Computer Programming for Kids

November 16, 2009 @ 9:39 pm | Filed under:

I tweeted a request for computer programming tutorial recommendations (for Jane), and a number of useful suggestions came pouring in via Twitter and Facebook. We’ve not had time to investigate them yet—we are busy enjoying a grandparent visit for a couple of days—but I thought I’d post the list here for others who may be interested.

Alice (object-oriented programming, creating animations, video games)

Lynda (wide range of tutorials)

Snake Wrangling for Kids (learning to program in Python)

Scratch (via MIT—several friends recommended this)

A few more links in this post at Family Online

Your suggestions are welcome too!


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Comments

6 Reponses | Comments Feed
  1. Kez says:

    My 7yo uses Scratch and has started using Alice. I’d recommend both of those.

  2. Charlotte (Matilda) says:

    My Husband agrees that Alice and Scratch are both good. Lynda, he says, is best for older kids working on a Mac.

  3. Kathy says:

    Yeah, I was going to second the recommendations for Alice and Scratch. We used Scratch in an intro class at Harvard. I’ve heard that Alice is particularly appealing to girls (not just because of the name) because of the storytelling aspect of it.

  4. Melissa Wiley says:

    Charlotte, thanks for the Lynda info…it’s my 14yo who is interested in learning, and we are a Mac family, so that’s good to know. We are checking out Scratch & Alice too. Thanks, everyone!

  5. shaun says:

    My oldest (10) is currently taking a co-op class in Alice and loving it. It does seem to fit well with her love of making up stories. It is an easy learning curve — the kids seem to go right to creating things.

    The more experienced kids are doing Python — seems like Alice might be a better first step.

    She is doing a Java class as well, which is more what I think of when I think of programming. She is supposed to learn how to create a Tetris-like game by the end of the week!

  6. shaun says:

    My oldest (10) is currently taking a co-op class in Alice and loving it. It does seem to fit well with her love of making up stories. It is an easy learning curve — the kids seem to go right to creating things.

    The more experienced kids are doing Python — seems like Alice might be a better first step.

    She is doing a Java class as well, which is more what I think of when I think of programming. She is supposed to learn how to create a Tetris-like game by the end of the week!