Coding for Kids

[IrishMum]

My husband is writing a series of posts about how and why we are teacing coding to our kids. I am posting it here if anyone is looking at starting code with their kids, or is looking for something to do after the basics. Coding for Kids

 

 

[lovemykids]

My husband is writing a series of posts about how and why we are teacing coding to our kids. I am posting it here if anyone is looking at starting code with their kids, or is looking for something to do after the basics. Coding for Kids

 

Thanks...and could you also post the actual web address?  I can't click!! hahaha :lurk5:

[IrishMum]

Thanks...and could you also post the actual web address? :lurk5:

 

lovemykids, sure, here it is http://airskull.com/coding-for-kids/

[SunnyDays]

Great write up, thanks for sharing!

 

Estonia?!? Who knew....

[domestic_engineer]

So, to clarify - your children started their coding adventure with the coding lectures from Khan academy?    The proceeded to Codecademy?  And then picked up Scratch? 

 

I was just wondering if I should start my child on Scratch ... or now, perhaps, javascript via Khan academy.

 

Thanks for sharing the link and your thoughts!

[IrishMum]

So, to clarify - your children started their coding adventure with the coding lectures from Khan academy?    The proceeded to Codecademy?  And then picked up Scratch? 

 

I was just wondering if I should start my child on Scratch ... or now, perhaps, javascript via Khan academy.

 

Thanks for sharing the link and your thoughts!

 

domestic_engineer, that is how my older two started, but my younger two started with Scratch. We didn't know about Scratch when the older two started programming, if we did I think they would have started there. The Scratch language is a purpose built language to teach kids to code, an easy introduction to programming concepts if you like. It has a game look and feel which kids like. We started on Khan academy because they'd already been using that for maths when they introduced their programming section.

HTH

 

Edit to add: I moved the order in the post to reflect how we would use them, thanks for pointing that out domestic_engineer!

[lovemykids]

My older kids started with scratch as well. It is a great place to start. It was amazing to see what they could pick up and the projects they created.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Good point about starting children at a young age. I will have to get my first grader started soon!

[IrishMum]

My older kids started with scratch as well. It is a great place to start. It was amazing to see what they could pick up and the projects they created.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Good point about starting children at a young age. I will have to get my first grader started soon!

 

 

I love looking at their projects too, seeing their imaginations come to life in a game, or some code. And you're welcome :)

[MeaganS]

I'm planning on making cs a regular subject in our homeschool, starting with first grade.  My plan for this next year is to use the Kodable app and resources that go along with it (Kodable is the company that made the infographic in the op's post) and hopefully this amazing-looking Kickstarter book: Craft Computer.  I really wish the kickstarter book was getting more press, because it really looks good for 1st or 2nd grade.  Then we'll likely move on to Scratch or Hopscotch.

[lovemykids]

We have used Youth Digital as well, and plan to use homeschool programming…but I also like the free resources that were listed. :001_smile: Haven’t heard of Hackety Hack…off to check it out…

 

Great article! It's a challenge though to find something for the younger kids that will teach coding for us parents that are too busy or others that aren't programmers. There was a post on here that had many choices for help, even a Scratch online class for kids.

 

Here are some we looked at: You can google them.

1. Scratch2. Alice3. Hackety Hack4. Codecademy5. OpenClassroom 6. Code School 7. Codea

8. YouthDigital.com

9. Homeschool Programming: http://www.homeschoolprogramming.com/

10. Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/kids-coding-beginner-html/?affcode=E0Ycd11SR24%3D

 

[JadeOrchidSong]

Hello, I'm the father of a 11 and 9 year old and although my wife is the primary instructor, I teach them piano and computer programming when I'm not wokring as an IT professional.

 

For children (and adults) of all ages, I can't recommend Scratch enough (http://scratch.mit.edu/).  It is great for kids because the code consists of drag and drop blocks that fit together like legos and very little typing and no obscure syntax is involved.  Most important, it is fun and highly interactive.  This is an example of a simple game I built in a few minutes (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/2246684/). 

This the project my 9 year old did 2 years ago whithout any help from me (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/2567898/).

