Ask HN: How do I give my son a head start?
156 comments
I would just forget about computers and programming completely and focus on the building blocks by a playful approach to solving day-to-day problems with logic and reasoning. Like how do we decide which things belong together? You can also play progressively more complicated iteration games like for-each-time-this-happens-let's-do-this-this-and-this! Or make complicated rube goldberg devices out of household objects and then debug why they don't work.
Computers would be just a distraction from the real work of building a foundation in cognitive skills.
Computers would be just a distraction from the real work of building a foundation in cognitive skills.
This. Your child may or may not work in IT in the future - IMHO it'd be unwise to steer him/her down a particular career path so early.
What your child will need regardless of where he/she goes is critical thinking and problem solving skills. After all, all the desirable jobs in the world center around this.
Strong associative ability, strong spatial skills, organization, learning attitude, critical thinking, logic, all of those things you should encourage in your kid. Particularly learning attitude - if your child starts hating learning, you're basically screwed.
What your child will need regardless of where he/she goes is critical thinking and problem solving skills. After all, all the desirable jobs in the world center around this.
Strong associative ability, strong spatial skills, organization, learning attitude, critical thinking, logic, all of those things you should encourage in your kid. Particularly learning attitude - if your child starts hating learning, you're basically screwed.
Learning how to think is much more helpful than any programming language introduction. When you have learned to think and investigate stuff, then programming comes naturally.
Richard Feynman's father spent a lot of time teaching his son how to think and what thinking is. That was more important to Feynman than any mathematical lessons his father could teach him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=695Flhmjmg4#t=2m56s
Parents need to keep an eye out for what kind of person their kids are. They might not be a carbon-copy of yourself, they might have completely different interests and abilities and learning styles. I did, very much so. Many parents erroneously assumes that their kids are like themselves because "it is their kids", their genes, their upbringing. But neither genes or kids work like copy machines when it comes to personality.
Richard Feynman's father spent a lot of time teaching his son how to think and what thinking is. That was more important to Feynman than any mathematical lessons his father could teach him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=695Flhmjmg4#t=2m56s
Parents need to keep an eye out for what kind of person their kids are. They might not be a carbon-copy of yourself, they might have completely different interests and abilities and learning styles. I did, very much so. Many parents erroneously assumes that their kids are like themselves because "it is their kids", their genes, their upbringing. But neither genes or kids work like copy machines when it comes to personality.
Not to discourage computer use, but I'd like to second the importance of the playful aspect.
Our innate playfulness seems to be beneficial to creative processes. At the very least, it makes learning more fun, engaging.
My dad used to hide notecards around the house, with a little clue ("turn around 90 degrees and walk 2 * 3 - 1 steps"). At the location specified, there'd be another little candy and a clue. Worked wonders for me, and it gave me a lifelong desire to learn and grow.
Anyhow, just a +1 for keeping it playful. It helps a ton. And it just might make your child more creative.
Our innate playfulness seems to be beneficial to creative processes. At the very least, it makes learning more fun, engaging.
My dad used to hide notecards around the house, with a little clue ("turn around 90 degrees and walk 2 * 3 - 1 steps"). At the location specified, there'd be another little candy and a clue. Worked wonders for me, and it gave me a lifelong desire to learn and grow.
Anyhow, just a +1 for keeping it playful. It helps a ton. And it just might make your child more creative.
I agree. Open-ended play is very important, I think. Give him stuff to build things that don't require instructions or guidance (or, at least much guidance). I am routinely amazed at what my kids build with tinker toys and blocks...
Totally agree. I did some of my earliest engineering work at 10 yrs old with Legos. Now I use code, but it's still very much about how things go together.
Logic & reason are the foundation for almost everything we are hoping to teach him but as far as technology is concerned we really want to encourage him to understand how things work as well as how to use them so I suppose that is what drove me to seek the opinion of the HN collective.
logic and reason and empathy. What use is of logic and reasoning if he turns out to be Hilter (or a female version...)
Love him. Unconditionally. And make sure he always knows it.
Everything else is just details.
With this, things will inevitably fall nicely into place, no matter what tactics you take.
Without it, he will be fucked up no matter what you do and will be coming to hacker news in 2028 posting, "Ask HN: I'm confused and depressed and don't know why."
Everything else is just details.
With this, things will inevitably fall nicely into place, no matter what tactics you take.
Without it, he will be fucked up no matter what you do and will be coming to hacker news in 2028 posting, "Ask HN: I'm confused and depressed and don't know why."
I'm sorry, I really dislike this answer.
Obviously this guy knows that he should love his kid. He was looking for specific answers on how to introduce the kid to computing. And you gave him this glib, content-less, greeting card answer.
I cannot believe this is the top comment.
Obviously this guy knows that he should love his kid. He was looking for specific answers on how to introduce the kid to computing. And you gave him this glib, content-less, greeting card answer.
I cannot believe this is the top comment.
My takeaway was more along the lines of "Don't worry so much about optimizing his learning path just yet. Love him and care for him and everything will work itself out.
We all want what's best for our children. Unfortunately, this frequently turns into crazy helicopter parenting and a hyperfocus on academics, sports, and activities.
I love my son and I want him to be the best he can be, but I'm more than willing to trade a few of his future IQ points to never ever let him wonder if he's loved for himself, or just his accomplishments.
We all want what's best for our children. Unfortunately, this frequently turns into crazy helicopter parenting and a hyperfocus on academics, sports, and activities.
I love my son and I want him to be the best he can be, but I'm more than willing to trade a few of his future IQ points to never ever let him wonder if he's loved for himself, or just his accomplishments.
Agreed. Obviously OP loves his kid, he's not asking: "How do I make my child a cyborg?"
Unconditional love is hardly a guideline anyways. Kids need rules, instruction, challenge, inspiration and just generally good examples to follow. That's the tough part. Loving your own child is an achievement akin to dressing yourself.
Unconditional love is hardly a guideline anyways. Kids need rules, instruction, challenge, inspiration and just generally good examples to follow. That's the tough part. Loving your own child is an achievement akin to dressing yourself.
Why is it obvious? If it was so obvious, there wouldn't be so many parents failing in it (many perhaps unwillingly).
People fail at obvious all the time. Examples:
Belief in god,
Smoking,
Voting conservative,
Racism,
Drinking and driving,
Eating junk food,
etc, etc
And yet, if those parents read that comment, they wouldn't have an overnight change of heart.
It's not the highest scoring one, by far. How is the algorithm determined?
Age and average comment karma.
[deleted]
Also, be sure to feed him and provide him with all the water and oxygen he needs.
I slightly disagree. Obviously love him, but don't smother and coddle him. Spend as much time as possible interacting with him as well as teaching independence and to think on his own. Interaction is the key.
With all due respect, this much is blatantly obvious but not necessarily the key to giving him a head start.
My father loved me unconditionally and I can't think of a single moment of my childhood where I ever questioned his love for me but with that said, my childhood was a mess. I sincerely struggled at school, I lacked any decent social skills and I was incredibly naïve when it came to how the world worked.
Whilst I'm happy that I've overcome these obstacles, I can think of plenty my father could have done to counter-act them in the first place.
Like every other father (and mother) that participates in this community, I would move mountains for my boy. I would happily lay my own life on the line to protect him and the question I initially asked was based on the assumption that the basic fundamentals of being a good parent were a given.
Now that those bases are covered, what can I do to ensure that he is at least one step ahead of the average kid growing up in a world where technology develops at an incredible rate and those who embrace this change storm ahead of the mean?
My father loved me unconditionally and I can't think of a single moment of my childhood where I ever questioned his love for me but with that said, my childhood was a mess. I sincerely struggled at school, I lacked any decent social skills and I was incredibly naïve when it came to how the world worked.
Whilst I'm happy that I've overcome these obstacles, I can think of plenty my father could have done to counter-act them in the first place.
Like every other father (and mother) that participates in this community, I would move mountains for my boy. I would happily lay my own life on the line to protect him and the question I initially asked was based on the assumption that the basic fundamentals of being a good parent were a given.
Now that those bases are covered, what can I do to ensure that he is at least one step ahead of the average kid growing up in a world where technology develops at an incredible rate and those who embrace this change storm ahead of the mean?
I grew up confused and depressed, meanwhile, my parents did their best to show me every day they loved me and still do, but I feel entirely distant from them. I'm over 20 years old.
GG logic, gg.
GG logic, gg.
This may sound extreme but one way to choose to view the confusion and depression is that it is a necessary part of growth:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_disintegration
Mind you, even Dabrowski (who created the theory) differentiates between depression that instigates changes vs. depression that leaves you spinning your wheels. I'd venture that anyone who has been seriously depressed has experience with both types.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_disintegration
Mind you, even Dabrowski (who created the theory) differentiates between depression that instigates changes vs. depression that leaves you spinning your wheels. I'd venture that anyone who has been seriously depressed has experience with both types.
Tragically, it's necessary but not sufficient.
Any idea why?
Could be anything from my wildly different views on the world (theism vs atheism; government's place, opinions of other people, etc...), to being the middle child. My two sisters seem to get along fine with them.
Meta: interesting that you think HN will exist in a recognizable form by 2028. 18 years ago, the web looked very different. I wonder what will we call "web" in 2028.
How do you mean? People still used browsers to make requests over http, didn't they?
Actually, I guess there was a lot of text-based interaction going on, come to think of it. Telnet, etc. Hm.
Actually, I guess there was a lot of text-based interaction going on, come to think of it. Telnet, etc. Hm.
I still telnet. So much fun!
Wish gopher's were still around. I was thinking of using a gopher to do a blog with.
Wish gopher's were still around. I was thinking of using a gopher to do a blog with.
Read to him when he is young, with him when older. It is the most stupidly effective academic intervention I'm aware of.
This!
My son has grown up in a house of readers and loves to read. He consistently tests above grade level, doesn't have his own computer (allowed to use my wife's occasionally) or TV (only one working TV in the house). Meanwhile, his friend down the street who is a year older and has his own laptop computer, TV, XBox, Nintendo DS, etc. spends his summers in remedial reading classes.
