[Edu-sig] More pipeline developments

[kirby urner]

My daughter's school, one of Portland Public's is looking at
maybe doing Scratch -> Squeak -> Alice pre Python (they
don't always get to Python except with exceptional students
as this school maxes out after 8th grade).  I just learned this
in a meeting this afternoon (I'm not the one making these
decision).

I'm downloading Scratch right now to begin my evaluation.
The more I understand about the Immersion Phase, the
better will be my Pythonic bridges to high school algebra
and geometry.

If other subscribers to edu-sig have success stories using
Scratch, I'd be interested in learning about 'em.  Here's
the web site for those new to this language (note Linux
version in the works): http://scratch.mit.edu/

Note: according to the emerging sequence, languages like
Scheme (LISP), J (R, APL), xBase (SQL), and system
languages like the C family (Java, C#), M, would all tend
to build on pre college Python skills acquired in mainstream
math class (or from an elective track, if the state is antediluvian).

Those Python skills would in turn build on an understanding
of data and control structures acquired in more cartoony
environments, with more emphasis on programming by
dragging and dropping than on typing a lot of code.

Kirby