 

Although Scratch may seem simplistic and childish by the stacking blocks, it is important to understand the same logic and program flow structures are fundamentally identical to the same kind of logic used in programming in serious programming languages like Java, C# and C++.

 

I've played around with Alice, but didn't like it that much.  It is nice that it allows programmers to build 3D animations, but scratch is much more interactive.  For example, here is a version of the classic PacMan game on scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/13701368/)

 

This year, I've been teaching them programming in Python which is a legitimate general purpose programming language in its own right, but the typing is a bit challenging for the 9 yo.  The book I've been teaching them from is "Hello World" (http://www.amazon.com/Hello-World-Computer-Programming-Beginners/dp/1933988495/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1392487843&sr=8-2&keywords=hello+world+python).

 

Another computer language that is fun to teach and play with that I like a lot is called Processing (http://processing.org/), just like Scratch, Alice and Python, Processing is free to download.  Processing is a derivative of Java and geared towards designers and graphic artists, so the syntax is simplified a bit and the graphic libraries are quite rich.  My kids like how you can create some impressive graphics pretty quickly and without too much code.  An absolutely excellent resource I found for learning Processing is "Fun Programming" (http://funprogramming.org/), which has nearly 150 online lessons.  The reason I love this site is that:

•    Lessons are easy to digest in periods of 30-45 minutes
•    Each lesson has a Khan academy-like video lecture to introduce the concepts and explain how the program should work.
•    The website has a coding section that allows you to do programming right in the website without installing any external software for about 90% of the lessons.  Some lessons still require using the processing programming enviornment that is free, but requires a download and install.

All in all, I think teaching computer programming is an excellent way of teaching logic, critical thinking and problem solving skills to kids and also help them to exercise creativity and perseverence through problems and setbacks. In our modern, highly technological world, it is also important to understand what technology does, how it works and understand its limitations.  To a novice, an iPad game may seem remarkable, but if you've ever tried to program yourself, you rapidly realize that aside from being able to do calculations rapidly without getting tired, computers are incredibly stupid -- the only reason a useful app or program exists is because a person, or team of people wrote the logic to get the computer to do its task. If you haven't tried coding yourself, I'd suggest giving it a try, you just might love it.

[IrishMum]

JadeOrchidSong, great post, and I love Banana War ;)

 

I agree with everything you have said. Scratch is a great place to start. As a parent you DO NOT need to be a coder, it is easy, but educational. My youngest has been using it since he was 8, totally independently, along with the book http://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Programming-Adventure-Covers-Version/dp/1593275315/ref=dp_ob_title_bk (new version of what we have).

Form Scratch there are so many avenues to take, my hubby will write a bit on our blog about our choices, but it is great to see all of these choices I hadn't heard about. There is no one right way to learn to code.

Thanks for the ling to Processing (http://processing.org/), It looks great!

lprstn, thanks for that list, more resources to check out!

 

[IrishMum]

I thought you guys might like to see a short video my son made, he is writing a review of Scratch:

 

 

[lovemykids]

I'm planning on making cs a regular subject in our homeschool, starting with first grade.  My plan for this next year is to use the Kodable app and resources that go along with it (Kodable is the company that made the infographic in the op's post) and hopefully this amazing-looking Kickstarter book: Craft Computer.  I really wish the kickstarter book was getting more press, because it really looks good for 1st or 2nd grade.  Then we'll likely move on to Scratch or Hopscotch.

 

You know, there are so many apps for this! I just got a bunch for my youngest on our iPad.

 

Hello, I'm the father of a 11 and 9 year old and although my wife is the primary instructor, I teach them piano and computer programming when I'm not wokring as an IT professional.

 

For children (and adults) of all ages, I can't recommend Scratch enough (http://scratch.mit.edu/).  It is great for kids because the code consists of drag and drop blocks that fit together like legos and very little typing and no obscure syntax is involved.  Most important, it is fun and highly interactive.  This is an example of a simple game I built in a few minutes (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/2246684/). 

This the project my 9 year old did 2 years ago whithout any help from me (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/2567898/).

 

Although Scratch may seem simplistic and childish by the stacking blocks, it is important to understand the same logic and program flow structures are fundamentally identical to the same kind of logic used in programming in serious programming languages like Java, C# and C++.

