Im a young home-schooler (14). My father has started a programming curriculum for me, learning to do some real-world things, like making a checkbook app that interacts with a database. A lot of the time, he will have me port Ruby code to work with Shoes, and give it a GUI. Its a lot of fun for me! ^_^
On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 10:41 AM, Kyle King <[email protected]> wrote: > Shoes got mentioned a while back in a Linux.com article entitled "Open > source programming languages for kids". Here's a snippet: > > "Scratch, Alice, and Shoes are all open source, include support channels > such as forums or chatrooms, and have large, thriving communities. These > three environments are possibly the most open, mature, and easily accessible > environments that are geared toward teaching programming concepts to young > minds." > > The full article is here: www.linux.com/feature/155203 > > Kyle > > > On May 19, 2009, at 4:10 PM, Seth Thomas Rasmussen wrote: > > On Tue, May 19, 2009 at 8:14 AM, Sarah Allen <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Why Shoes? >>> >>> To quote a Railsbrige comment ( >>> http://groups.google.com/group/railsbridge/msg/2c41610f8cc570b4?hl=en ) >>> Kids want to learn something that is: >>> >>> A. Fun >>> B. Easy >>> >>> Ok, maybe Ruby isn't so easy, but relative to a lot of modern programming >>> languages it is pretty good. There is very little "boilerplate." >>> Programs >>> are fairly concise and to the point. I wouldn't touch Javascript for >>> kids >>> since the implementations are so inconsistent. Kids can deal with rules >>> (they get that a lot) as long as they are clearly explained and >>> consistent. >>> >>> Also, Ruby is a "real" programming language that real-world programmers >>> use >>> for practical purposes. It is effective to teach kids skills that adults >>> use. When I did research for establishing the curriculum goals for our >>> elementary school, I read a lot about "21st century learning skills" >>> where >>> kids learn to use computers and other tech as tools, in the similar >>> manner >>> to how adults use those tools (beyond using "educational software" for >>> teaching specific subjects). I find from personal experience that kids >>> are >>> very motivated when they are learning something that could have >>> application >>> outside of the classroom. >>> >> >> Thanks for your perspective as a teacher. :) I think the "real" reason >> is a very important one, too. >> >> -- >> Seth Thomas Rasmussen >> http://greatseth.com >> > > -- --Brains.
