Teaching your child/teen Logic and Computer Programming

[dereksurfs]

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

Edited July 21, 2011 by dereksurfs

[freerange]

Dd1 has enjoyed and learnt a lot from game makers apprentice and dd2 has asked if she can use it this year. We have Visual Basic for Teens lined up next & it looks really good; DH keeps asking when we can start!

 

Welcome to the boards!:D

[dereksurfs]

Dd1 has enjoyed and learnt a lot from game makers apprentice and dd2 has asked if she can use it this year. We have Visual Basic for Teens lined up next & it looks really good; DH keeps asking when we can start!

 

Welcome to the boards!:D

 

Thanks Freerange,

 

BTW, how old is your DD1 and when did she start with game maker's apprentice?

 

Thanks again for the input,

 

Derek

[Lara in Colo]

I recommended the Alice program just afew days ago

[dereksurfs]

I recommended the Alice program just afew days ago

 

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

[Bassoonaroo]

I teach in a co-op that strives to be budget-friendly. That's a nice way to say we don't have much money. And, some of our families are pretty tight financially too. But they wanted to learn programming and I was the one to teach it. Boy, did we have a blast. Wow. We learned Python. I downloaded the computer programming course, "Snake Wrangling for Kids." Then I downloaded the version of Python it works with. I am not looking at it right now, so I can't tell you. Both downloads were free. And it was a meaty course, even with the "for Kids" in the title!

 

I had about 12 teens in the class and about half of them had laptops so I asked families to also download Python and bring the laptops to class.

 

The course taught lots of computer science concepts (variable types, constants, looping, recursion, functions, object oriented programming, string manipulation, etc.). If a middle schooler or high schooler worked through that entire book, then s/he would have a very strong background in computer science, ready for college work. And, there were other Python lessons online that are out there.

 

And, the library has other Python books. I even saw on the internet a Python course that a homeschooling dad developed. I didn't purchase that though so I can't say how complete it was.

 

Another inexpensive option would be to download Karel the Robot. It's a "toy" language that introduces some programming techniques. It has a Pascal-like construct. I did this with my own DC about 5 years ago.

[Firefly]

DS 13 has been using Scratch, a program available for free through MIT. He loves it, but I'll definitely be checking out some more of these suggestions for him-- thank you!!

[dereksurfs]

My child enjoyed GMA..he used a book and was able to work through it easily before he started Alg I. Python now...

 

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

[Joules]

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

 

It was only about $25 new, but now that it is out of print, resellers are taking advantage. There is still an e-book version available but I'm not sure if it includes the CD-ROM files.

[dereksurfs]

It was only about $25 new, but now that it is out of print, resellers are taking advantage. There is still an e-book version available but I'm not sure if it includes the CD-ROM files.

 

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

[dereksurfs]

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

Edited July 24, 2011 by dereksurfs

[dereksurfs]

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

[ChrissySC]

Read this post ...

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=254553&highlight=computer+programming

 

 

Sorry! I didn't want to type it all out again, and it isn't finished in my blog yet!

[freerange]

DD has informed me that she plans to carry on working through Game Maker's Apprentice over the summer break, since she hasn't finished yet, but doesn't want to rush to be done & miss out on the fun of playing around with it.

 

I'd say the book is fine for around 9 up, or perhaps younger if they were highly motivated or have a parent willing to sit with them the whole time.

 

NOTE FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS - Game Maker has issues with Windows 7.

[ChrissySC]

DD has informed me that she plans to carry on working through Game Maker's Apprentice over the summer break, since she hasn't finished yet, but doesn't want to rush to be done & miss out on the fun of playing around with it.

 

I'd say the book is fine for around 9 up, or perhaps younger if they were highly motivated or have a parent willing to sit with them the whole time.

 

NOTE FOR WINDOWS 7 USERS - Game Maker has issues with Windows 7.

