Thread: Getting a kid into programming ... ?

My sister and nephew were at my house earlier, and I was showing my sister some new things in a game I've been messing with. I was letting my nephew add some things with a map editor, and afterwards he asked me to teach him programming. My sister said it was a great idea, and before I had really thought, I had agreed to teach him some stuff.

He is a bit over 8 years old I think.

I would like to teach him programming, but under no circumstance do I want him to feel like it's simply too hard for him to ever do. I would rather just not teach him at all, rather than teach him that he is incapable of ever doing anything meaningful - if that makes sense. So that limits anything too hard.

Also, I would like for what I'm teaching him to at least give him some gratification, to increase the chance he will stick with it (or at least leave pleasant memories if not).

So I'm left with these goals:

1) Nothing hard enough to discourage. (most important)

2) Something that produces gratifying/visual results.


Given this, I was thinking about just teaching him HTML. This feels a bit cheap to me though, as he is obviously wanting something he could potentially make a game with.

I basically need something as easy as HTML, but as efficacious as C++ :P .

Is HTML a fair/good thing to teach him? Is there anything else out there that would be a better start?

i just had to
"

1. if your going to say HTML is a programming language then you might as well include things such as word documents, as they too work on ML 'Markup Language' so no HTML is a not a programming language its called markup for that reason.. simply put HTML defines content!
   

"

I second Python. I think it's a pretty simple language though I'm not sure if that means much of anything. Python is more program-y than html, I think. And it'd be really simple for him to learn "hello world" in Python as well.

Actually, you could just have him work for EA! Oh! Shots were fired, EA; come get this.

Yes, HTML is a good choice. It's not programming, but it helps lay the foundation for this type of thinking.
I also agree that Python is a good choice.

Just remember that regardless of what language you decide to teach him first, he'll need self motivation. If he doesn't have that, it's a lost cause.

And don't forget, most children of that age have a very limited attention span, and if they don't see visible results quickly then they'll probably abandon the task. For this reason I suggest you really look into the links posted by salem.

Jim

Lol that's so awesome XD

Man, that makes the joke better, imo.

1. Get the kid to play minecraft.

2. Wait.

3. Buy this. Put it a place the kid will see everyday to drop that subtle hint.

4. Wait.

Originally Posted by whiteflags

1. Get the kid to play minecraft.

2. Wait.

3. Buy this. Put it a place the kid will see everyday to drop that subtle hint.

4. Wait.

That is great lol. I think maybe I should replace steps 2 & 4 with "Hide from his mom" though. I never played MineCraft, but if it's as life derailing as Ultima Online was, I'll probably need to buy a helmet to protect myself from the rolling pins I'll be getting smacked with :P.

Underestimating a person's ability based on age is a mistake. Teach him Scheme and continuation passing style.

How about exposing him to different families of languages and letting him choose for himself depending upon his aesthetics. First explain to him what is a programming language and why we need it. Then show him the samples and the environments(which is also necessary) in which the language can be used easily. The problem now a days is that whatever language a person is associated to first and for a long time that person tends to get biased towards it; and think that a particular thing can be and has to be implemented only in a certain way and there is no other way to do it. I, myself, am torn between C and BASIC. BASIC was my first crush and C was my first love. I learned all about structured programming in BASIC(even though it is popular belief now a days that it is not good for it). I did this on my school computer when I was 14-16 years old. I only had 0.5 hour access per week, but it was fun for me. Then after many years in my college I had to learn C(and Java and VB.NET) and had to implement all my math algorithms in it. So I am attached to it too. Had I a computer of my own I would have had more footing in the BASIC path. But... So, since he has a guide/mentor in you GUIDE him.