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Re: [school-discuss] ISO: Good programming language to teach an 8yrold

I'm sure that I'm going to get in trouble for this...but you might want to check out a speech that will be online and streaming from a recent conference I attended (Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning--MACUL)

What is "Squeak"?
Presenter(s): Alan Kay
Length: 1 Hours, 9 Minutes, 30 Seconds

You will need to use Windows to view the streaming...

Go to:
http://www.macul.org/

and click on the streaming link on that page. You'll find Alan Kay's speech about the Squeak environment which has been brought up on this list before and runs on a ton of OS's. I'm thinking it has real possibilities for our district.

Of course, you could go to:
http://www.squeakland.org

and get more information there.

--
Stephen Braunius
Director of Instructional Technology
Zeeland Public Schools - http://www.zeeland.k12.mi.us
Zeeland, Michigan



Bill Kendrick wrote:

Back when I was 8 years old (about 20 years ago now!), I programmed in
BASIC on my Timex Sinclair 1000 and Atari 1200XL computers.

Today, I've been asked to tutor a very smart (but currently far
too Windows-saavy for his and his parents' own good) 8 year old kid.

He's got a Pentium (which doesn't work, and it sounds like Windows is
broken), and I'm thinking of installing Linux for him. (He's used it before,
and likes what he's seen.) I think he's ready to start picking up
programming, as it will provide him with a creative outlet for all that
computer geek energy he has.


What's a good, kid-friendly language for today's kids to use (on Linux,
of course!)?

I've though about picking up some Python and passing my knowledge on to him,
but of course I'd rather ask the educators and other experts on various
mailing lists for suggestions, since many of you have already dealt with
this problem before.

:^)

Thanks in advance!

-bill!
bill@newbreedsoftware.com Check out the new, improved Tux Paint site!
http://newbreedsoftware.com/bill/ http://newbreedsoftware.com/tuxpaint/