 

 

You can select to run any program in compatibility mode, such as Windowx XP. :001_smile:

[Cassy]

DS12 has been enjoying Scratch. If anyone has used both, is Game Makers Apprentice better than Scratch? DS12 is so enthusiastic about Scratch, I wonder if he might enjoy Game Makers Apprentice too?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Cassy

[dereksurfs]

DS12 has been enjoying Scratch. If anyone has used both, is Game Makers Apprentice better than Scratch? DS12 is so enthusiastic about Scratch, I wonder if he might enjoy Game Makers Apprentice too?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Cassy

 

Hi Cassy,

 

After seeing my son (10) so excited with his first game he built in Game Maker my daughter (7) wanted to build something herself. But I decided to start with Scratch for her as I heard it was better for younger children.

 

I did one project with her in Scratch which was really fun for her. I think Game Maker may be a bit much for her level of computer abilities, though not by much. Scratch seems very simple, like building something with legos. It seems like Game Maker has more potential for advanced Game Making once a child gets the hang of it. And GM also allows usage of their programming language (GML) under the hood.

 

For a 12 y/o I would recommend GM based on what I've seen so far with both. For younger depending on computer skills I think Scratch is fine.

 

If your son has fun with Scratch I think he would really enjoy trying GM out. Keep in mind that GM is a free download and it has free tutorials as well. So the book is not needed to simply try Game Maker out. But it is very well written and I recommend it. However there is still a bit of an issue in getting the CD content which I wrote about above. The author is aware of it. But the files provided on the publishers website are Not comprehensive yet. I have informed both the publisher and author of this. So hopefully they will address it. If you have any issues with this then PM and I can describe a temporary workaround.

 

Derek

Edited July 25, 2011 by dereksurfs

[freerange]

You can select to run any program in compatibility mode, such as Windows XP. :001_smile:

I've already tried this & it doesn't work. A search on the gamemaker forums revealed that its down to a setting or function(I forget what) that has been disabled in windows 7 as a security risk. So far as I could tell the only workaround would be a dual boot system, although someone more techsavvy might be able to find a better solution. I admit I didn't spend all that long trying, since we have an older (much, much older ;)) pc that is now just for the DDs to use for game development etc. but I wanted to post about the issue for anyone else considering the book & only having access to a windows 7 machine.

[dereksurfs]

I've already tried this & it doesn't work. A search on the gamemaker forums revealed that its down to a setting or function(I forget what) that has been disabled in windows 7 as a security risk. So far as I could tell the only workaround would be a dual boot system, although someone more techsavvy might be able to find a better solution. I admit I didn't spend all that long trying, since we have an older (much, much older ;)) pc that is now just for the DDs to use for game development etc. but I wanted to post about the issue for anyone else considering the book & only having access to a windows 7 machine.

 

This seems very strange since Game Maker says it requires Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Certainly other ppl are using it with Win7.

 

Since we were using GM on Vista initially I also thought I'd give this a quick test on my Win7 laptop. I was able to install it and build the first demo game without any problems. And it ran fine. So the problems you are having are probably due to a setting which can be changed. It is possible that you need to adjust User Access Controls (UAC).

 

See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975787

 

Derek

Edited July 26, 2011 by dereksurfs

[freerange]

This seems very strange since Game Maker says it requires Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7. Certainly other ppl are using it with Win7.

 

Since we were using GM on Vista initially I also thought I'd give this a quick test on my Win7 laptop. I was able to install it and build the first demo game without any problems. And it ran fine. So the problems you are having are probably due to a setting which can be changed. It is possible that you need to adjust User Access Controls (UAC).

 

See: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/975787

 

Derek

Thank you. I'll have another play with it at the weekend. It's like I've always said, almost anything is possible with the help of the WTM forums. :D

[ChrissySC]

I'll bet it is the autoexec file ....

 

Give a google, you may need to copy and paste the autoexec and the config file over .... there is a system folder and a system 32 folder. :)

 

 

E: You may need to do a repair on windows too. Open command line window and run as admin .... sfc /scannow ... after typing hit enter and let it run. :)