This is an interesting question the way you asked it, especially for my family since one side is Catholic and the other Protestant. I consider myself a Christian above all other things/religions. I do attend churches which are protestant. Yet I am happy for my Catholic family and friends who can enjoy and love God in their way. While I may not see everything eye to eye in terms of doctrine, we have Christ in common and that is what is important to me. Derek

Here is an update. I purchased the Game Maker's Apprentice as an eBook since the book is no longer in print. But the eBook doesn't come with the CD materials needed for the tutorials.So I emailed the author about this and he replied with a link to the extra CD materials from the publisher. Here it is in case anyone else needs them: http://www.apress.com/9781590596159 Derek

Thanks all, You have given me some really good ideas. I also like hearing your stories and experiences with various techniques used. I purchased Game Makers Apprentice in eBook form yesterday. My son has already created his first game going through one of the tutorials from Game Maker and now he is working on his second one from the book. He is really excited with this unique learning tool because its fun. He is fully engaged which is what I had hoped for. My middle daughter (7) saw his first game and said she wants to learn to program now. :tongue_smilie: So I downloaded Scratch today and worked through a basic tutorial with her on it. She enjoyed it which is the main thing. I don't think she is as crazy about the stuff as my son. But over time who knows. Just an FYI for those of you thinking about purchasing the Game Makers Apprentice book. It is out of print and most used copies don't come with the CD. The eBooks are the same thing, both of which I discovered. And the book without the CD is not very useful since all the excerscises require graphics from the CD. So after buying the eBook and discovering this I searched the web for the CD contents and eventually found a place to get it. But I would greatly prefer the author to provide this since the book is out of print. With the sequel this shouldn't be an issue. Derek

That also speaks to the quality and popularity of a book. Most old out of print technical books of any kind go for pennies on the dollar at places like half.com, ebay, etc... Its crazy that this book is selling for more than its retail price used now. I don't know if I the eBook would work as well without the other resources on the CD. Derek

Great to hear! I've heard a lot of good things about Game Makers Apprentice. Surprisingly the book is a bit expensive new. But it does come with software which is supposed to have example code, and other things. I'm tempted to buy it used. However there is no guarantee it will come with the software in that case. Also GMA now has a sequel called Game Makers Companion which has good ratings as well. Derek

For what ages do you recommend it in your experience? I'm looking at Alice, Story Telling Alice and/or The Game Maker's Apprentice for my 10 y/o son right now. He's very excited. But I don't want to overwhelm him, rather just give him a basic intro to logic/programming with something fun. Derek

Thanks Freerange, BTW, how old is your DD1 and when did she start with game maker's apprentice? Thanks again for the input, Derek

I am curious if any of you have children/teens who are facinated with computers and would like to learn the basics of programming? Maybe they have expressed this interest to you or you see a natural curiosity and potential ability within them. This could start as simple as undertanding the logic behind programming or possibly writing a simple 'Hello World' app. These concepts are being taught in many schools now in basic ways to children. They are also taught at home by parents like you and I. In our case my 10 y/o son is very exctied to learn more about programming since I am a computer programmer myself. He has said for years that he wants to be a programmer like his dad. Up until now I haven't thought too much about this. But once he turned 10 I decided it was time to give him a very basic introduction into this field of computer science. Here are some resources I have found thus far on the subject: Carnegie Mellon's super cool free resource for teaching kids computer programming in a fun way: Alice Many fun ideas from another father/programmer/teacher Marshall Brain: Teaching your kids how to write computer programs The Game Maker's Apprentice: Game Development for Beginners Building Thinking Skills® Level 2 We have heard good things about this on the forum here. I'm sure there are many more great resources on the subject. I'd be interested to hear what any of you may have found or experienced in this area as well. Derek