programming for kids?

[Weezy]

Hails!
I'm figuring there are a bunch of programmers around here. I'm looking for recommendations for exposing my younger son to programming. He's 12 and I think he has the aptitude. Is there any good websites or online education programs or software that would be a good first step for him?

I can certainly help... but I'm rusty and know no current languages. I've done a lot of programming...30 years ago... basic on Trash 80, Commodore, IBM, then Fortran, Pascal in college.

Thanks!

 

[USAFSooner]

Java is a good starter language. A good open source IDE would be eclipse.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

Maybe set him up with some Lego Mindstorms?

 

[fearwig]

Python is both powerful and very easy to pick up. AutoHotKey is a good intro to programming, if you think he'd get a kick out of Windows automation. There's a lot you can do with it.

I think finding him something he can see the immediate benefit of and get excited about is more important than teaching him the fundamentals at this stage. Sure, maybe he'll learn Latin one day, but why not Spanish first?

 

[NeoBrew]

Definitely Mindstorms. The physical / real world aspect of mind storms is a great way to keep things interesting yet uses pretty simple programming concepts.

Star Logo from MIT is also a great place to start. It teaches the structures and logic of programming with a graphical system. It's free and there are lots of example programs and tutorials to learn from.

http://education.mit.edu/projects/starlogo-tng

Lastly, if he's into iPhones and iPads (and you have a Mac to work on) The Apple Developers Toolkit is free if you just register. Obviously more complex, but the upside is bigger as well.

Good luck!

 

[jtratcliff]

not sure if he's too old for Scratch... my old 6 yr old was a bit too young for it when I last tried.

It teaches programing concepts (loops, conditionals, etc.) via a drag and drop interface...
Very easy to make simple (very simple) animations or games pretty quickly.

There's an iPad app called CargoBot, I think, that also teaches looping, subroutines, conditionals,
etc. as part of a puzzle solving game.

I know I was teaching myself BASIC back in the day in 6th or 7th grade umpity ump odd years ago, so maybe the wee-Weezy is ready for something like Python.

 

[neilpcraven]

http://tryruby.org/ is a good one to get results fast (ruby as a whole is) It's a free sampler for https://www.codeschool.com/
http://www.codecademy.com/ is much the same but you get more for free

If he's 12, it's hard to know what the soup de jour will be when he's of employment age but I can bet that if he gets a good handle on web technologies and mobile apps now, he can probably use it to subsidise his pocket money doing simple contract jobs making sites and apps for local businesses when he's 16. The combination of visual creativity and analytical/mathematical thinking should be quite stimulating.

 

[TheDudeLebowski]

I haven't checked out Khan Academy in a while but I liked their algebra classes. I pointed one of my friends kids to the site and he liked the pace and structure of the classes. They have a programming section:

http://www.khanacademy.org/computing/cs/programming

 

[Weezy]

Excellent info! thanks to you all!

 

[theck]

http://scratch.mit.edu/ my kid loves it, 10 years old

 

[neilpcraven]

Did you try him out with any of these? Any of them 'stick'?

 

[Weezy]

Nothing yet! Not until summer break. I'll gladly report back...late June.

Thanks again all.

 

[dkevinb]

Another recommendation for Python. It's a powerful language that's easy to program in. If you want to do GUI's under Windows Visual Basic is still a good way to go, and you can get the Express Edition of the IDE for free.

I'd avoid Java. I find it frustrating and I've been writing code for a living for 30 years.

 

[IslandLizard]

I hate Java too, but it's way too often confused with "Javascript," an entirely different product and language, which principals are going to be around for a long time. Half the web floats on it.

 

[hunter_le five]

I really liked Codecademy, which I believe has already been mentioned. Very easy to use and great instructions.

Having taken all the "classes" offered on the website, I can say that while it won't turn you into a pro-coder, it will give you a good enough understanding of the basics in any of the languages offered (JavaScript, HTML/CSS, Python, jQuery, Ruby) in order to continue learning on your own or move onto more advanced classes offered elsewhere.

 

[kevy_kev]

Buy the kid a basketball net and basketball. If hes really going to be a developer hes going to spend 30+ years in front of a computer, dont make him spend his summer off in front of one too!

IMHO
[Typing this through blood shot eyes from debugging for the last 8 1/2 hours]

 

[Weezy]

Buy the kid a basketball net and basketball. If hes really going to be a developer hes going to spend 30+ years in front of a computer, dont make him spend his summer off in front of one too!

IMHO
[Typing this through blood shot eyes from debugging for the last 8 1/2 hours]

Um, thanks for the unwanted and unlooked for parenting advice based on zero information about me, my son, and our lives.