Have I Gone Too Far?
Have I gone too far?
When I saw that Microsoft had finally launched their “small basic” from their dev labs in the world for mass public geek-dad-who-wants-their-children-to-be-code-hackers hysteria… I kinda freaked out.
My thought process…
OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG… *breathe* … OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG! Roenne can learn some of the true ninja coding skills!
Direct from Microsoft:
Small Basic is a project that’s aimed at bringing “fun” back to programming. By providing a small and easy to learn programming language in a friendly and inviting development environment, Small Basic makes programming a breeze. Ideal for kids and adults alike, Small Basic helps beginners take the first step into the wonderful world of programming.
Now, I grew up on BASIC so no wonder I got all freakified. Built on the newer .NET Framework, it consists of just 15 keywords (but has a 62 page PDF instruction manual)…
But, after pausing (and coming back to reality) I wondered if my personal passion and interest has gone a little too far. Is it “fair” to introduce my daughter to a world I love? How can I do it in a “neutral” way so that she wouldn’t follow my interests out of fear or out of misguided attempts to “please her father”…?
Perhaps I’ll give her a choice of that or Scratch or Alice or …
*ack!*
Did you know that if you spell out Bill Gates name and then get the ASCII values for each character and sum them together the total is 666.
Just sayin.
peace|dewde
Haha! I used to love playing with visual basic, this sounds really exciting!
Yes, I have considered all possibilities and have come to the beautiful realization that there is “grace enough” for even that.
amen and amen.
oh… and wait a sec… aren't YOU a MICRO$OFT GUY??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?1? 111111111 hypocrite!!!!!
for you, or for your kids….? hehe.
Microsoft aside, this looks like a neat way to introduce people, young or old, to the basics (no pun intended) of programming.
Regarding the personal passion questions at the end of your post, that's a tough area. My wife and I have opted for the “let them try something without us over-glorifying it” Sometimes we can pull it off, sometimes we can't. We both grew up playing soccer (she was a 4 year starter in college, too) so it was really hard not to push that on our kids when they started getting old enough. One liked it, one didn't (the third is just now old enough and does gymnastics instead).
So, no real empirical proof about one approach or the other from my side. I think that the fact that you are aware of it is probably the biggest thing. Now you can pay attention to how you and she are doing if you decide to get her going with this (or something else you are passionate about).
It sounds like Roan has a great Appa either way
Bubba,
dude….! you play soccer too? i LOVE that game! in fact, it IS the game. way2go.
thanks for your thoughts about roenne and being an 'appa'… we're trying to be “fair” in our representation of our interests but it's difficult to interpret her responses (and of course, she's only 2… sheesh!)
In regards to soccer though… she WILL be playing that sport. no questions, or time out.
… j/k.
or not.
John have you seen Visual Studio express for kids?
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/bb3087...
It's the world's game, my friend. Unfortunately, I haven't played in a few years and my lazy bones are much worse for that. I'm hoping to pick up in a, dare I say it, over 35 league in the Spring. The wife won't be playing for a while since she's about to pop with kiddo #4
My oldest is 8yo and I'm still having trouble interpreting her responses sometimes. I think that may be more because I didn't grow up with any little girls in the house…
Peace, bro.
droooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool.
oh, you shouldn't have… bad lightvox. bad.
#4? holy smokes. we're working out our salvation with fear and trembling on #1…
but thinking about upping it to 2 and 3. word.
Heh, BASIC programmers never die, they GOSUB and don't RETURN.
I know that was awful.
holy smokes, geek alert.
You are truly an electronic geek, aren't you. More specifically, a computer geek.
Go ahead, admit it. You're a nerd.
lol
God bless1
LOL yeah I know right. M$ has been very good to me and my family.
peace|dewde
Haha!
That was terrible. But I still LOLed.
peace|dewde
of course you lol'd. taht is your nature.
whatever pays the bill$. so you are a COMPROMISER!
haha x2!
i am. that i am.
john…..i think you need help.
thanks. i love the authenticity. i am thus rebuked! where's my restoration…
You are not the only one who thought this was cool…
I am a software developer. I studied Computer science at University and have been “programming for pay” since 1999. I love writing software. I love the buzz you get as you “kill the beast” (that will make no sense to those non programmers out there).
My Dad is a software developer, and has been his entire professional career. I remember punch cards because they used to lie around the house and get used for shopping lists.
When I was 8 years old I begged my dad to get me a ZX Spectrum. He did because he loved computers. He tried to teach me basic but that did not work so well. All I wanted to do was play games (but I still have the “teach yourself basic on the ZX Spectrum” book).
I think I disappointed him that day
The next thing that gave my dad hope was Logo. Looking back it was probably one of the best ways to teach a kid programming basics, iteration, abstraction (I never tried recursion). I remember pronouncing one evening that “when I grow up I want to be a logo programmer”
Years later when I left High school, angry at God because he would not tell me what to study and what to do with my life (I think I wanted a hand to write things on the wall for me), I sat in the councillors office at University trying to decide on an extra course cause I was short on credits. Eventually I chose Computer Science because it seemed the “lesser of 2 evils” when compared to all the “…ologys”.
I was very soon bitten by the bug and here I am today, wondering how old my daughter has to be before I introduce her to logo (don't worry I know 2.5 years is too young), perhaps I should have a look at SmallBasic (or Scratch or Alice or …).
(Now my comment is longer than the original blog post)
Wow bro…. you pwned me here. and i remember logo… wow. you've got a crazy testimony here and would love to hear more… i think we're “connected”.
thanks for your thoughts, brilliant.