My son has grown up in a house of readers and loves to read. He consistently tests above grade level, doesn't have his own computer (allowed to use my wife's occasionally) or TV (only one working TV in the house). Meanwhile, his friend down the street who is a year older and has his own laptop computer, TV, XBox, Nintendo DS, etc. spends his summers in remedial reading classes.
Growing up in a house of readers undoubtedly gave me a massive head start on all of my peers, but I also had my own laptop [1], TV, N64 (it was the 90's), and gameboy and did far above my grade level on reading tests.
If you feel good about not letting your kid mess with that stuff, more power to you, but don't confuse correlation with causation.
[1] Actually I had my first computer, running MS-DOS, well before I could read. That was kind of an exercise in futility though. I did get a laptop later on (elementary school) and I learned and practiced writing HTML on it.
If you feel good about not letting your kid mess with that stuff, more power to you, but don't confuse correlation with causation.
[1] Actually I had my first computer, running MS-DOS, well before I could read. That was kind of an exercise in futility though. I did get a laptop later on (elementary school) and I learned and practiced writing HTML on it.
My first computer access was to a DOS machine. I don't think it had any effect on my reading skills, since at the time I didn't actually speak English.
I don't think he intended to imply a correlation. But people do seem to use video games and television as a crutch to keep kids entertained at the expense of more enriching activities.
I think it all depends on if the kid is happy with occasional computer and TV use. Personally I think I would give my kid easy access to the electronic devices they want. If they want to do a lot of reading that's great and certainly encouraging, but there are more paths to achieve similar intellectual curiosity than just reading, computers in general, programming, games, certain TV shows, movies and documentaries.
Read to him when he is young, with him when older. It is the most stupidly effective academic intervention I'm aware of.
Actually evidence suggests that this is not true. Energy spent reading to kids helps a bit, but what makes a long-term difference is to be seen frequently reading for yourself. Otherwise you wind up in the trap that the kid learns that reading is for babies.
Actually evidence suggests that this is not true. Energy spent reading to kids helps a bit, but what makes a long-term difference is to be seen frequently reading for yourself. Otherwise you wind up in the trap that the kid learns that reading is for babies.
Yeah I have parents who, like all good parents would say that it's good to read, but didn't do a lot of reading themselves.
You are right that that is how you get a child to like reading when they are older but reading to them and with them is also a great way for them to learn especially since they are interacting with a parent, while picking up language cues and other such things.
If you do just one thing do this.
Encourage a love of books, even if its just the picture books to begin with. Story before bedtime. Feel sad? Lets go read a book? Waiting for mom or dad to come home? Lets read a fun book.
Aside from that I do those large jig-saw puzzles with my daughter and those match the wooden shape to its equivalent spot on the board.
It should all be fun, playful and something you you're happy to do. No one wants to read with a grumpy dad.
Encourage a love of books, even if its just the picture books to begin with. Story before bedtime. Feel sad? Lets go read a book? Waiting for mom or dad to come home? Lets read a fun book.
Aside from that I do those large jig-saw puzzles with my daughter and those match the wooden shape to its equivalent spot on the board.
It should all be fun, playful and something you you're happy to do. No one wants to read with a grumpy dad.
It's funny, because that one of the "obvious" things to try that instead shows no correlation with academic performance. At least that's what it's said in "Freakonomics".
Anyway, I'm doing it with my two years and half son. He loves it and helps him to relax and rest(he's very active).
Anyway, I'm doing it with my two years and half son. He loves it and helps him to relax and rest(he's very active).
Agreed. Also, you can start on non-picture books earlier than you think; my dad read "The Hobbit" to my sister and I before I started kindergarten (a little bit each night).
We got "The Chronicles of Narnia" :) I still have lots of fond memories around that series.
Agreed and this is something I started whilst he was still in the womb!
I claim that my daughter recognized me by voice at birth when I first spoke to her.
I know that mine did. I used to say "Hi Baby!" to her all the time. When she was born and was upset I would say "Hi Baby!" and she'd calm right down. This worked for 2-3 weeks maybe.
As ridiculous as it sounds, I'm with you on this.
I'm certain my little dude recognised my voice when he was born.
My 3 month old daughter knew my voice, but didn't recognize my face when I shaved my beard. She would turn to see me when she heard my voice, but cry when she saw a stranger.
My second daughter easily recognizes her older sister voice at birth. My older one spoke to her constantly in the womb (usually asking her when she is going to come out and play with her). The best way to stop her crying is to ask my oldest daughter to sing to her (works better than my singing/soothing)
My second daughter easily recognizes her older sister voice at birth. My older one spoke to her constantly in the womb (usually asking her when she is going to come out and play with her). The best way to stop her crying is to ask my oldest daughter to sing to her (works better than my singing/soothing)
My mother says the same about me. She used to listen to a particular song when she was pregnant with me. After I was born, whenever my dad played that song, I would search for the source.
I'm going to get my future wife to put headphones on her belly and play a 24/7 loop of the speech Jor-El gave superman from the movie.
Kid will come up a winner.
Kid will come up a winner.
Absolutely. Superman didn't even grow up to be a total dick.
Wait.
Wasn't there... Oh right, http://superdickery.com/
In other news, you'd be surprised what supermanisadick.com points to.
Wait.
Wasn't there... Oh right, http://superdickery.com/
In other news, you'd be surprised what supermanisadick.com points to.
I'd be careful in this line of thinking, if I were you. Projecting wishes and expectations onto one's children is common, and counter-productive.
I was very excited when my daughter, around the age of 10, showed interest in programming. I showed her Scratch (from MIT), but I think my enthusiasm scared her off-- and she dropped it quickly. I regret that I didn't play it a bit cooler.
I was very excited when my daughter, around the age of 10, showed interest in programming. I showed her Scratch (from MIT), but I think my enthusiasm scared her off-- and she dropped it quickly. I regret that I didn't play it a bit cooler.
Enthusiasm can be shown in several ways. One interesting tidbit from psychological research is that praising children's results often leads to their own paralysis. Instead, parents should praise how hard they tried.
See Berkeley's Half Full blog:
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/raising_happiness/post/the_r...
See Berkeley's Half Full blog:
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/raising_happiness/post/the_r...
I'm familiar with that research, and agree with the techniques.
In this case, though, it wasn't that I praised her-- just that I got excited about how cool Scratch was. Suddenly, it wasn't that cool to her anymore.
Similarly, she also hates the Beatles. I mean, how is that even possible?
In this case, though, it wasn't that I praised her-- just that I got excited about how cool Scratch was. Suddenly, it wasn't that cool to her anymore.
Similarly, she also hates the Beatles. I mean, how is that even possible?
I hate the beatles.
I did the same thing, and my son was around the same age.
Now we just cultivate whatever interests he has, and try our best to answer any questions he has. He's interested in marine life, but is a bit too young to help out at the Seattle Aquarium. We've enrolled him in a few robotics classes and a programming class that used Game Maker [1]. He loved the Game Maker class, I'd bet that it was a gentler introduction than what I tried with Scratch.
FWIW, he's into video games too (we have a 360, NDS, Wii, PC), but we limit his time and prioritize digital entertainment last.
[1] http://www.yoyogames.com/make
Now we just cultivate whatever interests he has, and try our best to answer any questions he has. He's interested in marine life, but is a bit too young to help out at the Seattle Aquarium. We've enrolled him in a few robotics classes and a programming class that used Game Maker [1]. He loved the Game Maker class, I'd bet that it was a gentler introduction than what I tried with Scratch.
FWIW, he's into video games too (we have a 360, NDS, Wii, PC), but we limit his time and prioritize digital entertainment last.
[1] http://www.yoyogames.com/make
Yes, I tried to do the same, with my youngest when she was about 13 (and with Perl), but she quickly dropped it all, due to my enthusiasm.
1.
Teach him about managing money. Get him into the habit of saving from a very early age. And writing down all the expenses.
(Rockefeller had a rule for his kids. He gave them money for all the chores they did. And they had to donate 10% to the Church. And save 10%. But because they had to donate exactly 10% to the Church - and not 9.5% or 10.5%, they were required to keep an account of every penny they received. This: keeping track of money from an early age is the trick to making sure you never end up poor.)
2.
Teach him confidence. Elocution and public speaking and drama classes.
3.
Make him love reading. Dr. Seuss. Comics.
4.
Teach him how to delay gratification. The trick is to focus on other things.
5.
Teach him discipline in exercising early on. And healthy eating. Sports.
6.
Play all the wonderful board games besides the popular ones like Monopoly. Excellent for math and logic building skills. And figuring out the winning strategy.
These above are the building blocks. Its ok if he learns to code a bit late in life too.
Teach him about managing money. Get him into the habit of saving from a very early age. And writing down all the expenses.
(Rockefeller had a rule for his kids. He gave them money for all the chores they did. And they had to donate 10% to the Church. And save 10%. But because they had to donate exactly 10% to the Church - and not 9.5% or 10.5%, they were required to keep an account of every penny they received. This: keeping track of money from an early age is the trick to making sure you never end up poor.)
2.
Teach him confidence. Elocution and public speaking and drama classes.
3.
Make him love reading. Dr. Seuss. Comics.
4.
Teach him how to delay gratification. The trick is to focus on other things.
5.
Teach him discipline in exercising early on. And healthy eating. Sports.
6.
Play all the wonderful board games besides the popular ones like Monopoly. Excellent for math and logic building skills. And figuring out the winning strategy.
These above are the building blocks. Its ok if he learns to code a bit late in life too.
Sounds good. Look at boardgamegeek for some inspiration for the board and card games. (And don't bother with Monopoly, it's a game played for nostalgia value only. If at all.)
Games are also good for bartering and other social skills, besides math and logic. Settlers of Catan may be the obvious example in the English speaking world. Though Bohnanza is probably better.
Of course there are also lots of games you can play outdoors. Including just running around with your friends.
Games are also good for bartering and other social skills, besides math and logic. Settlers of Catan may be the obvious example in the English speaking world. Though Bohnanza is probably better.
Of course there are also lots of games you can play outdoors. Including just running around with your friends.
