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25 votes

How early should you teach children how to code?

This is very dependent on the child, as are all questions of this sort, but 5-6 is certainly possible. My children, now eight and nine, were first exposed to programming in a meaningful way at around ...
Joe's user avatar
  • 63.5k
24 votes

How early should you teach children how to code?

I'm a fan of building up a programming mindset without even needing to use a computer. One good example is the peanut-butter sandwich game. You pretend to be a robot, while the child gives you ...
Darrel Hoffman's user avatar
20 votes

How early should you teach children how to code?

The more people know about computers the later they appear to let their kids near them. This Business Insider article has a few observations and quotes: Gates, for example, didn't let his kids use ...
Peter - Reinstate Monica's user avatar
11 votes

Robot to get started with programming

I want to mention the Lego Mindstorms NXT. The official age is 10+, but with all the flexibility it offers (it even has an own programming language), it can be a challenge even for fully grown-up ...
MaxD's user avatar
  • 211
11 votes

Robot to get started with programming

Try Big Trak. This is a rereleased version of a toy that was very popular in the 1980's(!). Here is the original TV advert to give you an idea what to expect. Summary: A toy vehicle that you can ...
DrMcCleod's user avatar
  • 315
11 votes
Accepted

Robot to get started with programming

I don't know how old your daughter is, but we have recently bought this programmable robot toy for a 4 yo: Andy from Xtrem Bots (YouTube ad) It is pretty simple but for a toddler seemed interesting ...
Anca's user avatar
  • 124
10 votes

How early should you teach children how to code?

"Code" is not the same as "programming". For example, my daughter played an app called Coding Safari (https://www.hopster.tv/coding-safari/) when she was about 3-4yo. That app is ...
afaulconbridge's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

How early should you teach children how to code?

At age 4 I was given a ZX Spectrum 48k computer and a book published by Usborne called BASIC for Beginners. From that moment on I was hooked. The next year I was given Practice Your BASIC. By age 8 we ...
Aaron F's user avatar
  • 366
5 votes

My son wants to do competitive programming

Part 1: let's talk about the decision process for this type of thing First you need to figure out what is your goal as a parent and what is your role in this? Who is making this decision and why? ...
Hilmar's user avatar
  • 7,502
5 votes

My son wants to do competitive programming

My son took part in the MIT BatttleCode competition for two years in Years 10 and 12, which were the years that avoided the big exams in the UK. It was a very positive experience. Most learning ...
Paul Johnson's user avatar
  • 10.6k
5 votes

My son wants to do competitive programming

One angle you could go for is to point out that his passion and talent for programming opens him a lot of doors for a future career in software development, and that this is a very good opportunity ...
Philipp's user avatar
  • 1,068
4 votes

Fun statistics to record about one's own children

When my niece was a little girl, she used to say really interesting things in all situations. We thought that we'd never forget them. She grew up and it turned out that we do not really remember much ...
QMC's user avatar
  • 141
4 votes
Accepted

Fun statistics to record about one's own children

Photos and videos of the children. This is the easiest and the most obvious thing is to collect. Why do it systematically? (a) Parents do it anyways, (b) There is never enough of photos and videos for ...
4 votes

How early should you teach children how to code?

This answer doesn't have much to do with programming, but... When my daughter started learning non-trivial word problems in arithmetic (around second grade (in the US)), I started to encourage her to ...
Flydog57's user avatar
  • 141
2 votes

How can I teach a teenager living with adhd coding

Programming is something very useful and it can be very fun. The most important thing is that he programs something that he likes, not something that could be "useful for his future". The ...
Cincinnatus's user avatar
2 votes

How early should you teach children how to code?

I was taught programming from about age 4, in my mom's lap. I learned in GW-BASIC. She did it for her job, and she worked from home, so initially it mostly entailed her thinking and writing out loud ...
Weckar E.'s user avatar
  • 657
1 vote

Robot to get started with programming

I have a Cubetto for my daughter - we got it when she was 3 or 4 but my eldest son played with it most until she was 5 or 6. All three of my kids love it and I can set challenges for each of them to ...
mjaggard's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote

How early should you teach children how to code?

When they show a clear interest in a deeper understanding of computers. And yes, that can very easily happen at pretty much any age. For some, it may take 3 years. For some, it may take 6 years. For ...
natiiix's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote

How early should you teach children how to code?

Firstly and most importantly I must agree with some of the posts below that when to begin is dependent on the child. I have done some research on "Technische Frühförderung", which somewhat ...
Andrea's user avatar
  • 11

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