My daughter's school, one of Portland Public's is looking at maybe doing Scratch -> Squeak -> Alice pre Python (they don't always get to Python except with exceptional students as this school maxes out after 8th grade). I just learned this in a meeting this afternoon (I'm not the one making these decision).
I'm downloading Scratch right now to begin my evaluation. The more I understand about the Immersion Phase, the better will be my Pythonic bridges to high school algebra and geometry. If other subscribers to edu-sig have success stories using Scratch, I'd be interested in learning about 'em. Here's the web site for those new to this language (note Linux version in the works): http://scratch.mit.edu/ Note: according to the emerging sequence, languages like Scheme (LISP), J (R, APL), xBase (SQL), and system languages like the C family (Java, C#), M, would all tend to build on pre college Python skills acquired in mainstream math class (or from an elective track, if the state is antediluvian). Those Python skills would in turn build on an understanding of data and control structures acquired in more cartoony environments, with more emphasis on programming by dragging and dropping than on typing a lot of code. Kirby _______________________________________________ Edu-sig mailing list [email protected] http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