Get him legos, things he can build with his hands, internalize the process of building, designing, visualizing. Do lots of projects with him. Show him how stuff works. Give him musical instruments to play with and give him lessons.
Honestly programming isn't that hard. If he finds it interesting he can start teaching himself at any age, so I wouldn't focus on that. All that said, IANAD. congrats on being a dad!
Honestly programming isn't that hard. If he finds it interesting he can start teaching himself at any age, so I wouldn't focus on that. All that said, IANAD. congrats on being a dad!
If you'd like to give him a head start, give him room to decide what he'd like to do.
Don't limit his abilities, or options.
Perhaps he will not be interested in IT? He could be the man to cure Cancer.
Don't limit his abilities, or options.
Perhaps he will not be interested in IT? He could be the man to cure Cancer.
You're absolutely spot on but speak to any scientist or doctor and they will undoubtedly tell you that they would probably benefit from being ahead of the curve from a technological perspective. All of todays innovators embrace technology and all of todays technology require a distinct understanding of computing and/or electronic engineering.
Try to have the confidence that your kid will get to computing technology if they need it.
Your job is to enable them to identify their interests and follow their curiosity. Not so much to direct it.
Your job is to enable them to identify their interests and follow their curiosity. Not so much to direct it.
Agreed. Technology is an end. The means to success in the field (and almost any field) are focus, creativity, determination and optimism. Chances are your affinity for tech will rub off, and it's not exactly an uncommon hobby these days.
Good luck, it's always great to see somebody considering child education.
Good luck, it's always great to see somebody considering child education.
I came here to say this.
My parents have never shown any interest in IT whatsoever. My brothers, never. Me, as soon as I started messing around with a Commodore-64, I was hooked.
Give your kids the opportunities to explore everything and anything that they can. Something will click, if it's IT, then you can offer your guidance.
My parents have never shown any interest in IT whatsoever. My brothers, never. Me, as soon as I started messing around with a Commodore-64, I was hooked.
Give your kids the opportunities to explore everything and anything that they can. Something will click, if it's IT, then you can offer your guidance.
This might sound totally narcissistic but here's how I learned programming:
Taught to play Chess at an early age;
Taught another language (Russian, even though I never finished) at an early age (note that I didn't really like learning Russian, but it helped regardless);
Given Legos and Lincoln Logs. Basically, any toy that uses building blocks encourages the kind of thinking used in programming;
Read to often (but not about programming);
Taught BASIC (the concept of "goto" goes a long way in realizing what is possible.);
Got into creating game mods (as previous user recommended)
My parents actually sort of discouraged me from liking programming. If I would have, say, been really interested in chemistry and experimented with chemicals, they would have been less worried than when I would work on the computer for long periods of time.
It's also worthy to note that your son may not be interested in becoming a programmer, so don't try to consciously influence him. Surround him with the tools he needs. He'll find a way from there.
My parents actually sort of discouraged me from liking programming. If I would have, say, been really interested in chemistry and experimented with chemicals, they would have been less worried than when I would work on the computer for long periods of time.
It's also worthy to note that your son may not be interested in becoming a programmer, so don't try to consciously influence him. Surround him with the tools he needs. He'll find a way from there.
The number one thing to do as he grows: allow his curiosity to flourish, even if it means letting him hurt himself a bit. Some learn better through words. Some learn better through visuals. This is mostly rote memory stuff, and it's crap. Everyone learns better through experience, and experience builds both memory and extrapolation. He might only be six months old, but he's already got a keen brain for gathering data and deducing outcomes. It's intrinsic to human nature, and it's commonplace to stifle it with too many boundaries. Don't. I'm not saying you should throw caution to the wind, but don't be as protective as the societal norm says you should be.
Allowed to be curious, he'll get critical thinking skills, passion for exploring the unknown and street smarts out of the deal. He'll immediately be better at anything he sets his mind on than those who have been forced into learning only through written and verbal means.
Allowed to be curious, he'll get critical thinking skills, passion for exploring the unknown and street smarts out of the deal. He'll immediately be better at anything he sets his mind on than those who have been forced into learning only through written and verbal means.
Play the board game Go. It's simple, tactile and astoundingly complex. I've found wrapping my head around that game is a similar experience to wrapping my head around programming concepts.
Your son will come to you to play board games, whereas teaching programming is something where you'd be driving what your son learns.
Building a Go game on the computer is also not that difficult-- but developing AI for it leads deep into math and computer science.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Go
Your son will come to you to play board games, whereas teaching programming is something where you'd be driving what your son learns.
Building a Go game on the computer is also not that difficult-- but developing AI for it leads deep into math and computer science.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Go
The nice thing about go is the handicap system. You can play mutually fun games when there is a very large skill difference. Western games like chess? Not so much.
Plus the simplicity of the rules is helpful for learning for younger players. The rule of thumb is that if they are old enough to not eat the pieces, they are old enough to try playing.
Plus the simplicity of the rules is helpful for learning for younger players. The rule of thumb is that if they are old enough to not eat the pieces, they are old enough to try playing.
Other boardgames, say Euro style board and card games, are also fun and teach basic math, getting along with others, optimizing interaction within a framework of rules, creativity. They are also fun. Your child has to be a bit older for most games, though. Around 5 you can start with the easier games, if they youngsters are bright enough (and have enough patience).
You may be able to start with Go earlier, since the rules are so easy. Just be sure to start with a very small board.
You may be able to start with Go earlier, since the rules are so easy. Just be sure to start with a very small board.
> He's 6 months old currently so I have plenty of time!
You do indeed. Don't forget that. You have at least 8 years left before your kid should start doing this kind of thing. Just let him use a computer in a completely natural way, don't force anything on him. Programming is decidedly different from, say, playing the violin!
Also, less importantly, skip the shitty languages phase. It's not necessary to go through Pascal or BASIC before you can get to the good stuff: Python will do from the very beginning.
You do indeed. Don't forget that. You have at least 8 years left before your kid should start doing this kind of thing. Just let him use a computer in a completely natural way, don't force anything on him. Programming is decidedly different from, say, playing the violin!
Also, less importantly, skip the shitty languages phase. It's not necessary to go through Pascal or BASIC before you can get to the good stuff: Python will do from the very beginning.
> don't force anything on him.
This is absolutely true. One of the risks that you take when you have a child is that he'll turn out totally different than you. My father was a farmer, and so we're from basically two different worlds. He could never understand why I wanted to be on the computer on the time, I couldn't understand why he wanted to be outside all the time. But since neither of us tried to force each other on the issue, we got along just fine.
> It's not necessary to go through Pascal or BASIC before you can get to the good stuff:
http://hackety-hack.com/
</blatant-self-promotion>
This is absolutely true. One of the risks that you take when you have a child is that he'll turn out totally different than you. My father was a farmer, and so we're from basically two different worlds. He could never understand why I wanted to be on the computer on the time, I couldn't understand why he wanted to be outside all the time. But since neither of us tried to force each other on the issue, we got along just fine.
> It's not necessary to go through Pascal or BASIC before you can get to the good stuff:
http://hackety-hack.com/
</blatant-self-promotion>
> > don't force anything on him. ... Just let him use a computer in a completely natural way.
> This is absolutely true.
I disagree, sort of. I have a 5 yo and an 8 yo. If you let kids use a computer without guidance, they will learn how to use a computer from their friends at school. And what they learn is to fire up a browser (chrome if you've got it, otherwise Firefox) type "<some word> games" into Google and play thousands of really mind-numbing flash games. Go ahead. Try it.
> This is absolutely true.
I disagree, sort of. I have a 5 yo and an 8 yo. If you let kids use a computer without guidance, they will learn how to use a computer from their friends at school. And what they learn is to fire up a browser (chrome if you've got it, otherwise Firefox) type "<some word> games" into Google and play thousands of really mind-numbing flash games. Go ahead. Try it.
We're talking about two different things. I'm trying to say "Don't force Jimmy to program if he wants to be a football player" and you're saying "Help Jimmy to learn about what he's doing."
I'm not an expert on children, by any means, but I'd agree with both you and myself.
Also, I don't think there's anything wrong with playing flash games.
I'm not an expert on children, by any means, but I'd agree with both you and myself.
Also, I don't think there's anything wrong with playing flash games.
Certainly, Ruby is a fine first option. I'd recommend any Lisp derivative, or Javascript also.
I see no reason to learn Pascal, or BASIC, nor do I see its effectiveness.
I see no reason to learn Pascal, or BASIC, nor do I see its effectiveness.
Absolutely. I wrote a post about "Why Ruby?" a little while ago, but almost all of the arguments apply equally well to Python.
++ on Python. There is also a nice Python-for-kids textbook for ages 8+
http://www.briggs.net.nz/log/writing/snake-wrangling-for-kid...
And ++ on not letting your own enthusiasm scare him off. My mother started me on piano when I was 2 years and 10 months by playing herself and not letting me play (she already taught me to read music using flash cards). Depending on the kid, reverse psychology works pretty well.
And ++ on not letting your own enthusiasm scare him off. My mother started me on piano when I was 2 years and 10 months by playing herself and not letting me play (she already taught me to read music using flash cards). Depending on the kid, reverse psychology works pretty well.
Baby Sign Language can jumpstart learning and communication.
The best videos (IMHO) are from "My Smart Hands" at http://mysmarthands.com/
The founder has free videos on YouTube, an iPhone app, and a new Android app (which I use).
The best videos (IMHO) are from "My Smart Hands" at http://mysmarthands.com/
The founder has free videos on YouTube, an iPhone app, and a new Android app (which I use).
Baby Sign Language can jumpstart learning and communication.
Is there any evidence that this actually has any benefit?
Is there any evidence that this actually has any benefit?
Children are able to gesture long before they have the physical skills to speak. So, if you teach them some basic signs, they'll be able to communicate their needs months before they'd be able to speak them. As for whether it helps learning in general, I don't know.
Yes.
Dr. Marilyn Daniels at Penn State University has found that hearing students in pre-kindergarten classes who receive instruction in both English and ASL score significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than hearing students in classes with no sign instruction. Her studies demonstrate that adding visual and kinesthetic elements to verbal communication helps enhance a preschool child's vocabulary, spelling and reading skills.
