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Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

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Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#191

Post by FourthProtocol »

INTPenis wrote: post #146
markc wrote: post #120

Didn't work: - BASIC, Ruby, Python, Java setups + intros, tutorials. - LEGO Mindstorms - Scratch, Squeak - Coding classes / camps Note that I "made these things "available" but never pushed. I'd set up the environment, show him to to edit and run the code, and pointed him to tutorials. After some time went by I'd show him the next thing. Rinse and repeat. Worked: A Texas Instruments programmable calculator. He read t…

I don't know the full story but this kinda lines up with what I wanted to say about the topic. My GFs kid was not at all interested in what I did, until it could relate to her friends at school. Apparently some of the boys at school had used Devtools to modify a class website and add dirty words or whatever it is they do. So I showed her at home how to go into Devtools and change the appearance of the teaching portal…

First, respect for taking the time to teach her. Second, I have difficulty writing this exctly because of the last sentence, will do so anyway -

I taught myself to program in 1984, two years before finishing high school. That and being on the chess team pretty much killed my social life and any chance at carnal activities until I turned 21 (high school was followed by compulsory consription for 2 years). I struggled with that.

Today I note that impressing friends and strangers has become very big business. Influencers. Looked at one this morning on Instagram. This dude had muscles, gave thed impression of owning a Bently, a curvy girlfriend and a house in Majorca. No clue as to how he eant a living or obtained that wealth. Assuming those material posessions are his.

These things are the antithesis of what I went through, even though today I have the means to aquire everything from the Bently to the large-breatsed blonde in a house on the Costa Del Sol.

And yet that prospect fills me with dread because it's vacuous. There's no meaning or value behind it. Same goes for teaching someone something for the purpose of becoming popular or impressing others. Seriously please don't take this as criticism. ANY time spent with kids is time well spent.

I guess where I'm going with all of this is that I hope to teach my 8y/o boy to seek out meaningful, rewarding relationships and experiences that build him up. Without a need for others' approval. And I have vague ideas how I might do that but in a practical sense I'm at a loss and that scares me. And I would LOVE to teach him how to program but so far I've made no progress.

Part of being a dad I guess. Happily I've discovered that if I want a thing enough I find a way. Patience...

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#192

Post by tsp »

I’m not a parent, but I have some good memories of my father teaching me how to program the game «Snake» in basic as a kid (10 years old maybe). We started talking about what we want to build, and he showed me how to draw things to the screen. We then iterated and improved the game more and more (within a couple of hours). I had no prior experience with coding and very much enjoyed seeing how things progressed and how you can make the computer react to keyboard presses. While I was not able to write the game myself (or properly understand how to write simple applications) it helped me to get an idea how applications are made and a basic way of thinking. Also, for me this was really motivating and inspiring. In retrospect, I like the project-based approach—building something from start to finish in a couple of hours. If something sticks there is still enough time to go into detail and learn the basics, but learning the basics is so much easier if the motivation is high, which for me it was seeing that one can build a game oneself in a couple of hours.

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#193

Post by INTPenis »

FourthProtocol wrote: post #191
INTPenis wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know the full story but this kinda lines up with what I wanted to say about the topic. My GFs kid was not at all interested in what I did, until it could relate to her friends at school. Apparently some of the boys at school had used Devtools to modify a class website and add dirty words or whatever it is they do. So I showed her at home how to go into Devtools and change the appearance of the teaching portal…

First, respect for taking the time to teach her. Second, I have difficulty writing this exctly because of the last sentence, will do so anyway - I taught myself to program in 1984, two years before finishing high school. That and being on the chess team pretty much killed my social life and any chance at carnal activities until I turned 21 (high school was followed by compulsory consription for 2 years). I struggled…

Well there are different ways of looking at impressing your friends.

Funny but I have two replies to my comment, one saying they became proficient at programming by competing with their friends in games programming and discussing together how their work could improve. And your reply taking a completely different direction about showing off with cars and women.

It seems the morale is that youths like to show off, regardless if it's with a car or with their code.

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#194

Post by theelous3 »

stolenmerch wrote: post #71
theelous3 wrote: post #33

I taught in a coderdojo for a while. As a mentor; unless the kid wants to go, please don't come :) So many uninterested kids from helicopter parents. Kids as young as 6 just absolutely clueless and learning nothing. If you want your kid to program, just buy them an actual computer system with files and a terminal, not some ipad shit, and let them at it. If they code they code. If they don't, you can try teaching them…

I taught one as well. Always felt horrible because I gave most of my time to the couple of kids who were naturally jazzed about it. It felt like I could have done more to inspire the other kids who didn't seem to care, but maybe I did more good helping the ones who did.

I didn't waste my time. Of all the kids that came one actually cared. We've kept it touch and I now consider him a friend. He just started comp sci in my country's most prodigious uni, which while it was obviously his own doing - I'm a little proud of :)

Then and now, I'm glad I focused on the ones that cared. The investment in them and subsequent payoff for them is extremely valuable. With the others, it wasn't even clear if you were doing more harm than good.

