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

[Kevin Cullis]

I remember an article in Linux Journal that described the poorest
sectino of India and the results of giving no education to any of the
kids and, while they didn't know the "correct term" of what things were,
they were able to figure things out.  Don't remember much of it, but
it's been within a year or so.

Kevin

On Wed, 2003-11-19 at 09:18, Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier wrote:
> 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
-- 
Kevin Cullis
8285 S Poplar Way
Centennial, CO 80112
720-489-9283