This citation and many more studies are listed on http://sign2me.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=vie...
The most recent meta-study (as far as I know) has this to say...
Doherty-Sneddon concludes by arguing there are three different levels of support for the benefits of baby signing: indicative, if not evidentially strong, evidence from baby signing research; related evidence from deaf sign and hearing gesture/language research; compelling anecdotal support from families who have embraced the approach.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language_in_infants_and_to... Wikipedia has a Daniels, M. (October, 1994). The effects of sign language on hearing children's language development. Communication Education, 43, 291-298.
Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early childhood education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.
Daniels, M. (October, 1994). The effects of sign language on hearing children's language development. Communication Education, 43, 291-298.
Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early childhood education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.
Other researchers have found evidence that sign language supports early literacy skills.
Felzer, L. (1998). A Multisensory Reading Program That Really Works. Teaching and Change, 5, 169-183.
Wilson, R., Teague, J., and Teague, M. (1985). The Use of Signing and Fingerspelling to Improve Spelling Performance with Hearing Children. Reading Psychology, 4, 267-273.
Hafer, J. (1986). Signing For Reading Success. Washington D.C.: Clerc Books, Gallaudet University Press.
Koehler, L., and Loyd, L. (September 1986). Using Fingerspelling/Manual Signs to Facilitate Reading and Spelling. Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. (4'th Cardiff Wales).
Dr. Marilyn Daniels at Penn State University has found that hearing students in pre-kindergarten classes who receive instruction in both English and ASL score significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than hearing students in classes with no sign instruction. Her studies demonstrate that adding visual and kinesthetic elements to verbal communication helps enhance a preschool child's vocabulary, spelling and reading skills.
This citation and many more studies are listed on http://sign2me.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=vie...
The most recent meta-study (as far as I know) has this to say...
Doherty-Sneddon concludes by arguing there are three different levels of support for the benefits of baby signing: indicative, if not evidentially strong, evidence from baby signing research; related evidence from deaf sign and hearing gesture/language research; compelling anecdotal support from families who have embraced the approach.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sign_language_in_infants_and_to... Wikipedia has a Daniels, M. (October, 1994). The effects of sign language on hearing children's language development. Communication Education, 43, 291-298.
Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early childhood education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.
Daniels, M. (October, 1994). The effects of sign language on hearing children's language development. Communication Education, 43, 291-298.
Daniels, M. (1996). Seeing language: The effect over time of sign language on vocabulary development in early childhood education. Child Study Journal, 26, 193-208.
Other researchers have found evidence that sign language supports early literacy skills.
Felzer, L. (1998). A Multisensory Reading Program That Really Works. Teaching and Change, 5, 169-183.
Wilson, R., Teague, J., and Teague, M. (1985). The Use of Signing and Fingerspelling to Improve Spelling Performance with Hearing Children. Reading Psychology, 4, 267-273.
Hafer, J. (1986). Signing For Reading Success. Washington D.C.: Clerc Books, Gallaudet University Press.
Koehler, L., and Loyd, L. (September 1986). Using Fingerspelling/Manual Signs to Facilitate Reading and Spelling. Biennial Conference of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication. (4'th Cardiff Wales).
Dr. Marilyn Daniels at Penn State University has found that hearing students in pre-kindergarten classes who receive instruction in both English and ASL score significantly higher on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test than hearing students in classes with no sign instruction.
Thanks for providing these articles. I don't doubt that children can learn to sign before they can learn to speak (not a big leap considering that babies can understand language before they can move their vocal muscles well enough to produce it), or that they'd be happier being able to communicate earlier.
What I do doubt is that this has any long-term effects on their development, above and beyond the effect of learning more than one language. In any of the longitudinal studies, do they control by having a second group of infants learn two spoken languages?
Thanks for providing these articles. I don't doubt that children can learn to sign before they can learn to speak (not a big leap considering that babies can understand language before they can move their vocal muscles well enough to produce it), or that they'd be happier being able to communicate earlier.
What I do doubt is that this has any long-term effects on their development, above and beyond the effect of learning more than one language. In any of the longitudinal studies, do they control by having a second group of infants learn two spoken languages?
Anecdotal, I know, but the smartest guy I know (13 courses one semester at Waterloo, qualified to major in CS, actuary science, accountancy, pure math with minors in psychology and business. Currently working on his law degree, actuary tests, and CFA (certified financial advisor) while working full time as a chartered accountant) was taught baby sign as an infant. His younger brother was not. His younger brother is so much more creative and broad thinking whereas the eldest is a Spock like linear thinker. Trade offs.
I'd suggest giving them your old iPhone/iPod touch/Android device. My son has been playing with those since he was 1 1/2, and now (2 1/2) he is an expert at the interface. It's quite a testament to the UI to see how well a 2 year old can move around an iPhone. Then, he'll be able to "interface" with computers so much easier. They won't be this foreign thing, they'll be what shows them music videos.
From there, you have plenty of time. I know my dad started me out with BASIC when I was ~5: 10 PRINT "HI DADDY" 20 GOTO 10
After that, I didn't touch code until I was 13. So ultimately, my advice would be to not push them. If he wants to learn, he'll learn.
Just make sure they are familiar with technology, and you'll all be fine. Aside from that... read to him. Now. They pick it up quickly if you keep doing it consistently.
But really, don't worry about it and let him be a kid. The inner geek will come.
From there, you have plenty of time. I know my dad started me out with BASIC when I was ~5: 10 PRINT "HI DADDY" 20 GOTO 10
After that, I didn't touch code until I was 13. So ultimately, my advice would be to not push them. If he wants to learn, he'll learn.
Just make sure they are familiar with technology, and you'll all be fine. Aside from that... read to him. Now. They pick it up quickly if you keep doing it consistently.
But really, don't worry about it and let him be a kid. The inner geek will come.
Reading and Flash Cards. A lot of teachers hate flash cards, but the confidence to do the simple math allows for learning the hard stuff. Never underestimate the value of a good foundation. Learning how to actually use a dictionary might not be a bad idea.
[edit] when the kids old enough: legos - lots and lots of legos
[edit] when the kids old enough: legos - lots and lots of legos
I read through almost all the comments and no one mentioned spoken/written non-computer languages.
I would say introduce him to at least one foreign language like spanish, french, german, portuguese, japanese, or chinese. I learned spanish as I learned english, by age 3 I was fluent in both. I had the advantage of having a spanish teacher for a mother, but it gave me the building blocks for understanding the rules and concepts of other languages (on 4 so far, working on 5th). These rules, grammatical, syntactical, etc. can help with picking up things like computer programming later. I mean they are called languages for a reason.
I think that giving your son excellent communication skills will give him a huge leg up on all his peers. Make sure to include reading in both english and another language too if possible.
I would say introduce him to at least one foreign language like spanish, french, german, portuguese, japanese, or chinese. I learned spanish as I learned english, by age 3 I was fluent in both. I had the advantage of having a spanish teacher for a mother, but it gave me the building blocks for understanding the rules and concepts of other languages (on 4 so far, working on 5th). These rules, grammatical, syntactical, etc. can help with picking up things like computer programming later. I mean they are called languages for a reason.
I think that giving your son excellent communication skills will give him a huge leg up on all his peers. Make sure to include reading in both english and another language too if possible.
I agree with this completely. This is one skill I don't have that I definitely wish more emphasis was put on when I was younger.
1. Act rationally. Let him see you making rational decisions, and searching for explanations.
2. Make him talk for himself. Encourage him to meet and talk to as many different people as possible. This starts early, when he wants to hide behind your legs, and it's probably the most valuable skill he can have.
2. Make him talk for himself. Encourage him to meet and talk to as many different people as possible. This starts early, when he wants to hide behind your legs, and it's probably the most valuable skill he can have.
If I may add to the wonderful suggestions listed here. Give guidance - of course, but then let him go. Get "into" whatever it is that he is "into". Especially if you don't like it (and, it's not like mistreating puppies or some such). I love my parents, and they did the best job they could raising me, but there were some aspects of my childhood that I wish they were more actively involved with.
Mind you - I'm not blaming them - on the contrary I'm fully aware that every step I've made lead me to the point I am at in life and only I am responsible for my position.
Mind you - I'm not blaming them - on the contrary I'm fully aware that every step I've made lead me to the point I am at in life and only I am responsible for my position.
"Teach yourself programming in 10 years" by Peter Norvig (http://norvig.com/21-days.html)? There's Alice and Squeak. Funnily enough, I actually think I was more fascinated by the map editor in Starcraft than the game itself. (Of course, I've only started picking up a little bit of programming recently.) I think for slightly older kids who would have fun building robots and physical things that can do tasks, there's Lego Mindstorm.
Other than that, there are 2 books which cover kid prodigies which might be applicable. "In Code - A Mathematical Journey". [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Code-Mathematical-Sarah-Flannery-Dav...] It's the story of Sarah Flannery, who got interested in cryptography at a young age due to her family environment.
Another interesting book is "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin. [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Learning-Journey-Optimal-Perform...] Josh Waitzkin was an American chess champion, before burning out at around 20. He then picked up Taijiquan, becoming the Taijiquan world champion.
Other than that, there are 2 books which cover kid prodigies which might be applicable. "In Code - A Mathematical Journey". [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Code-Mathematical-Sarah-Flannery-Dav...] It's the story of Sarah Flannery, who got interested in cryptography at a young age due to her family environment.
Another interesting book is "The Art of Learning" by Josh Waitzkin. [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Art-Learning-Journey-Optimal-Perform...] Josh Waitzkin was an American chess champion, before burning out at around 20. He then picked up Taijiquan, becoming the Taijiquan world champion.
We learn what we love. Best way to get him to learn computers is to get him to love computers. You'll be setting him up for a life of social awkwardness and little success in the dating game, but you'll be doing the right thing for him. :)
I would start him on games and other "fun" stuff. Teach him to make his own games via BASIC or some equivalent thereof. If it's fun, he'll want to do it on his own. If you're just shoving it at him and it's not fun, he'll resent it and may even rebel against it.