 

I've played around with Alice, but didn't like it that much.  It is nice that it allows programmers to build 3D animations, but scratch is much more interactive.  For example, here is a version of the classic PacMan game on scratch (http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/13701368/)

 

This year, I've been teaching them programming in Python which is a legitimate general purpose programming language in its own right, but the typing is a bit challenging for the 9 yo.  The book I've been teaching them from is "Hello World" (http://www.amazon.com/Hello-World-Computer-Programming-Beginners/dp/1933988495/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1392487843&sr=8-2&keywords=hello+world+python).

 

Another computer language that is fun to teach and play with that I like a lot is called Processing (http://processing.org/), just like Scratch, Alice and Python, Processing is free to download.  Processing is a derivative of Java and geared towards designers and graphic artists, so the syntax is simplified a bit and the graphic libraries are quite rich.  My kids like how you can create some impressive graphics pretty quickly and without too much code.  An absolutely excellent resource I found for learning Processing is "Fun Programming" (http://funprogramming.org/), which has nearly 150 online lessons.  The reason I love this site is that:

•    Lessons are easy to digest in periods of 30-45 minutes
•    Each lesson has a Khan academy-like video lecture to introduce the concepts and explain how the program should work.
•    The website has a coding section that allows you to do programming right in the website without installing any external software for about 90% of the lessons.  Some lessons still require using the processing programming enviornment that is free, but requires a download and install.

All in all, I think teaching computer programming is an excellent way of teaching logic, critical thinking and problem solving skills to kids and also help them to exercise creativity and perseverence through problems and setbacks. In our modern, highly technological world, it is also important to understand what technology does, how it works and understand its limitations.  To a novice, an iPad game may seem remarkable, but if you've ever tried to program yourself, you rapidly realize that aside from being able to do calculations rapidly without getting tired, computers are incredibly stupid -- the only reason a useful app or program exists is because a person, or team of people wrote the logic to get the computer to do its task. If you haven't tried coding yourself, I'd suggest giving it a try, you just might love it.

My kids did Alice as well, but they didn’t seem to like it as much as Scratch. 

Thanks for your informative post and for giving us more ideas to play around with.

 

 

I thought you guys might like to see a short video my son made, he is writing a review of Scratch:

 

Excellent!

[IrishMum]

I'm planning on making cs a regular subject in our homeschool, starting with first grade.  My plan for this next year is to use the Kodable app and resources that go along with it (Kodable is the company that made the infographic in the op's post) and hopefully this amazing-looking Kickstarter book: Craft Computer.  I really wish the kickstarter book was getting more press, because it really looks good for 1st or 2nd grade.  Then we'll likely move on to Scratch or Hopscotch.

 

We looked at Kodable, free version, and didn't think it was worth the spend for the full version, but I would love to hear how you go with it.

 

Craft Computer looks interesting!

[MeaganS]

I'm also interested to see code.org's K-2 (and 3th-5th grade) computer science curriculum that is coming out this spring.  http://code.org/educate/curriculum

[lovemykids]

I'm also interested to see code.org's K-2 (and 3th-5th grade) computer science curriculum that is coming out this spring.  http://code.org/educate/curriculum

 

Oh yes, I heard about this through Discovery Education. Great resource! Thanks again for the app idea. :thumbup:

[4ofus]

Here's a link to a Scratch class my kids will take this summer.  I have the Super Scratch book, but my youngest got stuck at one point & I wasn't able to help him.  I'm going to let him do the online course so he will have a knowledgeable facilitator & a peer group to puzzle it out with.  

 

http://www.fundafunda.com/coursespage

 

We've done her free Intro to Programming course & she is one of our co-op teachers irl.  She's a great teacher.

 

Thanks op for this thread.

