Teaching python (programming) to children

[Sheila King]

On 06 Nov 2001 08:21:35 +0100, Brian Elmegaard <brian at rk-speed-rugby.dk>
wrote in comp.lang.python in article <wkpu6wweio.fsf at mail.afm.dtu.dk>:

:True, and I find your first answer about logo very interesting. I
:think ages 9-12, I guess. After they have learned to read and write
:their native language, but they don't necessarily have to have learned
:a high level of abstract thinking. 

I think you are way over-shooting the mark with age 12. My daughter, age
12 (turning 13 this Friday), has been well beyond just "reading and
writing her native language" for quite some time.

I think that 8 year olds could easily do some simple programming.
Certainly with Logo. And Python could be quite accessible, depending on
how it is presented. Just limit the students to a very small list of
terms that the computer "knows" to start with.

This really is a topic for the edu list, isn't it? I'm sure you would
find many on there telling you that 8 year olds could learn to program.
Simple stuff, of course.

--
Sheila King
http://www.thinkspot.net/sheila/
http://www.k12groups.org/