Teaching Kids Programming
Criticisms, ideas, and ramblings from the trenches of the industry
It seems like an awful lot of middle and upper-class professionals want to teach their kids programming these days. And wherever there are middle and upper-class professionals who want to teach their kids something, the educational experts with neat products to teach that thing are sure to follow.
There’s no shortage of books, toys, research papers, methodologies, buzzwords, and overpriced gadgets devoted to turning kids ages two to 12 into future well-paid programmers!
If your child is interested in robotics you can get a Kibo:
Your child puts the blocks in a line, scans the barcode on each one, and the robot follows the scanned instructions in order.
That’s right, starting at only $200, this clever product takes advantage of your child’s love of robotics and programming and prepares them for a future career in retail!
Seriously, I’ve demonstrated this toy for hundreds of children and parents —it’s like doing check out with a line of impatient customers and a temperamental scanner.
In a similar vein, there’s the Fisher-Price Think & Learn Code-a-Pillar ($50):
Designed for kids as young as two, your child will have hours of fun mashing the power button and throwing the segments around the room! It cleverly introduces programming by enticing the parent (under the duress of having spent $50 on this thing) to play with the toy themselves in the intended manner while frantically explaining programming and robotics to their crying toddler who just wants the damn caterpillar back.
Not going to lie, I think I have more fun with the caterpillar than the toddlers do.
If neither of those is quite right, there are dozens of toys that introduce all four main skills that every professional programmer and roboticist uses on…