I would start him on games and other "fun" stuff. Teach him to make his own games via BASIC or some equivalent thereof. If it's fun, he'll want to do it on his own. If you're just shoving it at him and it's not fun, he'll resent it and may even rebel against it.
My parents challenged my brother and me (when we were kids) by limiting our time on the computer, but only when playing games. The rule was essentially this: you can play games for an hour a day, OR you can try to make your own games on the computer for as long as you want. We were naturally engineering-minded and attracted to the magical black box that could do anything, so we took the challenge.
I find my son is surprisingly patient (more so than anyone else) to listen to me talk, even in technical depth, about the problems I'm working on at work. I even let him sit in my lap sometimes and watch me work on some code while I try to explain it to him. He certainly doesn't understand much, but he can see my interest and that makes him interested.
Sometimes you get a gem too.
After explaining something at work I asked him what he thought of my job and he said, "It sounds like your job is hard dad."
Sometimes you get a gem too.
After explaining something at work I asked him what he thought of my job and he said, "It sounds like your job is hard dad."
There are some things that you cannot help BUT teach your children. It's part of who you are, your daily habits, your aspirations, your worldview of what a parent should be.
Just by being your son, he is guaranteed 1000s of hours of practice and exposure to these topics.
For example, for me, it was Chinese math textbooks from an early age. I ended up attending Stanford, but my social skills suffered. For your son, I would guess reading, writing, math, and programming are covered.
Other things are invisible to you, and will be nonexistent to your son unless you identify and pursue those topics despite your unfamiliarity to them. For example, I didn't know what "sports" were, and still do not to this day. It's such a large part of society, but does not exist to me.
You should figure out what's "free" and what's "missing" for your son simply as a result of growing up in your household, and plan your educational priorities with that knowledge in mind.
One last thing: expose him to as many different people and social situations as possible. Camp, church, sports, etc etc etc. Whatever involves heavy interaction with other kids and people. The more the better. You may have to get heavily involved yourself to do this properly. Social skills, just like any other human ability, is simply 1000s of hours of practice.
Just by being your son, he is guaranteed 1000s of hours of practice and exposure to these topics.
For example, for me, it was Chinese math textbooks from an early age. I ended up attending Stanford, but my social skills suffered. For your son, I would guess reading, writing, math, and programming are covered.
Other things are invisible to you, and will be nonexistent to your son unless you identify and pursue those topics despite your unfamiliarity to them. For example, I didn't know what "sports" were, and still do not to this day. It's such a large part of society, but does not exist to me.
You should figure out what's "free" and what's "missing" for your son simply as a result of growing up in your household, and plan your educational priorities with that knowledge in mind.
One last thing: expose him to as many different people and social situations as possible. Camp, church, sports, etc etc etc. Whatever involves heavy interaction with other kids and people. The more the better. You may have to get heavily involved yourself to do this properly. Social skills, just like any other human ability, is simply 1000s of hours of practice.
Time. That's it, nothing more - just spend time with him. Reading, playing and doing lots fun things.
I have two kids and had massively complicated plans on how to 'program' them (and I mean that with nothing but respect for what you're trying to do) but you can over-think this. By all means encourage, support and mentor them but try not to project your ideal image of what they should be too soon.
All the little dude needs is your attention and time - things will work out great. Good luck!
I have two kids and had massively complicated plans on how to 'program' them (and I mean that with nothing but respect for what you're trying to do) but you can over-think this. By all means encourage, support and mentor them but try not to project your ideal image of what they should be too soon.
All the little dude needs is your attention and time - things will work out great. Good luck!
First and foremost I want to commend you for caring enough as a parent to be thinking about this, but I think you're asking the wrong question. While not a parent myself I believe I can speak from my experience of once being a child.
It is my humble opinion that children should be slowly, slowly introduced to technology. The first example that comes to mind is my own introduction to a pocket calculator in the late 1980's. I was given one before I had been exposed to the intermediate concepts of mathematics and looking back it hurt much more than it helped as it immediately became a crutch. I became more interested in getting the problem done than learning from the experience.
A slow and methodical approach to learning is what works best for me, and may not be optimal for everyone. Laying the right foundation is pretty much the only way to excel, and given the perverse incentives that abound in (America's) public schools you need to pretty much accept that it's up to you to make this happen for your child. As someone who didn't have it I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a parent that is intensely interested in helping you build from simple concepts to the advanced, learn how to learn, and how to think critically about everything you encounter. Having someone there to help you cope with the anxiety of being a novice (at life and learning) is worth more than I can express. Making sure your child understands the core of a concept before he or she has access to tools that shortcut and accelerate its use is paramount.
Also, don't be disappointed if they want to write, sculpt, draw, or paint all day. We need artists too.
Good luck.
It is my humble opinion that children should be slowly, slowly introduced to technology. The first example that comes to mind is my own introduction to a pocket calculator in the late 1980's. I was given one before I had been exposed to the intermediate concepts of mathematics and looking back it hurt much more than it helped as it immediately became a crutch. I became more interested in getting the problem done than learning from the experience.
A slow and methodical approach to learning is what works best for me, and may not be optimal for everyone. Laying the right foundation is pretty much the only way to excel, and given the perverse incentives that abound in (America's) public schools you need to pretty much accept that it's up to you to make this happen for your child. As someone who didn't have it I cannot stress enough how important it is to have a parent that is intensely interested in helping you build from simple concepts to the advanced, learn how to learn, and how to think critically about everything you encounter. Having someone there to help you cope with the anxiety of being a novice (at life and learning) is worth more than I can express. Making sure your child understands the core of a concept before he or she has access to tools that shortcut and accelerate its use is paramount.
Also, don't be disappointed if they want to write, sculpt, draw, or paint all day. We need artists too.
Good luck.
Kids can start programming a lot earlier if their introductory experience really minimizes frustration and time to gratification. Python is probably a good starting language for teenagers, but for pre-teens, who are much less cognitively mature, you'll have a lot more luck sooner if you introduce them to an IDE with great code completion and the power to make a GUI. Obvious candidates are Visual C# and Visual Basic, but I would strongly consider Adobe Flash as well. Children love making animations with Flash, and Flash's scripting language, ActionScript, has all of the features of a full-fledged programming language.
You can start even younger with HTML. HTML isn't programming, but it's relevant training for a developing brain. Balancing brackets, thinking logically, paying attention to detail, and the "write, run, debug" routine are all present when writing HTML.
My path to programming started when I discovered a copy of FrontPage Express (an old WYSIWYG HTML editor) installed on my computer. I quickly went from FrontPage, to HTML, to Flash/ActionScript, to Visual Basic, to C++. Obviously, that isn't the logical way for a teenager or an adult to learn programming, but for a child, it was incredibly natural.
You can start even younger with HTML. HTML isn't programming, but it's relevant training for a developing brain. Balancing brackets, thinking logically, paying attention to detail, and the "write, run, debug" routine are all present when writing HTML.
My path to programming started when I discovered a copy of FrontPage Express (an old WYSIWYG HTML editor) installed on my computer. I quickly went from FrontPage, to HTML, to Flash/ActionScript, to Visual Basic, to C++. Obviously, that isn't the logical way for a teenager or an adult to learn programming, but for a child, it was incredibly natural.
C#? My first intro to programming was logo, and im recommending it as a language for small children any chance i get. For older kids, ruby, python and (why not?) scheme are good choices. I remember the day my teachers replaced logo with pascal with dread. Don't do that. I lost interest in programming for about 2-3 years do to that, and had to rediscover my love with python much later.
But looking back, i believe languages don't mater that much, as long as the kid's having fun, you can have fun with C++ even, if it is introduced to you properly.
But looking back, i believe languages don't mater that much, as long as the kid's having fun, you can have fun with C++ even, if it is introduced to you properly.
I agree Flash is a great tool to teach kids. Actionscript is a great foundation language. I've taught some primary school kids Flash before and some of them made some pretty impressive games.
Not a direct answer to your question, but the fact that your son has a father who is asking himself that question already gives him a huge head start.
1. Restrict TV consumption - help him become selective and not a slave to that time waster.
2. Play music - it probably does not matter what type.
3. Think very hard about schooling.
2. Play music - it probably does not matter what type.
3. Think very hard about schooling.
Huge supporter of #1 - Around the start of high school my Dad cut the service provider. I thought it sucked for a while, but in the end I realized I was much more productive, and was generally more interested in activities / school.
when you say "think very hard about schooling" - are you saying you should really focus on it or think very hard to delay schooling?
Aside from the good meta points made above, and regarding programming/hacking/IT:
1. Get him started with Lisp and/or Scheme first, on Linux.
Here's a great story illustrating why (in addition to pg's must-read essays on his site), along with a reference to a great book, The Schemer's Guide (which is out of print, grab one while you can still find one in used stores):
http://www.trollope.org/scheme.html
2. Linux only (or BSD, or Minix, or similar FOSS OS). You learn far more about how computers and computing work using Linux than with Windows or Mac. After he's become proficient with recursive thinking and all the other goodness Lisp teaches, get him K&R, a laptop or PC with Linux on it, and kernel hack with him.
3. Throw out the TV. 100% trash. Even 'educational' stuff is not really educational in that it is passive learning, which does no one any favors. Learning is doing, analyzing, deconstructing, hacking, making, building, not passively watching.
4. Second the advice to read to him and with him as much as possible. For all the reasons mentioned above.
1. Get him started with Lisp and/or Scheme first, on Linux.
Here's a great story illustrating why (in addition to pg's must-read essays on his site), along with a reference to a great book, The Schemer's Guide (which is out of print, grab one while you can still find one in used stores):
http://www.trollope.org/scheme.html
2. Linux only (or BSD, or Minix, or similar FOSS OS). You learn far more about how computers and computing work using Linux than with Windows or Mac. After he's become proficient with recursive thinking and all the other goodness Lisp teaches, get him K&R, a laptop or PC with Linux on it, and kernel hack with him.
3. Throw out the TV. 100% trash. Even 'educational' stuff is not really educational in that it is passive learning, which does no one any favors. Learning is doing, analyzing, deconstructing, hacking, making, building, not passively watching.