I was probably more cutthroat than most because I was the only mentor who showed up week after week, so I had to have strong boundaries.

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#195

Post by Seb-C »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #43
colinmhayes wrote: post #9

Your kid is 7. I'm pretty sure hat I was eating dirt when I was 7. If he has showed you he's interested in programming then go ahead, but make sure you're not projecting your own interests onto your kid. It'll lead to resentment in 7 or 8 years.

The best thing we can do for our children right now is keep them AWAY FROM SCREENS!

Are we back in 1990?

Internet and computers are a critical part of everyday's life and will probably grow even more in the future. Childrens should definitely have screens and learn how to use it safely and smartly.

When my parents limited my video-game and television time during my teenagerhood (because it "makes you idiot/violent/whatever") it made my life worse, not better. Not being able to talk about the last video-game, movie or event, I had no idea what people were talking about most of the time.

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#196

Post by divbzero »

avmich wrote: post #156
INTPenis wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know the full story but this kinda lines up with what I wanted to say about the topic. My GFs kid was not at all interested in what I did, until it could relate to her friends at school. Apparently some of the boys at school had used Devtools to modify a class website and add dirty words or whatever it is they do. So I showed her at home how to go into Devtools and change the appearance of the teaching portal…

Deserves Kevin Mitnick's medal. We likely should think hard about creating good opportunities to rebellious learning of computers at schools.

Many clever computer tricks I saw in high school were ways to get around restrictions set by school admins, including an IP blocker that my classmate helped me bypass so I could check my personal email for college admissions results.

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#197

Post by djeiasbsbo »

splintercell wrote: post #127
djeiasbsbo wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "steers them clear of ADHD too" Could you elaborate on that a bit more? I have ADHD and am very interested in anything about it but have never heard anything like that.

Not OP, but I kinda know what he's talking about, here's a shortened version of how it works: - Stop drinking coffee - Get rid of Social media notifications and stuff - Actively aim to bore yourself when the day starts, don't look at the phone. - Then suddenly you'll notice that your brain is dying to do something interesting, so much that you'll start reading toothpaste's label while brushing your teeth. Start build…

I see.. but that's something else. These are strategies to not get distracted, actually a big part of ADHD is having these strategies, otherwise there would be no productivity whatsoever.

However, the OP is talking about distractions which cause ADHD to be present, something I have not heard about.

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#198

Post by overlordalex »

eitland wrote: post #110
GraffitiTim wrote: post #24

My daughter (who just turned 4) seemed like she might like programming, so I started out having her "program" a stuffed walrus, by telling it whether to go forward, backward, left, or right to get to a piece of food. Her natural inclination was to point to where it should go, so I first taught her that the walrus doesn't understand pointing or the word "here", just the directions. Then we started "programming each ot…

Somewhat related: At one point I introduced my kids to what I called the number-machine-game. It goes like this: I ask my kids to say a number, and then I do something to that number and tell them the answer. Their job is to figure out the calculation I do. Examples: - I add a number: they say 3, I say 8. They say 11, I say 16 - I multiply a number. - I multiply by something and add something else. - etc If you want…

I've used the same before, I believe also inspired by a similar HN comment. I was delighted to find that it's actually been developed into a complete game as well[1]

However to add my 2c to the conversation how I introduced programming to my cousins and niblings was through baking! A recipe is just a program for a delicious outcome which helps a bit with motivation while also learning a related skill.

[1] https://www.cinqmarsmedia.com/devilscalculator/

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#199

Post by tigerlily »

staunch wrote: post #69
jedberg wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a counterpoint, I started programming on my own at 7 with no guidance. Mainly because my IBM PC booted into a BASIC window if you didn't put the DOS disk in. I asked my mom to get my some magazines from the library so I could copy the games in them. So it's not totally odd for a 7 year old (or I was odd, which is quite possible).

The 7 yo's interest here were the games though, not so much the programming, right? PC games have been the gateway drug for a huge number of programmers. I think it works in at least a few ways: 1. You discover the amazing power and value of computers, they're not just boring work devices. 2. You learn that other people made the games by writing code, and that anyone can do it if they want to. 3. You end up making yo…

> want to see what else the computer can do that is also intersting (sic).

God, so much this!

Re: Ask HN: Please share your experience teaching your kids to program

#200

Post by overlordalex »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #161
eitland wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somewhat related: At one point I introduced my kids to what I called the number-machine-game. It goes like this: I ask my kids to say a number, and then I do something to that number and tell them the answer. Their job is to figure out the calculation I do. Examples: - I add a number: they say 3, I say 8. They say 11, I say 16 - I multiply a number. - I multiply by something and add something else. - etc If you want…

I remember one day in primary school a teacher had us play a game where we had to propose things to take on vacation. People would call out a suggestion, and the teacher would say yes or no. The aim of the game was to figure out the rule. She said no to 'novel' and 'money', but yes to 'book' and 'currency'.

Spoiler: Is it the number of letters? That is, only an even-length string is permitted?
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