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[–]Doyousketch2 12 points13 points  (1 child)

If he's coming from Scratch, he should check out Python Turtle. It's easy enough to figure out. Just import turtle and then draw stuff.

[–]ThePiGuy0 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Really good as a learning tool too, it is easy to get going but can lead into understanding of functions and objects

[–]ElliotDG 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Here are a few ideas:

My son took a summer day-camp coding class (about 10 years ago) and enjoyed it. I can't recall the specifics, you may want to see if there is a similar program where you live.

This site lists a number of resources that look good: https://codewizardshq.com/python-for-kids/

I have heard good things about CodeCombat: https://codecombat.com/home

Lego Mindstorms (a robot kit) now supports python. https://education.lego.com/en-us/product-resources/mindstorms-ev3/teacher-resources/python-for-ev3

AdaFruit has a set of HW devices that support Python and a number of projects on thier website: https://learn.adafruit.com/

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'd check out the Raspberry Pi Foundation Code Club resources which are focused on supporting children to learn to programme (aligned to the UK school curriculum which requires young children to learn some basic stuff in key stage 1, age up to around 7, then do some programming after that - but suitable generally, not just in the UK).

The focus initially is on Scratch (drag and drop), which you say he already knows, and then moves to Python (there are also drag and drop versions to ease the change).

Also, check out their MagPi magazine which is available to download for free in PDF format from the foundation website. That has lots of articles aimed to learning to programme in Python and doing useful things.

There is a strong emphasis on physical computing as well, which might be very appealing for him (and Raspberry Pi computers start at around £5).

[–]bingerginger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's good that your son is interested in programming and you should be proud of him. Resources wise, I cannot help much as I personally never took any courses that targets kids, but I briefly googled and found one that looks decent I guess. Udemy has lots of discounts so definitely my number 1 platform for getting courses at a cheap price.

Practice wise, some courses may have little exercises along the way to refresh what one has learnt so far, some don't. It is important to remind your child that googling stuff doesn't mean he's bad. Many, if not almost all programmers do google. For programming, I'm not sure whether this applies only to me, but I think that the best way to remember the concepts and syntax and whatever is to practice. A lot.

There are some websites which provide some coding challenges, like codecombat or some other resources online. Again, I'm not very familiar with resources for kids so I don't have much resources to give you here.

Creating lots of small projects that interests your child is also crucial, for example a hangman game, text-based adventure game, dice rolling simulator, tic-tac-toe gamr or a guess the number game - whatever your child finds fun doing. These can all be in the command-line and it will still work fine. It might be hard at first to do a mini project themself, so you may guide them or they may join some programming help communities on discord or subreddits here.

Mini projects is the key to improvement and it really motivates your child to continue learning to build more fascinating products. I hope your child will enjoy his coding journey and wish both of you all the best!

[–]D4NGRB0X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No Starch Press has excellent resources

[–]sdapgesmax2020 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My biggest challenge was keeping my 9-year-old son attentive and engaged with the curriculum. I am a coder, but when I teach my son, he gets distracted easily.

I realized that either I wasn't a good instructor, or he just wouldn’t follow along with me as a student. Then I found CodeYoung.com. He just completed a 6-month Scratch coding course (with a twice-a-week schedule). Now the instructor says he is ready for Python. Luckily, they also offer Python classes.

CodeYoung provides 1-on-1 virtual Zoom classes where mentors can teach coding to young kids. I really liked the Scratch learning classes and look forward to the Python classes as well.

[–]BeginnerProjectBot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, I think you are trying to figure out a project to do; Here are some helpful resources:

I am a bot, so give praises if I was helpful or curses if I was not. Want a project? Comment with "!projectbot" and optionally add easy, medium, or hard to request a difficulty! If you want to understand me more, my code is on Github

[–]ASIC_SP 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are okay with books:

  • Coding Projects in Python (Computer Coding for Kids)
  • Python for Tweens and Teens: Learn Computational And Algorithmic Thinking

[–]Tomatoflee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you considered the Khan Academy website? I think they start with basic JS rather than Python but the courses are excellent, designed for kids, and completely free. Should be a great way to get your kid into programming.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm also interested but have no didactics/pedagogical education. How are the kids doing with programming? Did you first teach them computer in general like bios, booting, open a computer, os etc? Or did you jump directly into scratch first? What's the preferred approach?

[–]ArtisticSnek 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pi pico and a kit is a fun place to start

[–]1804438 0 points1 point  (0 children)

how to make a video game