I'm not a parent either, but I suspect that four might be a bit early for sticking the kid into a machine, but it's not too early to try to develop the logical mindset required for programming and math. Get ahold of Raymond Smullyan's collection of puzzles, "What Is the Name Of this Book?", and drop some of those on the kid from time to time. There are some simpler ones in there that I think a four-year-old could at least make a good stab at, and understand the solutions, and there are some that are more advanced that might try his patience, so you'll have to pick and choose, but you might enjoy that process yourself. Also handy is Martin Gardner's "Aha!". Again, it's a little advanced, but I don't think that's a big problem. If they don't understand all of it, or even most of it, it'll pique an interest in this sort of problem.
And I'll second the idea of adding Lewis Carroll to the bedtime reading - not just for the kid, either, but for the parent as well. On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 4:29 PM, Alexey Zinger <[email protected]> wrote: > Not having kids of my own, I have little to contribute, except remembering > what drew me into what eventually turned into an interest in programming. I > think around that age, I was most enthralled by games (checkers, puzzles), > fun brain twisters (Louis Carroll), doing challenging stuff with my hands > (working on my bicycle), etc. All of it relates to the same mindset that > programming requires (learning patience, persistence, curiosity, abstract > thinking). So I don't think it's necessary to sit a little kid in front of > a monitor right away to get there. Most of all, as others have said, have > fun! > > Alexey > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* JamesJ <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *Sent:* Friday, September 30, 2011 7:01 PM > > *Subject:* Re: [The Java Posse] Computing and kids > > With anything that dad enjoys and wants the kids to enjoy, I share > some advice from a golfer. He started with the objective to make it > fun. He said to start with some playing for short periods on the > lawn, or going to hit some balls on the driving range for a short > time, with minimal criticizing and afterwards took his kids for > ice-cream or some treat. > > The most important thing is to provide opportunities, but don't let > yourself or you kid get upset or stressed, ever. > > I have kids from 15 down to 8. I think that for serious programming, > 10 to 13 is still pretty early. They don't have much patience and > expect to be able to whip out some polished game in an afternoon that > would really take 20 man years. > > The science fair was a good chance to have some incentive to work on > programming and my oldest enjoyed that. > > I think whatever system you choose, you need to balance what it is > teaching, how much you have to do to see results, how much fun it is > to encourage continuing work. > > I have been blown away with the realization of how much you really > have to understand to be a decent programmer. It is a huge > curriculum. Take it in small chunks. > > At 4, I think the best idea is to just have fun with him. Play some > puzzle games together and lots of hands on open ended building like > leggos. (Save the mindstorms for later, or just get it for your > self.) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Java Posse" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to javaposse+ > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "The Java Posse" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
