omd21 Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 DD11 has been expressing curiosity about programming and robotics. I'm a humanities person and haven't the slightest clue on where to start looking for resources. She will have a pretty challenging schedule next year, starting Intro to Algebra in the fall, as well as a Latin class that will require additional study time. I'm hoping to find a way for her to learn programming in her spare time as a fun side project. Are there any courses / books / websites you could recommend? Also, what can she expect to accomplish learning programming at this age? (When I said I was clueless, I wasn't kidding.) :) Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underthebridge Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 Start at code.org! It's a good intro to what's out there. I'm sure others will be able to add much more to this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
songsparrow Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 I've been looking into video game design resources for my daughter (age 10). I've compiled a list of various resources to learn programming that might be helpful to you. As far as robotics go, we tried the Robotics Academy Summer of Learning at CS2N (free) last summer. We ended up having technical issues trying to run the software on a virtual machine on a Mac, and finally gave up. But if it had been working properly on a PC, I think it would have been a great course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mliss Posted June 28, 2014 Share Posted June 28, 2014 My 9-year old experimented with Scratch and then wanted more then click and drag. After Scratch he did Khan Academy's Introduction to JavaScript. Following Khan Academy he wanted more. However, I too, am a humanities person so, once DS decided to move on from Scratch and Khan Academy I wasn't sure where to go. Here are some websites we looked at: 3D graphics - one step up from Scratch: Alice Intro and advanced JavaScript: Khan Academy Web apps - Ruby: Codecademy Game design, apps and Minecraft mods with Java: Youth Digital Ruby, JavaScript, HTML/CSS & iOS: Code School Web Design: Home School Programming Derivative of Java: Fun Programming Codecademy for Python - step by step tutorial: Codecademy Python: Art of Problem Solving Article about Coding for Kids - good links and info about different programming options. After much online research and discussion with DS we finally came up with a plan. As we were deciding the questions that were valuable were: What do you want to do with programming? Games? Web design? Objects? Programming microprocessors? What format? Books? Video? Audio? Step by step or the ability to make mistakes? We discovered that DS wanted to create graphics, preferred video/audio instruction (he doesn't enjoy reading), and wanted a program that would allow him to play around and purposely make mistakes. That led us to Fun Programming and then Youth Digital. DS is also interested in programming micro controllers, possibly using Rasperberry Pi, so programming in Python is next on the list. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zenjenn Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 My 9 yr old is an aspiring programmer and has been learning programming for a year.. She's enjoyed Khan Academy, Scratch, Learnstreet.com, and Codecademy... she has a book she used for a while too - Python for Kids. Her new ABSOLUTE favorite thing is Youth Digital. She's doing Minecraft Mod Design class and just LOVES it. For Minecraft Mod Design she's writing in Java using Eclipse. What *I* like about it is they have very responsive team of folks who will answer kids' questions, because at this point she's exceeded my ability to help her. (My husband is an engineer and has the programming knowledge, but works long hours. He is impressed with Youth Digital as a learning tool for her from what he has seen.) She wants to do their App Design class next. Youth Digital is pricey, but we got a 40% off deal when Homeschool Buyers' Co-op ran a special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 This is where I send everyone who asks: http://www.forthuntparent.com/academy/HTMLFrontPage.cfm?CFID=3015900&CFTOKEN=447f06f422ad1c17-1DEEEC19-AA68-098E-E120CC3810A4C5D4 The first HTML course is free. DS has completed that and CSS and is now working on JavaScript. I cannot say enough good things about the classes or the instructor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omd21 Posted June 30, 2014 Author Share Posted June 30, 2014 Thank you all for the links. I'm going to visit them and see where it takes us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 My 10 year old ds is planning on using Blender. He also plans to start learning C++ coding this year. He didn't want to learn from a book, so he is learning through Youtube tutorials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnegurochkaL Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Hi, I have a child who is dreaming about robots all the time:) She is working with Arduino and Raspberry Pie based robots.There are a lot of books related to the subject. When I have more time I will list some of them. You can go with LegoMindstorms or Bioloid( more expensive ones) or some cheaper kits depending on a platform. There is also a VEX based robot which is reasonably priced. Let your child to sign up for a Summer robotics academy which is free. Even she/he doesn't have a robot, Robot Virtual World will work just fine without having a physical unit. It is free for a summer session(good until September 1st). We haven't started our "studies there" because my daughter has been waiting for EV3 based robotics classes but they have not been released yet. We might just try VEX curriculum this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahW Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Related - code.org's curriculum is still "coming." Grrr....I'm trying to get everything pulled together now for next year. So stuff it - for an interested 7yo, is it better to do the "Hour of Code" before the K-8 Intro course, or is it best to just jump into the Intro course? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merylvdm Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 I taught all my kids to program at a young age so an 11 year old is definitely capable of doing a lot. I teach programming at our co op and online and start with Scratch (developed by MIT). More powerful than Scratch but a similar idea is Alice (developed by Carnegie Mellon). I have also used that as a starting language. From there I move to Python - which I prefer as it is a "real" language. But Scratch is an easy and fun way to get started. MIT also has an App Builder which creates Android Apps in a similar way to creating Scratch programs. One word of caution: if you use Codeacademy to learn Python - that is an older version of Python (2.7.3) not version 3. It has quite a few differences and I would not recommend you use that to learn Python. I use http://cscircles.cemc.uwaterloo.ca/ as a supplement to my Python classes. The one thing I like about it is that it teaches the logic of programming - not just the syntax. That is the biggest problem I have with many of the online classes - it is easy to learn the programming language but not so easy to learn how to put a complex game or program together. Once students have learned some programming there are many other options available through Coursera and Udacity. I did one through Coursera that was through University of Toronto (I am trying out what is available) and would not recommend that as they jumped into advanced concepts and the class struggled. I am working through Udacity's Intro to Programming and like that much better but am not far enough along to give a decent critique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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