Re:Ask HN: How to best teach a group of children how to code?
by 20years on Friday January 27, 2017 @12:51PM
(#13501300)
This mimics my experience. I have ran summer coding workshops for 8 to 14 year olds and am currently teaching a coding elective to 11 to 14 year old kids at a local charter school. Each lessons starts off with a semi-completed program and guides them into how to change & modify that.
I have learned not to bore them with business apps or too much of the logistics to start. I start by getting them to code basic HTML/CSS. They get super excited by learning how to change colors and font sizes. Then we go into programming some simple JavaScript games. Later in the course, I bring in a Raspberry Pi and introduce them to that and a little Python.
You don't want to scare them away or overwhelm them at first. Keep it exciting and fun. At this age, let them hack.
I have learned not to bore them with business apps or too much of the logistics to start. I start by getting them to code basic HTML/CSS. They get super excited by learning how to change colors and font sizes. Then we go into programming some simple JavaScript games. Later in the course, I bring in a Raspberry Pi and introduce them to that and a little Python.
You don't want to scare them away or overwhelm them at first. Keep it exciting and fun. At this age, let them hack.