From: Derek Greene <topcoder AT mindspring DOT com>
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: Re: Teaching a child to program in C
Date: Wed, 09 Sep 1998 00:24:11 -0400
Organization: MindSpring Enterprises
Lines: 47
Message-ID: <35F602EB.5228464C@mindspring.com>
References: <35F56D01 DOT 4BC6 AT erols DOT com> <rootr9xm9lnp DOT fsf AT world DOT std DOT com>
Reply-To: colskywalker AT thepentagon DOT com
NNTP-Posting-Host: user-37kb9bt.dialup.mindspring.com
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Precedence: bulk

Excuse me sir, but I am 14, I started in Basic at the age of 9.  Probably
the only reason I didn't start sooner was because my family didn't own a
computer until then.  Frankly sir, from my experience, a bright 7 year
old could easily learn C with some simple perseverence, and an
intelligent child _will_ have it.  I know, I was there.  A 7 year old
will get as frustrated with Basic or LOGO as with C because the
principals are the same all over, just a different interface to the
principal.  I encourage any kid who wants to learn to program, and I say
they should be as aggressive in their learning as they want to be.  As
for the gentleman with the original question:

Buy a ' x For Dummies' book like Qbasic Programming for Dummies, C for
Dummies, et cetera, they are written in a form a baby could understand
(and that's probably not far beyond the truth :-).

Mr. Breton, your LOGO suggestion is a good idea, but don't denounce the
possibility of a 7 year old learning C, and also spell BRIGHT as such and
not brite, as it is incorrect.

Derek Greene

Tom Breton wrote:

> "John S. Fine" <johnfine AT erols DOT com> writes:
>
> >
> > I have a very bright 7 year old who wants to learn to
> > program.  I program mainly in assembler and occasionally
> > in C.  I know there are better first programming laguages
> > than C, but I would rather teach him a language that I
> > am comfortable in myself (and assembler is clearly a
> > worse choice).
> >
>
> Pardon me for making a suggestion that you may have already decided
> against, but have you considered LOGO?  It's the only language I can
> think of that is meant for a child.  And frankly, I don't see a
> 7-year-old, no matter how brite they are, using C without so much
> frustration as to make it a lasting negative experience.  "Getting"
> the idea of writing source code at all is a tall order for a
> 7-year-old boy.
>
> If he picks up LOGO easily and seems bored with it or frustrated with
> how little it can do, then is the time to introduce real languages.
>
>         Tom