4. Second the advice to read to him and with him as much as possible. For all the reasons mentioned above.
Here is a good approach: Answer every question he asks. Help him find his interest. And as Patrick says, read to him now. (Just not Knuth).
> Answer every question he asks
Louis CK would disagree with you there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdc28bZ90G4 :)
Louis CK would disagree with you there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdc28bZ90G4 :)
This theory seems out of fashion, but I still feel like learning to play a classical musical instrument, like the violin or piano, helps develop both the analytical and creative sides of the brain. Plus, you end up with a skill that you can do outside of using the computer.
Of course he's still a bit young, but it helps to start as early as possible, especially with the string instruments.
Of course he's still a bit young, but it helps to start as early as possible, especially with the string instruments.
First, I'd say, be flexible. No learning plan survives first contact with the child.
Reading is critical, but I wouldn't push it till the child is ready. Once they're ready to read, it comes quickly when taught correctly. But both you and they need to be willing to put in 1/2 hour a day, every day, for a few months.
My kids love knowing how stuff works, and as a engineering type, I'm pretty well situated to give them some good answers and point them in the right direction. David Mcauly's books are good, esp. The way things work, and Castle.
Finally, throw away your tv. It makes them do other things that take brainpower, even if it is just playing with dump trucks in the sand box. Also, when there's no tv, the stories come from books (and from their heads), so there much more of a pull to go digging for hose stories in a way that will help them in the long run.
Also,YMMV. Kids are all different, and will respond differently to the same people and stimuli. So you have to change and adapt.
Reading is critical, but I wouldn't push it till the child is ready. Once they're ready to read, it comes quickly when taught correctly. But both you and they need to be willing to put in 1/2 hour a day, every day, for a few months.
My kids love knowing how stuff works, and as a engineering type, I'm pretty well situated to give them some good answers and point them in the right direction. David Mcauly's books are good, esp. The way things work, and Castle.
Finally, throw away your tv. It makes them do other things that take brainpower, even if it is just playing with dump trucks in the sand box. Also, when there's no tv, the stories come from books (and from their heads), so there much more of a pull to go digging for hose stories in a way that will help them in the long run.
Also,YMMV. Kids are all different, and will respond differently to the same people and stimuli. So you have to change and adapt.
Another random thought, though probably for slightly older kids: getting into programming through game modding. Starcraft 2 editor, WC3 editor, XML editing/modding, eventually Python editing, etc.
The bait is the chance to tweak and modify your games to make them more fun and personal for you. Could be a fun and pain-free segue into programming proper.
The bait is the chance to tweak and modify your games to make them more fun and personal for you. Could be a fun and pain-free segue into programming proper.
Haha, that's how I got one of my first introductions to programming too, through the Starcraft map editor. It's kind of fun learning through a game.
Many years later, for a group assignment on entrepreneurship, we submitted a custom map in Warcraft III that simulated competitive strategies among startups. We basically played Warcraft III in class while our lecturer was smiling approvingly. One of the most fun lessons in university..
Many years later, for a group assignment on entrepreneurship, we submitted a custom map in Warcraft III that simulated competitive strategies among startups. We basically played Warcraft III in class while our lecturer was smiling approvingly. One of the most fun lessons in university..
I owned a kids toy/developmental products company, be careful not to over stimulate your child. Over stimulation is just as bad as neglecting your child. This is the time to introduce your child to multiple languages, just have them playing in the background. Remember children are just large neural networks that work by recognizing patterns.
Don't focus on the subject or topic as much as the problem solving process. Children learn through pattern recognition until they have mastered language which leads to thought.
Remember children have short attention spans so only have them work on a subject/topic for a brief period or the children will develop a negative connotation with the subject.
A few people have mentioned mobile applications they are awesome. I developed a few apps that have been strongly adopted by organizations that work with developmentally challenged children. The simplicity and interactivity really makes a difference.
Don't focus on the subject or topic as much as the problem solving process. Children learn through pattern recognition until they have mastered language which leads to thought.
Remember children have short attention spans so only have them work on a subject/topic for a brief period or the children will develop a negative connotation with the subject.
A few people have mentioned mobile applications they are awesome. I developed a few apps that have been strongly adopted by organizations that work with developmentally challenged children. The simplicity and interactivity really makes a difference.
I have three pieces of advice I wish every parent in the world could see:
1. Always give your son a new healthy challenge. Let him develop as fast as he can while he is in his prime. If school has a fixed tempo of learning, challenge him in other areas; sports, music, critical thinking, computers, social skills, moral values and ethics, practical skills, helping others, etc.
2. Read "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. He has a few points that made me realize just how much it means to come from a good background, with parents that realize how their kid should be raised to become a independent and successful person.
3. Realize that your son will never become exactly what you wanted him to be. You can introduce him to the world of IT, and you can show him how it is fun to produce your own programs or web pages, but he has to take the choice to pursue an IT career by himself.
1. Always give your son a new healthy challenge. Let him develop as fast as he can while he is in his prime. If school has a fixed tempo of learning, challenge him in other areas; sports, music, critical thinking, computers, social skills, moral values and ethics, practical skills, helping others, etc.
2. Read "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. He has a few points that made me realize just how much it means to come from a good background, with parents that realize how their kid should be raised to become a independent and successful person.
3. Realize that your son will never become exactly what you wanted him to be. You can introduce him to the world of IT, and you can show him how it is fun to produce your own programs or web pages, but he has to take the choice to pursue an IT career by himself.
Obviously you need to get him interested in technology as a whole first - things like ipods, netbooks, etc. What first got me interested in programming when I was a wee lad was 'build your own level' tools for video games like age of empires. The first scripting I ever did was for AI behavior in these games, which really got me going. Then my parents got me a visual basic CD (the reeealllyy simple one) and believe my first program was text-based Russian roulette - A bit morbid for a kid, but you get the point. I think the key for children to be interested in making their own things (programming or otherwise) is to incorporate game mechanics so they can have fun in the process!
Talk to your child. Share experiences with him and talk about what you've experienced. You'll both learn a lot.
When my daughter was in the early years of elementary school I was just getting started with web development. I was working at home and she showed an interest in what I was doing. I tried to teach the basics of html so she could create web pages. She definitely had the intelligence to succeed at it but it didn't appeal to her. I didn't push it. We found something else to share: reading books and visiting bookstores. She's developed a broad intelligence that is helping her have a fulfilling life without a line of code in sight.
When my daughter was in the early years of elementary school I was just getting started with web development. I was working at home and she showed an interest in what I was doing. I tried to teach the basics of html so she could create web pages. She definitely had the intelligence to succeed at it but it didn't appeal to her. I didn't push it. We found something else to share: reading books and visiting bookstores. She's developed a broad intelligence that is helping her have a fulfilling life without a line of code in sight.
This book, "Hello World: Computer Programming for kids and adults" http://www.manning.com/sande/ might be a good place to start once your child is older. It's written by a father and son and documents his son's foray into programming using Python. I believe his son was 10 at the time.
Personally, my parents got me an Intellivision at the age of 6 and I played it every day. By around 4th grade, I wanted to start writing my own games so they got me a Commodore 64 and a couple of books with game listings in Basic and I started having more fun writing games than playing them.
Personally, my parents got me an Intellivision at the age of 6 and I played it every day. By around 4th grade, I wanted to start writing my own games so they got me a Commodore 64 and a couple of books with game listings in Basic and I started having more fun writing games than playing them.
I was thinking on this recently myself:
Throw out the TV (He watches some DVD's on a laptop) Buy Lego/Duplo/Kapla/Puzzles Read to him every night / let him (learn to) read
On a side note: Anybody have thoughts on leveraging KhanAcademy.org ?
Throw out the TV (He watches some DVD's on a laptop) Buy Lego/Duplo/Kapla/Puzzles Read to him every night / let him (learn to) read
On a side note: Anybody have thoughts on leveraging KhanAcademy.org ?
I've always thought something like turtle graphics (e.g. http://www.sonic.net/~nbs/webturtle/) is a neat way to teach kids programming/algorithm basics.
It's simple enough to understand the basics, yet powerful enough to be engaging enough to keep a child's interest, providing them a direct visual output to their 'code'.
I would stay away from the higher level stuff like Visual Basic; there is so much magic going on under the hood that it becomes difficult to really internalize the basic concepts of programming.
It's simple enough to understand the basics, yet powerful enough to be engaging enough to keep a child's interest, providing them a direct visual output to their 'code'.
I would stay away from the higher level stuff like Visual Basic; there is so much magic going on under the hood that it becomes difficult to really internalize the basic concepts of programming.
We actually made a turtle graphics DSL in Ruby for Hackety Hack, because turtle graphics are so awesome. An example:
http://github.com/hacketyhack/hacketyhack/blob/master/sample...
http://github.com/hacketyhack/hacketyhack/blob/master/sample...
Get an iPad.
We have several apps we use with our 9-month daughter. It's her favorite toy by far--the minute she sees it, she's off like a rocket tugging at the feet of whoever is using it. It has flashcard apps, a cartoon dinosaur that talks to her, books that read themselves to her while highlighting the words, cool fractal displays that respond to her touching the screen, etc. It's well-built and has withstood many baby-related mishaps.
If you can get him to love computers, everything else you're worried about should fall into place.
We have several apps we use with our 9-month daughter. It's her favorite toy by far--the minute she sees it, she's off like a rocket tugging at the feet of whoever is using it. It has flashcard apps, a cartoon dinosaur that talks to her, books that read themselves to her while highlighting the words, cool fractal displays that respond to her touching the screen, etc. It's well-built and has withstood many baby-related mishaps.
If you can get him to love computers, everything else you're worried about should fall into place.
"I was thinking that I could introduce him to things like BASIC not long after he masters the art of counting to ten but I would love to hear from you guys."
I was talking with a neighbor about how my son was growing.
I started to say, "Back when he was little..."
Only to be interrupted with, "He's only four weeks old."
In ten years, your son will still be a little kid, even though he leads the league in scoring, has a black belt, and can explain photosynthesis.
