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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

#31

Post by shireboy »

I'm in exactly the same boat, and doing very similar to you. My son is 11 and daughter 8. Both do Code.org and/or Scratch fairly regularly. Son wants to get into modding Minecraft, but honestly I'm a little annoyed with how shady and complicated that process is. Or maybe I'm just too old to "get it". I don't discourage him from it, but haven't been able to teach him that as much.

Son also recently bought with his own money a Arduino starter kid off amazon. You can get an arduino, LCD, servo, LEDs, etc. for 30-40$. We've taken it a step at a time and go through various concepts, etc. For example, I talked to him about 'rubber duck debugging' (ie explain the program to a rubber duck or plus toy line by line), semicolons, code blocks, etc. This has been great for learning real C and tinkering with electronics.

I plan to start them on basic web stuff on glitch.me sometime. That should let them build simple websites etc. for free.

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

#32

Post by lmilcin »

sherlockx wrote: post #16

BBC micro:bit V2 - Will be able to get tangible results very quickly. Start with the simple stuff: https://microbit.org/projects/make-it-code-it/ I find games in scratch are complex and require too much programming knowledge to really get something interesting up and running. The micro:bit on the other hand can do interesting lights, sounds, etc with just the drag and drop of a few lines.

I didn't know micro:bit works with Scratch, thanks a lot!!!

I had plans to make some kind of board with STM32 that could be programmed with Scratch but maybe I will put that project off and use micro:bit instead.

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

#33

Post by theelous3 »

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 when they're like 13-14 and actually have a bit of brain wattage to back up what you're throwing at them.

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

#34

Post by x87678r »

I learned to program in middle school and I loved it, you couldn't tear me away from the school Commodore Pet.

My kid we played with scratch for a bit and she had fun making some games but it fizzled out after a few weeks. No real love. I gave up. Maybe I'll try again in a few years.

There are coding classes and they're all very popular but to me it seems pushy parents signing up their children, none of them seem to enjoy it.

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

#37

Post by jedberg »

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.

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).

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

#38

Post by contingencies »

6.5 year old. Cultivating an interest in electronic components through toy disassembly and repair (actually thinking about doing a video channel analyzing low end electronics for fun), no actual circuit design as yet. After achieving literacy and exposure to minecraft, currently having success with co-op puzzle platformers which require multi-step solutions to puzzles (Putty Pals, Koala Kids, Ibb and Obb, Shift Happens, etc.), Crypt of the Necrodancer (turn-based dance pad rhythm game requiring comprehension of algorithms), a short JRPG (A Short Hike) and in terms of actual programming a Steam robot programming game called SMIB. Lots of board games, currently Puerto Rico ("Age: 13+"). Also recommend Sleeping Queens (card game requiring creative deployment of simple equations). Endgame: Shenzhen IO.

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

#39

Post by bigmattystyles »

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…

>> As a mentor; unless the kid wants to go, please don't come :)

This so much. There is no quicker way to turn them off of it permanently whereas they might just not be ready to come to it yet.

Alternatively, wait for the kid to be hungry for a snack then have her program an Arduino controlled can opener to open a can of beans. /s

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

#40

Post by arctic_bean »

I would be cautious about trying to make a child enjoy something you found interesting in your childhood. The world has changed so much, and what interests children today may be significantly different. Get them on the cool high level concepts of today (mobile apps, web apps, machine learning) and over time, they might gain an appreciation of the stuff technology has abstracted away. Some things are just not as important anymore.

I'm not a parent (I just graduated) and have not tested my thoughts above. It's also not a direct response at OP, more of something I will definitely keep at the back of my mind. Empathy.

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