
How to teach programming to your loved ones [video] - n-izem
https://media.ccc.de/v/35c3-9800-how_to_teach_programming_to_your_loved_ones
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Lerc
I have half an idea for a children's book that I may one day write called
"Teach your parents to code" targeted at a child and a parent where neither of
them can code. The idea is that you put the child in the driver's seat making
them motivated to help their parents. At the same time, they have to learn the
concepts in order to explain them. In explaining the concepts to an adult they
not only self review what they have learned, but the adult can also review and
catch misconceptions.

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CobrastanJorji
I listened to Amy Bruckman give a talk about LambdaMOO some years back. She
mentioned that kids frequently took much better to physical object-oriented
metaphors than adults did. They might say things like "I don't understand why
adults can't understand that a dog is-a animal, but a house has-a dog in it."

I think it's a great idea for a book. Send me a PM when it's published and
I'll buy one :)

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yeahitslikethat
Its brilliant. I hope he writes it.

There's a riddle that little kids get right away but Harvard grads hardly ever
get.

What's greater than God. Meaner than the devil. Poor people have it. And if
you eat it you will die?

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a_w
> What's greater than God. Meaner than the devil. Poor people have it. And if
> you eat it you will die? Nothing?

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nxrabl
The title of the talk is a bit misleading, since it's really all about
teaching young people in a classroom setting with assignments and credit.
Which happens to be very relevant to me personally right now, but doesn't at
all help if what you want to do is get your nana to provide more enlightening
diagnostic feedback with her tech problems.

This talk does seem to confirm a lot of the things I've suspected about
teaching tech, specifically that vocabulary has to come first, to give
students the language to describe what they want and the problems they're
having, and to give them the mental hooks to hang concepts and practice from.

~~~
henrik_w
I taught my son and his class (grade 8 at the time) a bit of Python
programming during several weeks about a year ago. It went surprisingly well.
I concentrated on basic concepts: variables, statements in sequence,
conditionals and loops. I've written it up here:

[https://henrikwarne.com/2017/12/17/programming-for-
grade-8/](https://henrikwarne.com/2017/12/17/programming-for-grade-8/)

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codazoda
I recently started a little series of zines where the idea is to learn
programming by creating art. It's a little akin to a puzzle or paint by
numbers. Each issue is a type-in that produces an image on a JavaScript
canvas. I hope that it teaches programming in the same way I learned from
books and magazines in the 80's. Check it out at:
[https://splashofcode.com](https://splashofcode.com)

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toomanybeersies
Why would you want to?

I have no desire to teach calculus to my loved ones, or chemistry.

On the other hand, I do have an interest in teaching technology literacy to my
loved ones. How to avoid falling for phishing scams, how to find information
you need on the internet, how to make a spreadsheet to plan for things, how to
write a resume using a word processor. People are lacking such fundamental
tech skills that teaching them how to code should be the last thing on our
mind.

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geniium
For the French speaker there is this amazing book named "Genie du code" that
will teach you how to code :
[https://geniesducode.com](https://geniesducode.com).

Have a look, their project is amazing and the drawings are fun!

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gabrielshaad
Step 1: You don't.

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mrspeaker
A talk entitled "How to teach programming to your loved ones: Enabling
students over example-driven teaching" and you reply "Step 1: You don't"...
that's pretty harsh. How would you say the author should have approached it
instead?

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avip
It's harsh because it's true. There's no reason to teach love one's coding. In
fact, there's no reason to teach them anything that does not resonate with
them naturally.

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shard
I think there are many topics that should be taught to loved ones even if it
doesn't resonate with them naturally. The ones that come immediately to my
mind are: financial literacy, how to prepare for and respond in emergency
situations (e.g. natural disasters, medical emergencies, threats from
assailants), critical thinking. Knowing these can potentially save them from
many expensive or life threatening mistakes and I would force them on my loved
ones even if they resist.

~~~
avip
You know something? you're right. You had me at financial literacy.

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tossaccount123
The best you can really do is point them in the right direction and help them
when they get stuck, but learning to code really requires motivation that only
they can provide

