On Thu, 17 Jul 2003 15:30, you wrote: > Tim Wright wrote: > > On Thu, 17 Jul 2003, Carl Cerecke wrote: > >>My daughter has recently turned 6. I am keen to introduce her > >>to programming concepts, and vaguely remember you doing > >>something in this area. Do you have any suggestions for > >>programming languages suitable for 6 yr olds? > > > > Yup. But make sure she's building stuff that she likes and enjoys. > > That's a given. If she doesn't like/enjoy it, she won't be doing > it, I assure you. This is supposed to be fun - I won't be making > her do this. > > > She > > (probably) won't have the math skills to build complex programs, so all > > you can really do is make programming seem fun. > > How much math do you need for iteration, looping, modules, and > decisions? Well, maybe decisions need some elementary math. > > > Alice: www.alice.org (and it's free---as in beer!) The Alice object are also available for the 3D section of Squeak Command line driven in Squeak but probably not too complex for a bright 6yo though. A 10yo girl & I had great fun with this.
> > ToonTalk: www.toontalk.com Windows only. But looked pretty good, not too expensive iirc. > > Stagecast: www.stagecast.com Commercial $45us to start. Looks quite good from promo flicks, but it would wouldn't it? Linux version available. Commercial American style artwork. > > AgentSheets: www.agentsheets.com Totally beyond any 6yo. I have ever met. imho > Thanks for the info. I'll probably check out alice, but > its a big download. Don't forget;- ftp://anarres.cs.berkeley.edu/pub/ucblogo/ Not as sophisticated as the commercial ones, but quite good for a start. Works on unix & look-alikes. Active devel under BSD licence presumably. hth. -- Sincerely etc., Christopher Sawtell
