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programming for children

Aaron J Reichow reic0024 at ub.d.umn.edu
Tue Feb 1 10:35:07 EST 2000 
On 1 Feb 2000, Ralf Hildebrandt wrote:

> >I thought of a nice python environment under windows ... It would be best to
> >have german documentation too.
> >
> >What do you think?
> 
> I always thought LOGO would be the way to go.
> Anyway, as far as I know there's no embedded development system for Python
> on Windows.

LOGO would be good, but don't underestimate kids.  11 year olders can
handle at least some Basic.  They had us playing with LOGO (moving the
turtle, defining routines to draw something, problem solving) in like 3rd
and 4th grade -- 8 through 10 years old.  I had begun programming (more or
less) in TRS-80 BASIC around 11-12 years old. 

LOGO is neet for a while, as one can draw neet pictures, but programming
something functional, like a little quiz or game, gives one a sense of
accomplishment, especially at that age.  

If he cannot handle python, perhaps he should play around with BASIC.  As
for the "environment," I think just the plain ol' interactive command line
would suffice, unless he wanted to do minor graphics stuff.  In which
case, perhaps QuickBasic (get out those old DOS disks...) might be worth a
look.

Aaron
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