> But don't discount the potential of throwing a young child at a computer with > only non-child software on it, and let them figure out > how to do what they want, much on their own. That's how the early-1980s > home computer kids got started, and that worked out pretty well. Survivorship bias? I mostly learnt how to pirate games on 8 bit hw. Not sure it is a skill I'd recommend. S. On Sun, 28 May 2017 at 07:06, Neil Van Dyke <n...@neilvandyke.org> wrote:
> Have you looked at HtDP? I'm guessing it's still too "old" for any 10yo > (you might have to wait until 12, at least), but worth a look, so you > have some sense when to introduce it later. > > One option is to make this constructionist self-directed, with a > helper. Specifically, find out something he wants to start making or > doing first, and have older brother give him pointers on how to get > started. For example, if he wants to start playing with graphics, older > brother can show him how to minimally operate DrRacket, an example of > graphics, how to modify it, and where's some documentation for doing > other things with graphics. Then brother is available occasionally for > questions and tips (say, he wants to draw a car, and this car has 2 > wheels, and brother might show him how do abstract that into a > `draw-wheel` procedure, even though the kid has probably not yet been > exposed to any algebra (he doesn't have to understand variables, to > start modifying an example, and incidentally starting to learn some > algebra without being explicitly told about it). And lots of unattended > time to figure things out and play on his own. > > Similar with animations, music, games. > > Maybe get a friend or two of the same age also learning this way, so > they can learn from and inspire each other, work on things together, > etc. But be careful that all of them stay encouraged, and you don't get > a situation like one of them getting a head start and consequently > feeling like they're "good at this", and the other feeling like they're > "bad at this", which are self-fulfilling perceptions. > > There are also language platforms specifically designed for young > children. But don't discount the potential of throwing a young child at > a computer with only non-child software on it, and let them figure out > how to do what they want, much on their own. That's how the early-1980s > home computer kids got started, and that worked out pretty well. Just > keep nudging towards increasing technical sophistication, as the child > is ready. (And keep child away from modern Web programmer talk as long > as possible, to avoid rotting brain during a crucial formative period. :) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Racket Users" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to racket-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Kind regards, Stephen -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Racket Users" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to racket-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
