Coding for kids

[leonb]

I need some advice on "coding" for children.

My son (8 years old) is showing some interest in computers and coding, and doing quite well in maths at this stage.

He took a number of remote private coding classes during last year from an engineering guy doing his masters degree. He spend quite some time on the logic/math side of it, and my son were able to to understand and apply complicated concepts for his age. They used Scratch and later "Anaconda". Unfortunately the guy got permanent work and is unable to continue with the classes.

What would be the best options here to continue to learn and see where it leads? Should I look for more structured coding classes that follows a curriculum, or some alternative teaching method like private classes from someone. I dont have the coding knowledge to teach him.

 

[Nerfherder]

Khan Academy has some kid coding classes that he can take

 

[JohnStarr]

Khan Academy has some kid coding classes that he can take

Picked up on this, thanks very much!

 

[cguy]

Or even just a beginner online courses for Python. My suggestion is to also target a specific application so that he doesn’t lose interest. I wanted to make games, so I learned to program games. I was well past wanting to make games by the time I was 12 or so, but it motivated me from 7 onwards, where I really didn’t have any other programming interests.

 

[|tera|]

Check out apps like Lightbot and Mimo. Available on PlayStore.

 

[SlinkyMike]

My eight year old has had loads of fun with Scratch. Very good for that age group.

 

[|tera|]

My eight year old has had loads of fun with Scratch. Very good for that age group.

There's ScratchJr on PlayStore as well.

 

[Umlungu Ingulube]

Swift Playgrounds

Swift Playgrounds is an app for iPad that teaches you to write Swift code in a fun, interactive way. Program robots and drones directly from the app.

www.apple.com

Another option for getting kids into programming.

 

[Magandroid]

There is a book called Teach your Kids to Code by Prof Bryson Payne and he teaches Python programming to kids. I think he also offers classes, (not in SA unfortunately) where he teaches kids to code and the whole course and book was designed around when he was teaching his own little kids. The book can be found locally and is not very expensive. Can't remember where I bought it though. Anyway there is also an interactive online course for kids through Udemy which is partly based on the same book. My kid seems to be enjoying it.

Teach Your Kids to Code: Learn Python Programming at Any Age

Short, colorful apps and games you & your child can program right away, for ages 5 to 95! Chromebook, PC, Mac and Linux!

www.udemy.com

This is a review by a Python programmer about the book: Teach your Kids to Code: Review​

And here is a TEDx talk by Prof Bryson Payne

Have a look. It might be of interest to you.

 

[Shellyb1]

https://www.code.org is great for young kids - especially if they like Minecraft and StarWars. My some (8) and my daughter (5) do the exercises and what is great is that they get a certificate at the end of some of them.

I printed them and they love it.

My daughter complains now that the courses for her age group are two easy now. So will also look through the rest of the posts for other options.

 

[backstreetboy]

Raspberry Pi

 

[leonb]

Any recommendations on "in person" training, one-to-one or classes. Durbanville area.

 

[Nod]

PythonTurtle

pythonturtle.org

Teach kids Python by building an interactive game

Python has earned a reputation as a wonderful beginner programming language. But where does one begin? One of my favorite ways to get people interested in programming is by writing games. PursuedPyBear (ppb) is a game programming library optimized for teaching, and I recently used it to teach my...

opensource.com

Online Coding Classes for Kids & Teens | CodeWizardsHQ

Online coding academy for kids and teens ages 8-18. Enroll to learn real-world programming languages like Python, Java, HTML/CSS, JavaScript & more!

codewizardshq.com

 

[Barbarian Conan]

If I had a kid, they would have had a DJI tello. It's probably a bit more basic than what he's already learned

 

[cguy]

Just one point I think may be worth making: It’s kid dependent of course, but some kids may get put off by the dumbing down of some of these kids courses. Consider both the material and the presentation in this regard.

Back in the 80’s Usborne had a Machine Code Programming book for kids for example (assembler really isn’t that hard for a kid to understand).

Personally, I taught myself Basic when I was 6 or 7 from the manual that came with the computer, then Pascal/C/Assembler from 10-14. No adult teaching me. I did definitely benefited by hanging out with like minded friends who were doing the same, so I would encourage that. The “coding for kids” in the early 80’s was typically Logo, which was taught at school and was also terribly boring in comparison (felt like I was “being taught” vs “I was discovering”).

 

[Umlungu Ingulube]

Learn to Code for Free – Grasshopper

Grasshopper is the coding app for beginners. With fun, quick lessons on your phone, the app teaches adult learners to write real JavaScript.

grasshopper.app