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Another thing I've been doing is teaching my oldest to program and we've had the most fun with BASIC.
I started teaching with "scratch-like" languages: Lego Boost has been a big hit, but while fun, it would get put away and forgotten about.
I started teaching with "scratch-like" languages: Lego Boost has been a big hit, but while fun, it would get put away and forgotten about.
With BASIC, there is just something about pecking out commands into an empty screen and then running it that is magical.
It's got him hooked.
It's got him hooked.
I started by making my own exercises, but eventually switched to using Let's Learn BASIC by Ben Scheiderman which he wrote in 1984 for his then 8-year old daughter. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3511530-let-s-learn-basic
He's got such a great knack for explaining concepts to beginners. I love quotes like this:
"The great advantage of using a computer shines through when you can make the computer repeat some action again and again."
"The great advantage of using a computer shines through when you can make the computer repeat some action again and again."
And "keep your mind open to learning other languages"
I do think there is great value to getting comfortable with starting with a blank editor, blinking cursor, and a keyboard. I think it develops an ease with writing code and also working on the command-line.
It teaches: It's ok to make mistakes and if it doesn't work, check for typos/errors, try again.
