Coding for kids

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leonb

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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.
 
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.
 
Check out apps like Lightbot and Mimo. Available on PlayStore.
 
www.apple.com

Swift Playground - Apple Developer

Swift Playground is a revolutionary app for iPad and Mac that helps you learn and explore coding in Swift, the same powerful language used to create world-class apps for the App Store.
www.apple.com www.apple.com

Another option for getting kids into programming.
 
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.
www.udemy.com

Teach Your Kids to Code: Learn to Program Python at Any Age!

Short, colorful apps and games you can use to teach and learn programming at any age! Chromebook, PC, Mac and Linux!
www.udemy.com 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.
 
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.
 
Any recommendations on "in person" training, one-to-one or classes. Durbanville area.
 
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

 
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”).
 
leonb said:
Any recommendations on "in person" training, one-to-one or classes. Durbanville area.
Click to expand...
*Bump*

Also looking for suggestions on coding classes for kids in the Jhb area.
 
Look at kodu. you build worlds an objects and program interactions between them. At that age the 1st hurdle to cross is logical thinking. Not so much syntax. The cool thing is that you can play the characters as a game. Even on you xbox
 
If you have an iPad or Mac then Swift Playgrounds is really an excellent start.
 
Great thread!

Mine (9 and 8) are very interested in electronics (they love to solder things) - so I was thinking of getting them an Arduino starter kit and combining coding and electronics.
 
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