Teaching Children Programming and Linux

[Scott Elcomb]

On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 12:41 PM, Lennart Sorensen
<lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 10:21:11AM -0400, Aaron Vegh wrote:
>> I guess the corollary question would be: what age could/should one get
>> a kid involved in programming? I like the idea of starting a kid on
>> Python or Javascript, but when?
>
> javascript is frustrating mess.  I wouldn't recommend it either.
>
> I started out playing around with a Commodore VIC 20 when I was about 10
> or 11, so what do I know. :)  And while I had some fun with it, I
> wouldn't say I learned anything useful from playing with the BASIC on
> it.  That language was awfully limited.

I'd prefer to avoid any language flamewars but I don't believe that
BASIC is bad for a first language.  The reason I refer to it is the
same reason I'd support JavaScript for a first language:

- It's a relatively simple language (eg. DOM, CSS, XML, HTML etc are
_not_ Javascript)
- The language is actually quite similar to Perl and very flexible
- There's no need for beginners to get bogged down with low-level coding
- Beginners can create, share, and improve simple projects very easily
(eg. on the web)


>> And it would be awesome if there were some specific learning resources
>> that could take them through a course of study.
>
> There are tutorials for some languages.  But really I think the best way
> to learn is to just play with it.  Take an example and make it do
> different things.

I'd have to agree with this sentiment.  Exploration, Trial-and-Error,
and Experience are the Great Teachers.  If the child's amenable to
writing down their experiences while learning a language, it might
(again) be good blogging material.  In addition, it may provide skill
improvement in writing with natural language.

-- 
 Scott Elcomb
 http://www.psema4.com/
 http://www.google.com/reader/shared/14892828400785741937
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://gtalug.org/
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://gtalug.org/wiki/Mailing_lists