[CLUE-Talk] Teaching Linux and/or programming to kids

[Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier]

Hi Dale, 
 
> What I am really seeking is a curriculum which would be appropriate
> for a nine-year-old boy.  He is bright, but has the attention span of
> a typical nine-year-old.  I have done a little searching on the net,
> but have not stumbled upon much that I like.

I'm not sure a nine-year-old is quite ready for programming -- at least not
unless he has an interest in programming. (I'm sure there are people on the CLUE
list who probably started tinkering with computers at an early age, but I doubt
they were pressed into it...) 

It may be best to give your nephew access to a Linux system and see if he
develops an interest. When he sees something he wants to change/modify, etc,
then show him how, guide him when he needs help and show him the tools (man
pages, Google, etc.) to solve his own problems. 

Obviously, I didn't have access to Linux (or a home computer...) when I was
nine. My overriding interests were reading and Star Wars. My parents didn't
force me to sit down and read, I did so because I enjoyed it -- and whenever I'd
ask "what does this [any word I'd stumble on in a new book that I didn't
understand] mean?" my father would point me at the dictionary. That's not quite
the same as an interest in computers/programming, but I'm sure if I'd had a
computer handy when I was nine I would have been off and running -- but not if
my parents purposely tried to teach me programming. If my parents had tried to
sit me down to read specific books every day, I probably would have avoided
reading like the plague. 

Another thing that might be helpful is to limit his television. Most kids I've
met will spend all day watching TV if they can -- and few activities are
compelling enough to drive them away from the TV on their own. I was limited to
one or two hours a day when I was a kid, and so I spent a lot of time on other
stuff... not sure I would have spent so much time reading or drawing if I had
been able to watch as much TV as I wanted. 

> Ideally, I think a step-by-step recipe might work best.  There needs
> to be some gratification along the way.  I am trying to instill in him
> the idea of delayed gratification, but he needs goals along the way or
> he will become disinterested.
> 
> Any suggestions?

Give him the equipment to learn, and see if he develops an interest. If he
doesn't, no amount of planning will compensate for that. At least, that's been
my experience with my younger brothers... 

It might be helpful to explain some of the neat things he could do if he learned
Linux/programming, but he has to want to do it on his own. If he develops an
interest on his own, he'll probably learn what he needs on his own -- though you
might make sure he has a good book on the language he wants to learn.

You might start him off with some games created with PyGame
(http://www.pygame.org/) and then let slip that he could write his own games
using PyGame... 

Zonker
-- 
Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier -=- jzb at dissociatedpress.net
http://www.DissociatedPress.net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world 
and moral courage so rare." ~ Mark Twain