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Comment by dreamdu5t | Hacker News Reader

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dreamdu5t

Some kids become astronauts, should we start an aeronautics program in schools?

Lots of kids go into accounting, should we create an accounting program in schools?

Some kids go into engineering, should we create an engineering program at schools?

This kind of thinking is so dumb and short-sighted...

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I'm not sure if you actually watched the video but it's clear that no "program" was created and that no education funds were supporting this young man. He used his own initiative to start a club at school and a single teacher sponsors the club. That's not a program. It's an opportunity for those interested in making apps to come together and share in the experience. Would aeronautics, accounting, or engineering clubs be beneficial to those interested in such subjects? Absolutely. There's nothing dumb or short-sighted in this young man's thinking. He thinks it's fun to share app dev with people who also think it's fun.

I think it's actually better that it isn't run by the school. Very few teachers would be cool enough to allow their kids to make fun or extremely random stuff (or if a curriculum was designed, it probably wouldn't involve celebrity-inspired Whack-A-Mole). Most programming curricula use contrived exercises and aren't nearly engaging enough for elementary school students. A student-led club on the other hand has the freedom to do anything the kids want.

Kids are interested in accounting?

At my school we used to have design & technology classes that could be thought of as introductory engineering courses.

If a aeronautics program would be financially viable to a school I think that would be awesome!

People are taught the fundamentals of math and science, but not logic or computer programming. I personally think accelerated introduction to algebra would be beneficial.

I personally think that programming should be taught hand in hand with math in school so that students actually understand the logic behind what they are learning. Right now all they are doing is memorizing formulas and equations to pass their class.

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