Anyone using Python for FIRST programming this year?

[madteaparty]

We just switched and I ’m trying to find something that can help me help her become more comfortable with the program. Many thanks 

[daijobu]

Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Michael Dawson is a terrific book that will step you through the language.  You will only need to study the first half of the book, through OOP to get nearly all of python.  

[madteaparty]

9 minutes ago, daijobu said:

Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner by Michael Dawson is a terrific book that will step you through the language.  You will only need to study the first half of the book, through OOP to get nearly all of python.  

I just ordered this based on a post you made on another thread 🙏 looks like I’m learning Python, lol.’

[daijobu]

I thought it was terrific.  LMK if you need help, but if you have some programming experience already it should be a breeze.

[madteaparty]

1 minute ago, daijobu said:

I thought it was terrific.  LMK if you need help, but if you have some programming experience already it should be a breeze.

I have no such thing. She does though, so she might help me help her 🤣

[Matt Layman]

I'll be teaching my son Python starting in January. We're going to use Coding for Beginners Using Python by Louie Stowell. My wife bought the book after doing some research. We don't have any experience yet to know if it's any good.

I'm a software engineer who has been using Python professionally since 2007 so I'm pretty well positioned to determine the quality of the material from a developer's point of view. I can report back later with my experience with my son to tell if the material is effective or not for learning the language.

I may be able to provide some tips as well based on what I learn from teaching him. I've taught professionals Python, but educating my child about Python will be a fairly new adventure. Well, mostly new adventure... I did a Python project with him back when he was 6 (and wrote about the experience on Teaching a kid to code with Pygame Zero). My now 9 year old son tells me that he doesn't remember much of anything about the coding part of that project.

[madteaparty]

5 hours ago, Matt Layman said:

I'll be teaching my son Python starting in January. We're going to use Coding for Beginners Using Python by Louie Stowell. My wife bought the book after doing some research. We don't have any experience yet to know if it's any good.

I'm a software engineer who has been using Python professionally since 2007 so I'm pretty well positioned to determine the quality of the material from a developer's point of view. I can report back later with my experience with my son to tell if the material is effective or not for learning the language.

I may be able to provide some tips as well based on what I learn from teaching him. I've taught professionals Python, but educating my child about Python will be a fairly new adventure. Well, mostly new adventure... I did a Python project with him back when he was 6 (and wrote about the experience on Teaching a kid to code with Pygame Zero). My now 9 year old son tells me that he doesn't remember much of anything about the coding part of that project.

So as someone who has never set eyes on a piece of code ever, is there an intermediate book or whatever tutorial that will get me from Python in these two books in this thread, to Python as used in the FLL environment? And if that question is stupid, well, I warned you. 
 

[Matt Layman]

I'm not totally sure how to answer your question, but I'll try 😀. I didn't know what FLL meant until my wife explained to me today that it means First Language Lessons.

I paged through the book that I referenced above and can say that it's pretty clearly targeting children. Loads of silly pictures and graphics make the basic concepts pretty approachable as best I can tell. So, as far I can guess what "FLL environment" means, I think the book is going to cover it for my educational desires for my son.

If you're looking for other supplementary material that might prepare you, as the educator, I can offer up Automate the Boring Stuff with Python. I've taught many people in my local community Python (I'm the organizer for my local Python meetup in Frederick, MD), and this is the book that I recommend to adults. The book is free to read online, the first third covers an introduction to the language, and the other two thirds are practical examples for a variety of scenarios. I don't think the material would be interesting to my 9 year old because covers things like automating working with spreadsheets, but it's definitely a solid way for an adult to gain an understanding of the language (with practical skills to boot!).

[Matryoshka]

2 minutes ago, Matt Layman said:

I'm not totally sure how to answer your question, but I'll try 😀. I didn't know what FLL meant until my wife explained to me today that it means First Language Lessons.

I paged through the book that I referenced above and can say that it's pretty clearly targeting children. Loads of silly pictures and graphics make the basic concepts pretty approachable as best I can tell. So, as far I can guess what "FLL environment" means, I think the book is going to cover it for my educational desires for my son.

😄 While FLL can mean that, in this context I'm pretty sure it refers to FIRST Lego League, a robotics/programming competition for kids.

[Matt Layman]

Ah! Thanks! That makes more sense to me now. Since Python is a programming language, First Language Lessons seemed like a reasonable guess (though I'm not personally inclined to think of programming languages much like spoken languages).

If FIRST Lego League is the definition that was intended, I'm of little to no help as I know nothing about that community/program.

[Matryoshka]

6 hours ago, madteaparty said:

So as someone who has never set eyes on a piece of code ever, is there an intermediate book or whatever tutorial that will get me from Python in these two books in this thread, to Python as used in the FLL environment? And if that question is stupid, well, I warned you. 
 

My dd did Robotics from FLL in middle school to FTC in high school, and Robotics club in college.   She is now a professional programmer.  Another one of my dds did FRC (but ended up on the business side and is now an accountant! 😅)

Anyhow, I've got some familiarity... I don't believe any of the FIRST programs use Python!  I'm fairly sure that FLL uses some kind of drag and drop programming language based on SCRATCH.  The high school programs use I think Java and/or maybe something called RobotC?  

Python is a great langauge to learn, though.   Learning one language does help learn others, as they're all based on the same foundational logic.  I got my dd a book rec'd here years ago called Snake Wrangling for Kids.  Appears to be available for free download at that link - it's meant to self-teach Python to kids step-by-step from the beginning.

[Matryoshka]

14 minutes ago, Matt Layman said:

Ah! Thanks! That makes more sense to me now. Since Python is a programming language, First Language Lessons seemed like a reasonable guess (though I'm not personally inclined to think of programming languages much like spoken languages).

If FIRST Lego League is the definition that was intended, I'm of little to no help as I know nothing about that community/program.

If you want to get your kid interested in programming, you should look into the FIRST programs.  They're a great way to get your kid excited about programming and other tech/STEM stuff.

[madteaparty]

15 minutes ago, Matryoshka said:

My dd did Robotics from FLL in middle school to FTC in high school, and Robotics club in college.   She is now a professional programmer.  Another one of my dds did FRC (but ended up on the business side and is now an accountant! 😅)

Anyhow, I've got some familiarity... I don't believe any of the FIRST programs use Python!  I'm fairly sure that FLL uses some kind of drag and drop programming language based on SCRATCH.  The high school programs use I think Java and/or maybe something called RobotC?  

Python is a great langauge to learn, though.   Learning one language does help learn others, as they're all based on the same foundational logic.  I got my dd a book rec'd here years ago called Snake Wrangling for Kids.  Appears to be available for free download at that link - it's meant to self-teach Python to kids step-by-step from the beginning.

There is a python…extension? Environment? for FIRST now(or maybe it always existed. I just learned of it). Our team just switched to it because each kid has a task to program and it’s easier to send pieces of code around to be integrated into the touring program. I guess they went into “visual studio” and downloaded a Python version? of Lego Mindstorms language (called just that). 
 

[Matryoshka]

Just now, madteaparty said:

There is a python…extension? Environment? for FIRST now(or maybe it always existed. I just learned of it). Our team just switched to it because each kid has a task to program and it’s easier to send pieces of code around to be integrated into the touring program. I guess they went into “visual studio” and downloaded a Python version? of Lego Mindstorms language (called just that). 
 

Well... it has been years since dd was in FLL.  Like... a decade?  So things could well have changed.  Oy, I'm old.  👵