Ask HN: Options for a “computer programming” topic for homeschooling | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Options for a “computer programming” topic for homeschooling

2 pointsjmspring3 comments

With things going on as they are, the GF is coordinating with friends of hers to form a home school group (using a program offered through the local district). I was asked if I could maybe do a 2x/month computer programming related tutorial. This would be for 7th grade girls. Are there existing programs worth looking at to leverage? If not, what would be some recommendations?

My plan is to gauge their interests and go from there, but I do think something that encompasses some form of easily observable results/progress is important.

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CS Unplugged[0] is a collection of activities, games, and projects which teach introductory Computer Science concepts without requiring computers. Many of these would be great for homeschool or a video-sharing "virtual classroom".

Processing[1] is a Java-like programming language and environment which makes it easy to write games and digital art. Good performance, excellent documentation, a lean but powerful standard library, and skills that are transferrable to many other "mainstream" languages.

If you're working with a very small group, try to build your curriculum around their interests. Do they enjoy storytelling? Perhaps you could introduce interactive fiction and build some text-based adventure games. Computers can also be used for music, drawing, composing poetry, and so on. The classic "Twenty Things to Do with a Computer"[2] still offers many good ideas.

[0] https://www.csunplugged.org/en/

[1] https://processing.org

[2] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/37596692_Twenty_Thi...

[Reposting an old comment, with some minor changes]

How many hours per week?

Python with the turtle package looks like a nice starting point. I didn't use it, but I programmed in Logo when I was young. Some link found in Google https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/draw-square-and-rectangle-in-t...

When she grows up, she can abandon syntax, and use all the parenthesis she saved while she was young.

Also, don't underestimate Excel. It's very powerful and you can do a lot of interesting things. For example, I like recursive defined sequences, like A2=(1+A1)/2, A3=(1+A2)/2, A3=(1+A2)/2, ... ?

Look at Crash Course Computer Science on YouTube and Khan Academy's programming course

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNlUrzyH5r6jN...

https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming

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