stupidusername Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 He began Scratch last week, and he loves it. Every chance he gets, he's programming -- not because I ask him to but because he enjoys it. I would love to see him continue to develop as a programmer. He will probably become proficient in Scratch fairly quickly -- perhaps a few months (or maybe even a few weeks?). What do you think he should do next? I could start him on an "adult" language like javascript or Python but these languages get really hard pretty quickly, especially for an 11-year old kid who hasn't yet taken Algebra. I worry that he will get frustrated and quit. Thoughts? Advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiara.I Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Khan Academy just started (yesterday?) their Hour Of Code, which has a few different options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzaroni Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Lightbot if you haven't tried it already. Stencyl - I haven't tried this one yet. Code Monster. Just google - sorry for not having links (phone). ^and we did Khan today - pretty fun for my 4th grader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Code.org has quite a few tutorials, including a 20 hour computer science course. My kids love scratch, too. But they've found plenty of other things to try and stay busy with through the Code.org website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Definitely use some of the hour of code tutorials! And btw 11 Is not too young at all and he doesn't need algebra. My son at 11 was programming in about 5 languages! And he didn't know algebra. Allow your son to enjoy scratch as long as he wants- the thinking skills it creates will last his whole life. When he is ready hour of code code.org is the next step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jens2sons Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 My Ds17 started getting really serious about computers at about this age. Sometimes allowing him to explore on his own and find what he is interested works the best. Give him old computers to take apart and try to fix too. However, with that said, my ds17 started using Code Academy and has learned more than his highschool teachers could even teach him. Because he wants to work for Google doing computer programming, we decided to move him into a program that he has more opportunity to get the education he needs in the computer science field. Now that we have moved him over to the community college to finish up his highschool requirements, he has found that he is going to have to take those courses (that he could probably help the professor teach) because of college prerequisites. I really dont see this as a problem, but it has made me realize that ds really has what it takes because we continued to encourage him and allowed him to search for resources that may interest him in this area as well. He has now been hired on with the city internet provider at the age of 17 because he knows how to handle computers professionally and is working there as their paid intern. Keep up the encouragement! Here's the link: http://www.codecademy.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jens2sons Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I almost forgot about this resource on the Homeschool Buyers Co-op. They have the Homeschool Programming for Kids & Teens program. Here's the link: https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/homeschool-programming/?source=118923 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Just wanted to agree with the code academy recommendation. My ds learned his basics there. Has gone on to coursera and other classes online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 My kids have enjoyed the Youth Digital courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MEmama Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 My son has completed HTML and CSS on Fort Hunt Parent.com http://www.forthuntparent.com/academy/HTMLLogin.cfm After taking a break with JavaScript, which just doesn't speak to him, he has only a few lessons left and will then go on to HTML 5. The first course (HTML) is free and the following courses are very reasonable. DS highly recommends it. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I'm not into programming, so apologies if this is not on target. It's a list of resources for the Boy Scout Programing merit badge. Lots of free stuff. http://boyslife.org/section/about-scouts/merit-badge-resources/programming/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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