Comment by wslh

6 days ago

I think it's best to start close to the goal and move into problem-solving once something is up and running and needs improvement or optimization. Focusing on CS fundamentals isn't always worthwhile, unless there's a genuine interest in computer science or math olympiad style problems. Today, we can operate at a higher level since most core algorithms are already available in libraries and frameworks.

Just my two cents: if your kids aren't very interested or ready for that kind of knowledge now, you might find that in a few years they can learn it surprisingly quickly if they're interested then. What takes months to teach early on might work in days or hours later.

Also, don't forget to explore https://www.alice.org/ it's a 3D way to get started.

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wslh

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B1FF_PSUVM  6 days ago

> if your kids aren't very interested or ready for that kind of knowledge now

Roger that. I showed some Python magic to a pair of 10 year (or so) olds, they weren't too thrilled. Also Lego (my childhood magic) didn't do much for them. But they liked Minecraft well enough...

One of them is now an engineer, slinging C and Python as needed.

Wowfunhappy  6 days ago

Have you used Alice recently, and if so what platform are you on? It seems to have become extremely crash-prone on recent versions of macOS, to the point that the school where I teach is planning to remove it from the curriculum next year, even though we otherwise like it a lot.

  • wslh  6 days ago

    The last time was on Windows, there were more active before. I think in macOS you should play with a good Java installation support.