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Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

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Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#211

Post by danabramov »

dsarle wrote: post #203
danabramov wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly! I had a 1991-issued book called “Professor Fortran's Encyclopaedia“ in my childhood. It introduced me to computers, modems, viruses and even several BASIC commands in the form of a comic book with funny characters: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Энциклопедия_профессора_Фортран... I did not learn programming from it (it contained no actual code other than a “hello world”), but it fired up my imagination and int…

Thanks so much for the link! The whole day I was trying to remember this book because it was also this exact book that helped me get interested in computing!

No problem!

Here are the scans:

http://trinixy.ru/9306-jenciklopedija_professora_fortrana_25...

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#212

Post by ht_th »

JunkDNA wrote: post #69

This is wonderful. I think some of the commenters here are missing the point by insisting that how they learned to code is how everyone should learn. If we're going to get to a point where coding is a basic type of literacy like math or reading (and I'm not necessarily saying I agree with that goal), then you have to start small when kids are young. Really young kids need some kind of framework. You can't just throw…

> If we're going to get to a point where coding is a basic type of literacy like math or reading (and I'm not necessarily saying I agree with that goal), then you have to start small when kids are young.

This type of literacy would be something akin to "computational thinking" and then programming is to computational thinking as arithmetic is to mathematics. Programming shouldn't be an end in itself but a means to develop a deeper understanding of our modern information-rich technological sophisticated society. And yes, in my opinion, in that society one should be able to "program" as much as one should be able to "do arithmetic" or "can read/write". "Programming" can mean a lot of different things to different groups of people, but the basic idea of information processing and automatic repetitive tasks should be understood by all.

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#214

Post by Hansi »

idProQuo wrote: post #206
Keyframe wrote: post #104

Here I was open-minded as ever, prepared to see something great, also prepared to scold at misogynistic crowd because there were hints in some comments that there is such crowd here... and then I watched the video. Everything that can go in other direction related to stereotypes and gender roles - DID. It went so overboard that I think it's a part of marketing strategy for it. This is just sad, because I think the pr…

I thought the same for a moment, until I realized I was basically watching a kids show. The colors, the enthusiasm, the fast cuts, this video was made by someone who knows how to get kids (we're talking 4-6 here) interested in something. If that's the sensibility she brings to her storytelling and illustrating, this book is going to be a wild success. If it was a Kickstarter for an invention or a software product, I'…

Had a similar initial reaction and came to the kid show conclusion too but it didn't make it okay in my book. Loved the idea of the book(s) and it's well put forward but her overacting this 'over the top happy go far' personality in the video was just distracting from the point of the whole thing. The video is targeting sponsors on kickstarter not kids who will read this. I think it would have been better to tone it down a bit and then just go all outboard in the promotional material after the book is done.

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#215

Post by sanoli »

JunkDNA wrote: post #169
danabramov wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly! I had a 1991-issued book called “Professor Fortran's Encyclopaedia“ in my childhood. It introduced me to computers, modems, viruses and even several BASIC commands in the form of a comic book with funny characters: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Энциклопедия_профессора_Фортран... I did not learn programming from it (it contained no actual code other than a “hello world”), but it fired up my imagination and int…

For me personally it was a book about William Pasteur and his development of the rabies vaccine. That book lit a fire in my mind for molecular biology (though that was not a well known "thing" at the time). To this day I can vividly recall the pictures of the "invisible army" marching through a sick kid's blood vessels. They were drawn as soldiers with bayonets and they stabbed the amorphous black blobby germs. A few…

Awesome reading your post! My dad bought this book at a Goodwill when I was a kid, and I still remember how some of my friends thought the title was cheesy (you know, at that age when we're already trying to be adults and macho), yet my dad explained to me how it was actually very important, and how great and important Pasteur and the great lineage of scientists were. Awesome.

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#216

Post by rdudek »

JunkDNA wrote: post #69

This is wonderful. I think some of the commenters here are missing the point by insisting that how they learned to code is how everyone should learn. If we're going to get to a point where coding is a basic type of literacy like math or reading (and I'm not necessarily saying I agree with that goal), then you have to start small when kids are young. Really young kids need some kind of framework. You can't just throw…

I agree 120%! Can't wait for this book to come out and give it to my daughter.

Shoot, I remember back in the 90's when I was still in high school, the programming books I had were so dry that it almost made me want to quit for good (I did take a 10 year break from learning to code and went into real estate investing).

Anyone that tells you to learn programming the hard way is full of it. Making programming fun and interesting definitely lowers the entry barrier. Maybe that's why some of the folks feel insecure that some youngin' may learn coding and steal away their job? You just never know!

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#217

Post by deveac »

smackfu wrote: post #165
deveac wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>So, hope that theory is wrong, but it sets off too many alarms for now. Yes. The the alarms bells are far too numerous when the co-founder of Rails Girls ("Our aim is to give tools and a community for women to understand technology and to build their ideas."), and community manager at Codeacademy expands her mission of education and inspiration to children via a book tailored to them. Alarm bells everywhere. Thankfu…

The last thing needed in these comments is sarcasm.

Thanks for jumping in. Any thoughts on hyperbole?

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#219

Post by JoeAltmaier »

run4_too wrote: post #77
brador wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like and support the intent, but I feel the execution will be a let down in terms of usability. How is it possible to teach even the basics of programming in 32 pages? How would you explain a simple FOR loop to a child through a story?

>How would you explain a simple FOR loop to a child through a story? You wouldn't. The same way you don't explain how to take a corner kick to a child playing soccer. All you need to do is explain that they need to kick the ball into the net, and let them go. The same way you don't teach multiplication to a child before you teach the concepts of grouping and sorting. Everything else comes later. This is a good introd…

Actually you can get a better result by walking them through a play slowly, then faster and faster until they've got the muscle memory and speed to succeed. Combined with drills for strength/accuracy, and you can bring a kid up to speed pretty quickly.

Giving them the ball and letting them run is not coaching. It works for the 1st 5 minutes; then they'd probably like to have some success or learn something. Kids are like that.

Re: Linda Liukas' Programming book for Children has Huge First Day on Kickstarter

#220

Post by run4_too »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #219
run4_too wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>How would you explain a simple FOR loop to a child through a story? You wouldn't. The same way you don't explain how to take a corner kick to a child playing soccer. All you need to do is explain that they need to kick the ball into the net, and let them go. The same way you don't teach multiplication to a child before you teach the concepts of grouping and sorting. Everything else comes later. This is a good introd…

Actually you can get a better result by walking them through a play slowly, then faster and faster until they've got the muscle memory and speed to succeed. Combined with drills for strength/accuracy, and you can bring a kid up to speed pretty quickly. Giving them the ball and letting them run is not coaching. It works for the 1st 5 minutes; then they'd probably like to have some success or learn something. Kids are…

The child needs to be at the right level to understand the concept before they can be coached to do it. The book is aimed for 6 year olds, so, I'm using that age. Teaching a corner kick to a 6 year old is a waste of time. (at least in North America) You are still teaching the basics of space, movement and ball control.

Ergo, playing a game is the best way for a 6 year old to learn. At this age, exposure is the key element.

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