Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#21

Post by michael_dorfman » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:07 PM UTC

canadaduane wrote: post #18

michael_dorfman wrote: post #11

I'd be careful in this line of thinking, if I were you. Projecting wishes and expectations onto one's children is common, and counter-productive. I was very excited when my daughter, around the age of 10, showed interest in programming. I showed her Scratch (from MIT), but I think my enthusiasm scared her off-- and she dropped it quickly. I regret that I didn't play it a bit cooler.

Enthusiasm can be shown in several ways. One interesting tidbit from psychological research is that praising children's results often leads to their own paralysis. Instead, parents should praise how hard they tried. See Berkeley's Half Full blog: http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/raising_happiness/post/the_r...

I'm familiar with that research, and agree with the techniques.

In this case, though, it wasn't that I praised her-- just that I got excited about how cool Scratch was. Suddenly, it wasn't that cool to her anymore.

Similarly, she also hates the Beatles. I mean, how is that even possible?

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#22

Post by jswinghammer » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:09 PM UTC

wglb wrote: post #16

KoZeN wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed and this is something I started whilst he was still in the womb!

I claim that my daughter recognized me by voice at birth when I first spoke to her.

I know that mine did. I used to say "Hi Baby!" to her all the time. When she was born and was upset I would say "Hi Baby!" and she'd calm right down. This worked for 2-3 weeks maybe.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#23

Post by a-priori » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:16 PM UTC

jph wrote: post #13

Baby Sign Language can jumpstart learning and communication. The best videos (IMHO) are from "My Smart Hands" at http://mysmarthands.com/ The founder has free videos on YouTube, an iPhone app, and a new Android app (which I use).

Baby Sign Language can jumpstart learning and communication.

Is there any evidence that this actually has any benefit?

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#24

Post by HeyLaughingBoy » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:17 PM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #7

Read to him when he is young, with him when older. It is the most stupidly effective academic intervention I'm aware of.

This!

My son has grown up in a house of readers and loves to read. He consistently tests above grade level, doesn't have his own computer (allowed to use my wife's occasionally) or TV (only one working TV in the house). Meanwhile, his friend down the street who is a year older and has his own laptop computer, TV, XBox, Nintendo DS, etc. spends his summers in remedial reading classes.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#25

Post by pavelludiq » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:18 PM UTC

zootar wrote: post #17

Kids can start programming a lot earlier if their introductory experience really minimizes frustration and time to gratification. Python is probably a good starting language for teenagers, but for pre-teens, who are much less cognitively mature, you'll have a lot more luck sooner if you introduce them to an IDE with great code completion and the power to make a GUI. Obvious candidates are Visual C# and Visual Basic,…

C#? My first intro to programming was logo, and im recommending it as a language for small children any chance i get. For older kids, ruby, python and (why not?) scheme are good choices. I remember the day my teachers replaced logo with pascal with dread. Don't do that. I lost interest in programming for about 2-3 years do to that, and had to rediscover my love with python much later.

But looking back, i believe languages don't mater that much, as long as the kid's having fun, you can have fun with C++ even, if it is introduced to you properly.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#26

Post by mbreese » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:22 PM UTC

I'd suggest giving them your old iPhone/iPod touch/Android device. My son has been playing with those since he was 1 1/2, and now (2 1/2) he is an expert at the interface. It's quite a testament to the UI to see how well a 2 year old can move around an iPhone. Then, he'll be able to "interface" with computers so much easier. They won't be this foreign thing, they'll be what shows them music videos.

From there, you have plenty of time. I know my dad started me out with BASIC when I was ~5: 10 PRINT "HI DADDY" 20 GOTO 10

After that, I didn't touch code until I was 13. So ultimately, my advice would be to not push them. If he wants to learn, he'll learn.

Just make sure they are familiar with technology, and you'll all be fine. Aside from that... read to him. Now. They pick it up quickly if you keep doing it consistently.

But really, don't worry about it and let him be a kid. The inner geek will come.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#27

Post by aidenn0 » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:22 PM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #7

Read to him when he is young, with him when older. It is the most stupidly effective academic intervention I'm aware of.

Agreed. Also, you can start on non-picture books earlier than you think; my dad read "The Hobbit" to my sister and I before I started kindergarten (a little bit each night).

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#28

Post by pcestrada » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:27 PM UTC

This book, "Hello World: Computer Programming for kids and adults" http://www.manning.com/sande/ might be a good place to start once your child is older. It's written by a father and son and documents his son's foray into programming using Python. I believe his son was 10 at the time.

Personally, my parents got me an Intellivision at the age of 6 and I played it every day. By around 4th grade, I wanted to start writing my own games so they got me a Commodore 64 and a couple of books with game listings in Basic and I started having more fun writing games than playing them.

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#29

Post by protomyth » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:28 PM UTC

Reading and Flash Cards. A lot of teachers hate flash cards, but the confidence to do the simple math allows for learning the hard stuff. Never underestimate the value of a good foundation. Learning how to actually use a dictionary might not be a bad idea.

[edit] when the kids old enough: legos - lots and lots of legos

Re: Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?

#30

Post by jonnathanson » Tue, Nov 02, 2010, 5:31 PM UTC

Another random thought, though probably for slightly older kids: getting into programming through game modding. Starcraft 2 editor, WC3 editor, XML editing/modding, eventually Python editing, etc.

The bait is the chance to tweak and modify your games to make them more fun and personal for you. Could be a fun and pain-free segue into programming proper.