As he grows all he will really want is to spend time with you. Don't waste it. You're building a person not a programmer.
I was talking with a neighbor about how my son was growing.
I started to say, "Back when he was little..."
Only to be interrupted with, "He's only four weeks old."
In ten years, your son will still be a little kid, even though he leads the league in scoring, has a black belt, and can explain photosynthesis.
As he grows all he will really want is to spend time with you. Don't waste it. You're building a person not a programmer.
I attended a TEDx event yesterday and a few parents had their middle-school aged kids there. It was an eye opener for a few of them.
My parents watched a lot of PBS or National Geographic type documentaries with me as a child. It gave me a view of the world outside of mine.
Internships. I did mine in my late college years but if you can start kids in high school, again it gives them a view of the future (possibly THEIR future) and great insight on paths to take.
Best of luck to you!
My parents watched a lot of PBS or National Geographic type documentaries with me as a child. It gave me a view of the world outside of mine.
Internships. I did mine in my late college years but if you can start kids in high school, again it gives them a view of the future (possibly THEIR future) and great insight on paths to take.
Best of luck to you!
Teaching how to program may be a fun experience, and I think it is valuable, but I don't know if it is such a big advantage. Because programming takes a lot of time, and that is subtracted from other activities that may be more important in the long run, like reading, socializing and playing. In my case, I will show my son the basics, but I don't think it is important that he really learns that at an young age.
Teach them how to solve problems, and how to work through getting stuck. I've seen lots of kids (and adults) who give up when they can't figure something out right away or get it to work the first time. Learning how to work through this will certainly help once you are ready to introduce more IT specific knowledge, but will be invaluable in several aspects of their life.
Let him be interested in what he's interested in.
Just make sure you're ready to accept the fact that he may actually end up disliking programming. And if he does and moves in another direction, encourage him and nurture his passion. I have seen far too many kids prodded by their parents to pursue fields kids have no interest in, myself included. Luckily, my flame never went out, but to others it has.
With my 8 years old boy I covered Logo and MIT's Scratch. Now we're getting a pimped up arduino starter kit for us. Oops, I mean, for HIM! ;)
We're also fiddling a bit with Google's App Inventor, which uses http://education.mit.edu/drupal/openblocks jut like Scratch.
We're also fiddling a bit with Google's App Inventor, which uses http://education.mit.edu/drupal/openblocks jut like Scratch.
Make it clear from the start that success comes from hard work not necessarily raw intelligence, it took me quite a while to overcome this idea instilled in me by my parents (i.e. when your kid does something good, "well done, you must have worked so hard to do that" opposed to "well done, you're so smart")
Not sure why you're being downvoted. I personally think this is pretty good advice.
I never really excelled academically yet I became quite succeessful through pure hard work. Unfortunately I got a lot of bad advice as a kid and it was drilled into me that I would never be as successful as 'smart' people. Had I known that I could counter-act my disadvantage with pure grunt work then I probably would have been more successful from a younger age.
I never really excelled academically yet I became quite succeessful through pure hard work. Unfortunately I got a lot of bad advice as a kid and it was drilled into me that I would never be as successful as 'smart' people. Had I known that I could counter-act my disadvantage with pure grunt work then I probably would have been more successful from a younger age.
Alice and Scratch both look like good learning tools (and have educational research backing them up).
I think it's more important though that there's someone who loves hacking in the child's life. Children pick up on genuine enthusiasm quickly, whether it's from you, your spouse, or someone who's a role model.
I think it's more important though that there's someone who loves hacking in the child's life. Children pick up on genuine enthusiasm quickly, whether it's from you, your spouse, or someone who's a role model.
I would definitely teach 3yr & 1yr a lot of Mathematics & Finance. Flashcard and iPhone apps definitely helped.
IT skills become more of a necessity once they hit school. I see Programming as a form of art, unless you are interested in it. It's not going to be of any interest to them, like it is to me.
IT skills become more of a necessity once they hit school. I see Programming as a form of art, unless you are interested in it. It's not going to be of any interest to them, like it is to me.
Finance? I'm extremely skeptical, but my time on HN has taught me to be curious instead. Expand?
I would think that giving my some basic finance knowledge would be beneficial to them in the future.
- like saving up for a rainy day.
- saving a small amount like $1 a day = $365 saved a year.
- how compound interests work.
Having started young, they will be money wise when they grow up and not having to work for every pay check.
- like saving up for a rainy day.
- saving a small amount like $1 a day = $365 saved a year.
- how compound interests work.
Having started young, they will be money wise when they grow up and not having to work for every pay check.
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Don't forget about physical development! I think Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a great martial art for kids. It teaches discipline and because you can spar at 95% without hurting your opponent it is very practical in real life self defense situations.
Teach him to think for himself. Being able to think things through will definitely help with a career in programming/IT, but it is also very valuable skill for life itself. This means knowing when to 'baby' him and when not to.
In the first few years, I'd say the following three things: LEGO, LEGO and LEGO.
just let him be a kid
My parents gave me a head start in math. I spent hours solving problems instead of socializing or playing outside. I deeply resent them for it. I hope you don't push your son too hard.
Answer every question.
> He's 6 months old currently
You're already 15 months too late. If you haven't started on Baby Einstein, do it right now.
In addition, instead of teaching ABCs, teach him to sing Q..W..E..R..T..Y.. . Trust me, it'll make his life a whole lot easier.
You can also buy DVDs where kids sing their multiplication tables. Unfortunately, the ones I have come across is in Mandarin. But why not have him learn a second language at the same time?
If he doesn't have a sister, buy him dolls so that he can pull them apart to see how things work.
You might think I'm jesting, but I'm aware of parents who are doing some of these things.
You're already 15 months too late. If you haven't started on Baby Einstein, do it right now.
In addition, instead of teaching ABCs, teach him to sing Q..W..E..R..T..Y.. . Trust me, it'll make his life a whole lot easier.
You can also buy DVDs where kids sing their multiplication tables. Unfortunately, the ones I have come across is in Mandarin. But why not have him learn a second language at the same time?
If he doesn't have a sister, buy him dolls so that he can pull them apart to see how things work.
You might think I'm jesting, but I'm aware of parents who are doing some of these things.
Baby Einstein is crap, like most of the stuff which is forced on parents: http://www.google.com.au/search?q=baby+einstein+is+crap
head-start in IT is a great thing to do for your kids, but more importantly is providing him a great living environment that cultivates creativity. Let him decide what he wants to be based on his own interest. I know alot of kids grew up learning musical instruments, and developed great skills, won competitions and etc, but never followed up that career after they came out of college.
buy Lego. Lots of it.
Legomindstorms - once they kids get older.
Don't you find lego is very kit-based (you buy a box and get to build a specific "thing" - wouldn't it be better to buy some building toy which allows one to build whatever they want).
How about meccano? (again not the kit based).
What other construction toys?
Don't you find lego is very kit-based (you buy a box and get to build a specific "thing" - wouldn't it be better to buy some building toy which allows one to build whatever they want).
How about meccano? (again not the kit based).
What other construction toys?
Sort of kit based, but there aren't that many lego pieces that only work for one type of thing, everything can be repurposed if they have enough other bits and pieces. (though frankly, right now all thelegos in my house are in dump truck form)
Konects are kinda cool, but the variety of what's straightforward to make is lower than Lego.
Plain old blocks are the other big construction thing around here, supplemented with some rough cut rounds from our forest. Overall though, I'd say that the legos are used at least as much as all the other construction stuff combined. Ymmv, I've got three boys, 6,3.5 and 1.
Konects are kinda cool, but the variety of what's straightforward to make is lower than Lego.
Plain old blocks are the other big construction thing around here, supplemented with some rough cut rounds from our forest. Overall though, I'd say that the legos are used at least as much as all the other construction stuff combined. Ymmv, I've got three boys, 6,3.5 and 1.
> "Don't you find lego is very kit-based (you buy a box and get to build a specific "thing")"
People always say this about Lego recently. They still have a ton of generic building block kits which are great.
My kids love doing both though. They love having the kits, building them, and keeping them 'for display'. But we have boxes and boxes of general lego bits, of which they're always using to build hogwarts castle, a school, or some contraption.
I think Meccano takes more patience. But good when they're older.
K'Nex is ok, but not as flexible in terms of what you can build with it than Lego IMHO.
People always say this about Lego recently. They still have a ton of generic building block kits which are great.
My kids love doing both though. They love having the kits, building them, and keeping them 'for display'. But we have boxes and boxes of general lego bits, of which they're always using to build hogwarts castle, a school, or some contraption.
I think Meccano takes more patience. But good when they're older.
K'Nex is ok, but not as flexible in terms of what you can build with it than Lego IMHO.
You DO NOT have plenty of time! Kids grow up so quickly that before you know it, he'll be 18!
Let him make decisions for himself, explore things, and try at something that matters.
just let him enjoy the time spend with you, give him problems, not solutions. Give him options, be open to listen and show interest in his activities, you will be surprised of how much you will also learn from him.
I was once where you are now. My kids are not yet grown up, but both are older than your six-month old, so I can offer a bit of perspective. I will stick with my eldest here and will detail some of his life at the moment for perspective on what we did. I see this as giving you the benefit of learning from our experience and perhaps (hopefully) improving upon it. Our son is doing a lot better than many children his age, but I am sure there are others who are doing better than he. I, myself, wish I had accomplished half of what he has done by the time I was his age.
My eldest is 8 years old. He knows the basics of computer programming already, but he taught it to himself. Where we are native English speakers, he reads and speaks German without an accent. He also understands some French and a smattering of other languages. He reads at a 10 year old reading level, and has mathematics skills at the same level. His writing level is a bit lower. He is also one of the most affable children in his class, known and loved by all, and is generally thought of as conducting himself well, better than many of his peers. He has a solid grasp of the solar system and the fundamentals of astronomy; last year he found the four Galilean moons of Jupiter himself. On his own, he built his own electronics switch when he was barely six and still plays with electronics. He also has recently finished reading about WW1 and WW2, touching upon the Russian Revolution and the Great Depression along the way. And these were not little kid readings. He read "Im Westen nichts neues" - the German original of "All Quiet on the Western Front" - as well as "The Diary of Anne Frank" and several other works from various angles. I am already getting books for him out of the local university library. I say all this to illustrate that he is pretty far ahead of the game in many ways, and he has enjoyed all of it.
