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Re:Impact of programming on primary mathematics learning by jay_kyburz on Monday September 05, 2022 @06:47PM (#32730398)
My 9 year old started programming lua in Roblox. He doesn't really know whats going on, he is just following the tutorials, transcribing what he sees on screen. When he makes a mistake he has a hard time reading through the code to see what went wrong.

A few weeks ago he rediscovered Scratch. It's a completely different experience. He started out following tutorials like he was with Roblox, but quickly made the metal leap to altering and enhancing the tutorials. Adding sound effects, changing values. Restructuring and reconstructing for loops to do what he wants.

Now he is breaking problems down and solving them one at a time. Setting a goal and working out how to achieve it. I think that's a far more valuable skill at this stage.

Re:Impact of programming on primary mathematics learning by jay_kyburz on Tuesday September 06, 2022 @03:04AM (#32733893)
This is his latest creation. He would love to see that view count go up.

https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/728260409

Re:Impact of programming on primary mathematics learning by madarcho on Tuesday September 06, 2022 @05:09AM (#32734688)
Hah, this was great!

This is actually my first time looking into the platform. It's interesting to have the ability to peek into the "code". Though I initially felt I agreed with an earlier comment in the chain, "just start with something real", I see my own path with Lego's NZXT visual programming language in Scratch. The visual element seemed to help me build a mental model much better than lines of code, at the start.

I left it up on 18 for others to try and break. Thanks for sharing.

Re:Impact of programming on primary mathematics learning by neodypsis on Tuesday September 06, 2022 @01:44AM (#32733328)
I got into programming by first using PowerPoint for developing animations and then moving into Macromedia Flash (Actionscript).
Re:Impact of programming on primary mathematics learning by hun3 on Tuesday September 06, 2022 @06:16AM (#32735105)
Why? PowerPoint is Turing complete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNjxe8ShM-8

/s

Re:Impact of programming on primary mathematics learning by neodypsis on Wednesday September 07, 2022 @02:27AM (#32747119)
Haha, that was hilarious, thank you!