand.
@danjones000 Scratch is great, of course. There’s a Python for Kids book that’s good. You might also grab a copy of the Robot Turtles board to play with him. My son liked it when he was young. It teaches programming concepts through board game mechanics.
Robot Turtle looks great. Turtles seem like a common theme in programming for young kids.
@danjones000 That probably goes back to Logo’s use of a turtle.
@danjones000 OctoStudio is supposedly very good as well https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=edu.mit.octostudio