Now this is the tack that we have taken. First, we are big fans of the Mozart Effect on children. So we played Mozart a LOT when he was in utero and when he was a baby. We tended to play one of the major composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach) more often than other types of music until he was seven. We took to heart Hitler's observation about the importance the influences up to seven play. Therefore, we specifically kept from him any music that came out prior to about 1965. After that point, the lyrics and music start to become more complicated as protests and the civil strife of the time enter the music and then become "free love" and all that. We will now let him hear some of that, but not until he had a foundation from which to understand it.
One of our major guiding principles is to avoid something that might be abusive. "Abusive" is here defined as allowing something to enter your child's world for which s/he has no or very little framework for understanding it. So we were at pains to give him a framework and help him understand things in life as he encountered them early on.
Finally, we try our best not to say "no" when he wants to explore something. Rather, we do our best to find a way that he can safely delve in. For example, he found out the sixth graders at school were studying WW2. He wanted to learn, too, but the school wouldn't let him because he was in third grade. He approached me, and I cobbled together a reading list and a list of films that he could use to work through WW2. As WW2 makes no sense without WW1, he started there. So the point here is to never, ever, EVER limit your child but to take their curiosity as an invitation to find a way to help them interact with the world in a safe way.
We started playing and speaking French with him when he was two. When he was three, he caught a whiff of German and decided that he would rather learn German than French, so we switched (I speak both). We used Early Advantage's Muzzy program and cannot recommend it enough. It is an award-winning program that was developed by the BBC for teaching foreign languages to children. Combined with doing it at home, we also sought out speakers of the target language to help him learn. Today, my son reads full length novels in German and is yet to watch Apollo 13 in English. When I ask him what they said on Apollo 13, his first reply is "Houston, wir haben ein Problem!"
Finally, we encourage his learning to fight and staying physically fit through judo. This has helped a lot, and my son has consequently taken to reading Sun Tzu and thinking about strategy.
So, to sum it up, don't worry about tech. If you take care of the building blocks of logic and language and foster your child's natural desire to explore, there is no end to what they will do and where they will go.
My eldest is 8 years old. He knows the basics of computer programming already, but he taught it to himself. Where we are native English speakers, he reads and speaks German without an accent. He also understands some French and a smattering of other languages. He reads at a 10 year old reading level, and has mathematics skills at the same level. His writing level is a bit lower. He is also one of the most affable children in his class, known and loved by all, and is generally thought of as conducting himself well, better than many of his peers. He has a solid grasp of the solar system and the fundamentals of astronomy; last year he found the four Galilean moons of Jupiter himself. On his own, he built his own electronics switch when he was barely six and still plays with electronics. He also has recently finished reading about WW1 and WW2, touching upon the Russian Revolution and the Great Depression along the way. And these were not little kid readings. He read "Im Westen nichts neues" - the German original of "All Quiet on the Western Front" - as well as "The Diary of Anne Frank" and several other works from various angles. I am already getting books for him out of the local university library. I say all this to illustrate that he is pretty far ahead of the game in many ways, and he has enjoyed all of it.
Now this is the tack that we have taken. First, we are big fans of the Mozart Effect on children. So we played Mozart a LOT when he was in utero and when he was a baby. We tended to play one of the major composers (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach) more often than other types of music until he was seven. We took to heart Hitler's observation about the importance the influences up to seven play. Therefore, we specifically kept from him any music that came out prior to about 1965. After that point, the lyrics and music start to become more complicated as protests and the civil strife of the time enter the music and then become "free love" and all that. We will now let him hear some of that, but not until he had a foundation from which to understand it.
One of our major guiding principles is to avoid something that might be abusive. "Abusive" is here defined as allowing something to enter your child's world for which s/he has no or very little framework for understanding it. So we were at pains to give him a framework and help him understand things in life as he encountered them early on.
Finally, we try our best not to say "no" when he wants to explore something. Rather, we do our best to find a way that he can safely delve in. For example, he found out the sixth graders at school were studying WW2. He wanted to learn, too, but the school wouldn't let him because he was in third grade. He approached me, and I cobbled together a reading list and a list of films that he could use to work through WW2. As WW2 makes no sense without WW1, he started there. So the point here is to never, ever, EVER limit your child but to take their curiosity as an invitation to find a way to help them interact with the world in a safe way.
We started playing and speaking French with him when he was two. When he was three, he caught a whiff of German and decided that he would rather learn German than French, so we switched (I speak both). We used Early Advantage's Muzzy program and cannot recommend it enough. It is an award-winning program that was developed by the BBC for teaching foreign languages to children. Combined with doing it at home, we also sought out speakers of the target language to help him learn. Today, my son reads full length novels in German and is yet to watch Apollo 13 in English. When I ask him what they said on Apollo 13, his first reply is "Houston, wir haben ein Problem!"
Finally, we encourage his learning to fight and staying physically fit through judo. This has helped a lot, and my son has consequently taken to reading Sun Tzu and thinking about strategy.
So, to sum it up, don't worry about tech. If you take care of the building blocks of logic and language and foster your child's natural desire to explore, there is no end to what they will do and where they will go.
I have a take on this one.
Im single right now, but I love programming and wonder how i'd like to pass my trade information to my kids (when I get married and have a family). I see programming at some level in the future as essential - like playing football (or basketball) or bicycling etc. For example, I'm guessing almost every youth will be able to use markdown on a blog post by 2040 or some HTML.
First of all today many people see programming as a career. I think by 2040, every kid will be a programmer at some level. I'm assuming by then, a youth then will need to know how to program to survive - it will be a basic elementary skill like we learn in school. So a school curriculum could be something like: draw a face using ascii characters on the screen using print statements in say grade 5. Use a for loop in grade 6. Function call in grade 7. Recursive functions in grade 8. Grade 9 - Advanced programming - introduction to the x86 CPU (optional - you can drop computers and take some other subject if you want). Grade 10 - put the CPU into 32 bit mode with 5 page tables. Do you think these things are very hard for these age level? I don't think so.
What if by then - kids played football/or hockey on some days of the week and got together with friends and built a website on another day and played with Lego on yet another? I think by the time you reached college then, and you had Physics as a subject, you would probably write a program to simulate 3 billiard balls on a table and someone strikes them with a 4th. Or implementing a problem solver applying Kirchoff's laws to circuits using Graphs traversal algorithms which she learned somewhere around high school. Today I think people see careers in the IT industry as an end, in 2040 I think Programming will be a means to an end - they will permeate every branch of study you are dealing with - be a Psychology, or Physics or Maths or anything else - creating a website will be normal.
A lot of people are saying IT skills may not be necessary because your child won't work in IT; I think basic IT and programming skills will help people in the next generation understand and integrate in the world around them - so for me programming could be right alongside Math that you learn in high school (how many people use factorization of polynomials in day to day life (which we learned in school)? )
So I think you are right about teaching your kids some basic programming.
I'm just wondering what is it that I had difficulties with/enjoyed: 1) Typing - throw out the QWERTY keyboard and start your child on a Dvorak keyboard from day one - and do typing lessons with her 2) I remember in basic you had screen 2 - 640x480 mode graphics. You could do some great drawing stuff with that - like a circle in a for loop whose radius and origin kept changing with each iteration. 3) Writing PC boot code as more advanced stuff (like when your child reaches high school and still wants to learn more other wise you can stop at recursion and let her take it forward from there)
First of all today many people see programming as a career. I think by 2040, every kid will be a programmer at some level. I'm assuming by then, a youth then will need to know how to program to survive - it will be a basic elementary skill like we learn in school. So a school curriculum could be something like: draw a face using ascii characters on the screen using print statements in say grade 5. Use a for loop in grade 6. Function call in grade 7. Recursive functions in grade 8. Grade 9 - Advanced programming - introduction to the x86 CPU (optional - you can drop computers and take some other subject if you want). Grade 10 - put the CPU into 32 bit mode with 5 page tables. Do you think these things are very hard for these age level? I don't think so.
What if by then - kids played football/or hockey on some days of the week and got together with friends and built a website on another day and played with Lego on yet another? I think by the time you reached college then, and you had Physics as a subject, you would probably write a program to simulate 3 billiard balls on a table and someone strikes them with a 4th. Or implementing a problem solver applying Kirchoff's laws to circuits using Graphs traversal algorithms which she learned somewhere around high school. Today I think people see careers in the IT industry as an end, in 2040 I think Programming will be a means to an end - they will permeate every branch of study you are dealing with - be a Psychology, or Physics or Maths or anything else - creating a website will be normal.
A lot of people are saying IT skills may not be necessary because your child won't work in IT; I think basic IT and programming skills will help people in the next generation understand and integrate in the world around them - so for me programming could be right alongside Math that you learn in high school (how many people use factorization of polynomials in day to day life (which we learned in school)? )
So I think you are right about teaching your kids some basic programming.
I'm just wondering what is it that I had difficulties with/enjoyed: 1) Typing - throw out the QWERTY keyboard and start your child on a Dvorak keyboard from day one - and do typing lessons with her 2) I remember in basic you had screen 2 - 640x480 mode graphics. You could do some great drawing stuff with that - like a circle in a for loop whose radius and origin kept changing with each iteration. 3) Writing PC boot code as more advanced stuff (like when your child reaches high school and still wants to learn more other wise you can stop at recursion and let her take it forward from there)
Teach your child two things:
How to learn.
How to keep his/her creative in a world that tries it's best to kill it.
How to learn.
How to keep his/her creative in a world that tries it's best to kill it.
As well as the fundamentals such as reading, writing & mathematics, I fully intend to introduce my son to computing from a very early age.
I was thinking that I could introduce him to things like BASIC not long after he masters the art of counting to ten but I would love to hear from you guys.
How would you suggest I give my son a head-start in an IT orientated world? He's 6 months old currently so I have plenty of time!