A journey of coding and bonding
My son is entering 4th grade and I thought, “can’t be a better time to teach him programming than now.” It helped that he genuinely expressed interest as well. I’m about a week in and it’s going great. We’ve even started going through and programming a robot hand on the Raspberry Pi.
I started with some basics on machine code to Assembly and then to Python. I showed him the logic gates and how dumb computers really are (he really like that one :)). I then guided him on how to setup his IDE and configure Python on his laptop.
The first lesson involved the print() function. After displaying a few funny things on the screen, I drew a “map” for him on the screen and told him to write a program that will give someone directions based on the map. It started with some basic left and right turns and then went into distances as well.
print("Start Driving Right")
print("After 2 miles, turn Right")
...
It was interesting to see how quickly he got it. With the hand, I wanted to automatically get him extra engaged into programming and have him start thinking about the possibilities. Although he doesn’t understand the fundamentals enough to write his own instruction for the robot hand, he had a blast watching it and participated in the wiring.
This has now ignited his learning into the topic and he’s excited to learn about the next steps in programming so that he can get to the point where he can write his own instructions without any sort of assistance.
Shortly after that we’ll start working on some more advanced stuff, like 3D printing our own hands and utilizing OpenBCI to make them move. I have all the gear just ready to be played with.
If you’re wanting to teach your kids programming too, but don’t know where to start, here are 5 steps that I’m following:
- Use age-appropriate resources: Look for programming resources that are designed for the age group you’re working with. There are many resources available for kids of all ages, from picture-based coding blocks to text-based programming languages.
- Start with the basics: Start by teaching kids the basics of programming, such as variables, loops, and conditionals. Make sure they have a solid understanding of these concepts before moving on to more advanced topics.
- Make it fun: Make programming fun and engaging by using games, puzzles, and other interactive activities. This will help keep kids interested and motivated to learn.
- Provide hands-on experiences: Provide opportunities for kids to experiment with programming on their own. This could include creating simple games, animations, or websites.
- Celebrate their successes: Celebrate kids’ successes and encourage them to keep learning. Positive feedback can go a long way in helping them develop a love for programming.
Hope you have as much fun as I’m having.