[JadeOrchidSong]

Hi IrishMum,

  Just to show you how powerful Processing is, the following example is a simulation of a well-known computer algorithm called "boids" used to simulate flocking of birds, fish, insects, etc.  This example in processing simulates 150 flocking entities - click w/ mouse to add more, but if you add too many, it will really slow down -- it is not animation but simulation.  Something like this is probably over the heads of middle school students but ambitious HS students could probably do some very cool stuff -- especially if they can build examples using principles of Newtonian Physics.

http://processing.org/examples/flocking.html


 

[IrishMum]

Hi IrishMum,

  Just to show you how powerful Processing is, the following example is a simulation of a well-known computer algorithm called "boids" used to simulate flocking of birds, fish, insects, etc.  This example in processing simulates 150 flocking entities - click w/ mouse to add more, but if you add too many, it will really slow down -- it is not animation but simulation.  Something like this is probably over the heads of middle school students but ambitious HS students could probably do some very cool stuff -- especially if they can build examples using principles of Newtonian Physics.

http://processing.org/examples/flocking.html

 

 

 

 

Thanks JadeOrchidSong, that is really cool. I will show my kids tomorrow.

[madteaparty]

We are losers in this house. Scratch is most definately not as easy to us as it seems to be for everyone else.

I spent a good half hour last night figuring out how to download onto my computer "resources" from the scratch book, and even longer figuring out how to upload them onto his game. I am of moderate intelligence and a somewhat functioning member of society, too :)

We will keep at it and I appreciate all the resources.

[IrishMum]

We are losers in this house. Scratch is most definately not as easy to us as it seems to be for everyone else.

I spent a good half hour last night figuring out how to download onto my computer "resources" from the scratch book, and even longer figuring out how to upload them onto his game. I am of moderate intelligence and a somewhat functioning member of society, too :)

We will keep at it and I appreciate all the resources.

 

Do keep at it!! The set up is often the hardest part, when you let you children lose on it you might see a big change :) Fingers Crossed!

[Woodhaven]

We are losers in this house. Scratch is most definately not as easy to us as it seems to be for everyone else.

I spent a good half hour last night figuring out how to download onto my computer "resources" from the scratch book, and even longer figuring out how to upload them onto his game. I am of moderate intelligence and a somewhat functioning member of society, too :)

We will keep at it and I appreciate all the resources.

It's worth it!  : )

 

Do keep at it!! The set up is often the hardest part, when you let you children lose on it you might see a big change :) Fingers Crossed!

Agreeing.  It's amazing what kids can figure out for themselves - and much faster than what I could do in the same time!!

[IrishMum]

Here is the second part of the series of posts my husband is writing, http://airskull.com/learning-to-code-with-scratch/. It's a look at Scratch for the novice.

[lovemykids]

Thanks...and could you also post the actual web address? :lurk5:

 

 

lovemykids, sure, here it is http://airskull.com/coding-for-kids/

BTW, I don't click on links here anymore due to having contracted one too many viruses! In case you were wondering... :lol:

 

And to the other poster that stated she was having trouble installing scratch...that is the hardest part, promise! :laugh: Enjoy!

[IrishMum]

BTW, I don't click on links here anymore due to having contracted one too many viruses! In case you were wondering... :lol:

 

And to the other poster that stated she was having trouble installing scratch...that is the hardest part, promise! :laugh: Enjoy!

 

I was wondering lovemykids, haha!! Good to know!

[lovemykids]

I was wondering lovemykids, haha!! Good to know!

 

Oh my gosh, that is soo funny. :laugh: 

 

For anyone reading this…. My son made an awesome game in an online class at Youth Digital. They are a little pricey, but worth it (look for sales at HSBCo-op). (I thought I would provide the link for anyone who hadn't heard of them...even though they were mentioned in an earlier post ;)) I do recommend them!

 

ETA- (click at your own risk) LOL

 

[IrishMum]

 

ETA- (click at your own risk) LOL

 

Haha, I took my chances!!!

 

Thanks for the link :)

[IrishMum]

For the people that don't understand what coding/programming is, my husband wrote a post to try to explain it: http://airskull.com/learning-to-code-but-first-what-is-programming/

 

I hope you find it useful :)

[IrishMum]

This week we tell you about JavaScript: http://airskull.com/learn-to-code-javascript/

[IrishMum]

Another post in the series http://airskull.com/learn-code-python/

[mliss]

nm

 

I found my answer in the high school forum.

 

[Jackie]

On 2/15/2014 at 12:05 AM, domestic_engineer said:

 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Jackie
N/m. Didn’t realize this was a zombie thread.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Zombie spam