Kids and Coding

[LiveLean]

I've been on a quest to make our sons (12 and 9) creators rather than consumers of content. We've had mixed success with learn-to-code programs. Scratch and Code.org were great basic stuff. I had high hopes for Youth Digital, especially with its learn-to-code-with-java-via-Minecraft system. But this just inspired our guys to play more Minecraft. (Anyone else want to take a trip to Finland with me to punch those guys in the face? Just kidding. Traveling to Finland is expensive.)

Has anyone had success with other online learn-to-code programs for kids, summer camps, or even the type of learn-to-code bootcamps currently offered to adults? (Admittedly, those are intense, full-time, $10,000-plus programs for those looking to make career changes, but I'd consider the kid summer equivalent, if there were such a thing, hopefully for less money.)

[Lkxe]

When my now twenty year old was 10 we sent him to an ID Tech camp on Stanford's campus and another community center based day camp. I know the community center here has computer camps but I don't know the intensity. This is last years list but you could check the links. https://www.kidscodecs.com/resources/technology-summer-camps-kids/#US

[Jack]

Did your kids enjoy the coding activities they've already done? Do they have graphing calculators that they write little BASIC programs on? Do you find them experimenting with Linux, Python, or other such geeky things on their own? Do they beg you to buy them Arduinos or programmable Legos or things like that?

If they are, then by all means, help them get the technological stuff they're asking for, and they'll teach themselves (or they'll find a class/camp and ask you to send them there).

If not, then they're not coders. Find something else useful for them to learn that they're more interested in, like music or finance or carpentry.

[NeuroPlastic]

You can lead a horse to water...
I think the best approach for something like this is to make the resources available to them (+1 on Jack's arduino suggestion).  It may interest them, it may not.  It may take a day, a year, or might never come. Forcing it on them won't help.  Keeping their environment resource-rich in many domains allows them to develop themselves, and puts them on a course for "self-actualization", i.e. a good life.

[zolotiyeruki]

Another thought is Lego Mindstorms--a nice (but expensive!) combination of coding and building.

[rocksinmyhead]

Did your kids enjoy the coding activities they've already done? Do they have graphing calculators that they write little BASIC programs on? Do you find them experimenting with Linux, Python, or other such geeky things on their own? Do they beg you to buy them Arduinos or programmable Legos or things like that?

If they are, then by all means, help them get the technological stuff they're asking for, and they'll teach themselves (or they'll find a class/camp and ask you to send them there).

If not, then they're not coders. Find something else useful for them to learn that they're more interested in, like music or finance or carpentry.

I don't have kids but this sounds right to me... if they like it I think they can learn it using pretty much whatever. My dad's a programmer and he bought me kids' books on coding in BASIC when I was little, then we moved on up to "Visual Basic for Dummies." It was awesome and super fun, and I'm not a professional computer geek today but it did help me out when I coded in MATLAB in grad school.

[MayDay]

Has anyone bought the lego mindstorm stuff?

DS did a camp and loved it, but they are so expensive.  Are there deals?

[zolotiyeruki]

Has anyone bought the lego mindstorm stuff?

DS did a camp and loved it, but they are so expensive.  Are there deals?

Sadly, Lego stuff is one of those things that rarely gets discounted enough :(

[Catomi]

Your kids are probably old enough for this to be less interesting (plus it sounds like they already have some training), but for those with younger kids, this looks like fun: http://offbeatfamilies.com/2012/12/teaching-kids-to-program

I'm going to be trying it with my 4 year old soon. I'm thinking of making some paper tiles with the commands on them, so he doesn't have to draw them.

[BaldingStoic]

Good for you to encourage coding.  Scratch and Code.org are booth good sites.  I'm also a huge fan of Khan Academy, which has some great coding tutorials (led by a woman!!!).  Your kids may also be old enough to take a coding MOOC (from Coursera, Udacity, or edX).  Look for one by David Malan (harvard cs50), he's young, energetic and highly charismatic. 

[gt7152b]

Has anyone bought the lego mindstorm stuff?

DS did a camp and loved it, but they are so expensive.  Are there deals?

Yes, I chipped in $100 to help my son buy one. I wanted him to wait until a little older but he was convinced he needed it on his 8th birthday. You can save by getting an NXT vs the new model EV3 but after looking at the comparison the EV3 was worth the extra price. It was also nice seeing a big resale value on the obsolete model so we felt good about being able to recoup some cost later. We searched around online for one that was a little under MSRP.

It has been pretty good. My son really needs to learn more about coding because he mainly wants to build his own creations including programming the controller from scratch. There are several models to build from instructions which he's good at but lost interest in too soon.