Is programming really appropriate for a seven-year-old?

Re:Is programming really appropriate for a seven-year-old? by gruseom on Tuesday December 16, 2008 @06:46PM (#400286)

Not to mention he assumes that any interest in programming comes from the parent leading the kid to do it. I discovered programming on my own at 6, thanks.

Right. I have a nephew who is 8 or so and has been begging to learn how to program for at least a year. I almost got him an OLPC when they came out, but his father decided to hold off for a while.

I'm pretty sure that if I had run across computers at that age, instead of a few years later, I'd have felt the same way.

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Re:Is programming really appropriate for a seven-year-old? by thorax on Tuesday December 16, 2008 @09:58PM (#400478)

I got one for my stepson (7) last year. He's had a lot of fun making random Weewar maps and looking up Zelda online, but the programming interest hasn't grown. Though he keeps wanting to "do a deal with Lucas and Nintendo" to write a Zelda and Star Wars game.

I started programming silliness at 12. I would have probably been fine getting into it earlier, but I'm not so sure I would have given it much mindshare earlier than that.

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Re:Is programming really appropriate for a seven-year-old? by Tichy on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @06:05AM (#400774)

Don't know Weewar, but maybe creating maps for it is already a bit like programming?

What I always wonder about, how do we know what is best for our kids future? Maybe in 20 years 80% of our lives will take place in virtual worlds, and kids having grown up with computer games will have a real advantage then. Maybe the "get outside and play" paradigm was appropiate for a time when the most likely careers where lumberjack and potatoe picker?

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