

Ask HN: Are you teaching your kids programming? - noobie


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Someone1234
Depends on the kid's personality (currently sub-one year old).

I don't want to force programming/engineering/etc down their throat if they
aren't that way inclined. I'm going to wait and see what they're interested in
and encourage that rather than trying to force my interests on them.

Sure, programming is a useful skill, but so are a lot of things. If they show
an interest or just want to try what daddy does, then sure, I'll be all over
that.

Ultimately it is a very thin line between pushing something on them and giving
them useful life skills. But one person's opinion on what a key life skill is
entirely different from another, for example some people believe a kid needs
to know how to kill, gut, and cook a fish, but I don't.

I will, if given the choice, send them to a school with Computer Science-like
classes in particular in their teens. Since being basically computer literate
and being able to manipulate something as useful as Excel (or actually
programming) might help them no matter their career.

~~~
insoluble
I first tried programming in the second grade, not because of my parents but
because the school happened to have a "class" in it. I was immediately
interested since, for whatever reason, I was better at it than all the other
kids in my class. It was like I was the only one who actually understood what
was happening. Thinking back now, however, something tells me that if my
parents had tried to push me into programming, I might have become less
interested in it than I actually did. An important factor when growing up is a
sense of discovery -- that you have found something for _you_ \-- rather than
doing something just because people want you to. Even as a kid, you have a
sense that your parents want you to do things not for you but for them to show
off to other parents. A smart kid may recognise this conflict of interest.

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davismwfl
I am, but I let them come to me about it before I started "teaching" them
anything. I never pushed it on them nor did I hide it from them, but I just
figured if they ever showed curiosity I would show them.

My son is finishing a technology program in his high school and going to
graduate heading off for an engineering degree this year. My daughter is about
7 years younger and is now wanting to learn how to do some basic programming,
so I am showing her the basics now. She is fascinated by minecraft which
creating a mod is what really peaked her interest, so that's awesome in my
book.

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tmaly
Not yet, but I was thinking about starting with the robot turtles board game.
I might also do some bread board and some basic logic chips with LEDs at some
point to. I remember those cool little DIY manuals from radio shack. I still
have the learning electronics one in my book collection.

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bbali
The way I would approach this is to kindle their imagination to build stuff.
If in the process of building that thing, they need to use software then have
them learn programming. If it requires them to use hardware, introduce them to
Legos, hardware kits. If your kid wants to use colors and a canvas to bring
alive their imagination, so be it. Be the enabler.

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dnesteruk
Yes, teaching VHDL/FPGA.

~~~
lordnacho
Is your kid a college student? I didn't run into this stuff until university.

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rvikmanis
Not yet. But I think I will when they are old enough.

~~~
serg_chernata
Genuinely curious what you would consider "old enough" and how you would
determine that.

~~~
chjohasbrouck
There are some (very private, very exclusive) preschools that start teaching
kids C++ at 3 years old.

I'm not sure how much success they have, or if it's just a vanity thing, but
there you go.

~~~
Someone1234
C++ makes no sense to me. Considering how much underpinning you need to have
to write bad C++ (C, ASM, x86 memory model, basic programming concept, OO
concepts, the libraries, etc).

A language like BASIC seems much more rational, or some specific educational
language (inc. visual programming language).

To be frank I'm a little skeptical any pre-school does this (C++) no matter
how private or exclusive. Seems like the kids wouldn't even understand what it
is they're doing in C++ without years of pre-knowledge.

Heck most adult programmers cannot really write C++...

~~~
chjohasbrouck
Ok, I looked it up and apparently it was an April Fool's Day joke:

[http://www.npr.org/2012/04/01/149804404/n-y-preschool-
starts...](http://www.npr.org/2012/04/01/149804404/n-y-preschool-starts-dna-
testing-for-admission)

I've assumed this was true for the last 3+ years. I'm not sure if I'm
gullible, or if they should care more about journalistic standards?

It seemed plausible to me because that's about the age I'd start teaching a
kid to program. C++ is obviously the wrong choice, but I think a 3-year-old
could start learning Python.

~~~
GoldenMonkey
3 year olds haven't even started pre-school yet. And some 3 year olds barely
talk. Some are not even potty trained yet.

I'm starting my kids when they are 12. I don't want them glued to the computer
screen just yet.

