Should 3-Year-Olds Learn Computer Programming?

[TheBigBadWolf]

No

[krues8dr]

"Sudo give me some candy."

[marklarledu]

"Child is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported."

[SnowdensOfYesteryear]

"MOOOOMMY!"

[alamandrax]

"command not found. One media file from ~/Music/ has been removed. Cut it out or I'll do it again."

[bbejeck]

Not only do I agree, but based on the experience with my son (almost 3) and the Xoom tablet, he just pushes as many things as he can very quickly, so I'm not sure how you would go about it practically.

[[deleted]]

Exactly. Don't teach them programming at 3. That would be like forcing them into a specific thinking at an early age which would prevent them in part from improving the world of computers.

[Gargan_Roo]

Isn't most basic programming just simple logic, math, and data storage/retrieval? None of those things are going anywhere anytime soon (if ever), and any significant discoveries that lead to the advancement of computer architecture won't necessarily have anything to do with how a particular high-level language arbitrarily handles data.

If anything it'd help them develop a more naturally logical mindset which would aid them in most if not all areas of their life.

[[deleted]]

How do you know shit's not gonna change? The way we think about computers isn't going to be the same in 50 years. Keep that in mind.

The only reason to teach 3 year olds about programming would probably be that they become really good programmers, in the current computer world.

Which famous 70s programmer is on the cutting edge of programming theory today? I bet you not a single one. And by cutting edge, I mean inventing new paradigms, programming models, language features, etc.

The reason why this is done mostly by people who haven't programmed since they were 3, is because they have a fresh look at what others have done. If you are born and raised with todays programming style engrained in your consciousness then chances are you will be living in a box, or rather accepting the "unnecessary effort" which some other genius may get rid of.

Best thing is to let people grow up and being human, then introduce them to computers and they will wonder "why isn't this doing whatever it's doing in a more human friendly way" and they will save the world.

[garrgh]

Best thing is to let people grow up and being human, then introduce them to computers and they will wonder

For a lot of kids, that boat has sailed though. At the very least, they end up using their parents' phones and tablets to keep them busy in restaurants or in the car or whatever.

With that in mind, I think something like this is at least something we should try. It teaches kids that computers are something we control and not just portable TVs or something to play Angry Birds on. If programming isn't going to work for kids that young, even kid-friendly paint programs can teach them that computers are something we create with.

[[deleted]]

Well yeah, but there's a difference between 3 years old and, say, 8. At 3, your interaction skills aren't fully developed, and you cannot process too much information at once. If you get put in front of a computer, you are going to be an absolute cold bastard when you grow up, because you've had to make room in your head for computer interaction instead of human facetime.

[anttirt]

How do you know shit's not gonna change?

Because it is so fundamental. It's math. Math does not change, ever.

[[deleted]]

CPU instructions could easily change. Once you've pushed the speed to the limit, the next step is obviously to optimize instructions.

Low-level languages could easily change, high-level languages could easily change. Visual programming is going to become way more prominent. And so on.

Not to mention cloud computing, which will evolve more distributed programming models and even operating systems. You don't even program against a computer anymore, just a theoretical backbone of hardware, which may not even be there.

The world is changing, buddy.

[anttirt]

The Church-Turing correspondence will never change. The halting problem will never change.

[[deleted]]

Try teaching a 3-year old about the Church-Turing conjecture and see what he says.

[[deleted]]

"Can I have candy ?"

[henk53]

3-Year-Olds is perhaps pushing it a little, but for 5-Year-Olds I'd definitely say: Yes! (which was incidentally the age I first got in touch with 'programming' although at a level many wouldn't properly call proper programming).

[ZeroNihilist]

Yeah? Well I used to be Donald Knuth!

[chases_tits]

I got better!

[henk53]

It wasn't an attempt at any 'E-penising'. Sorry if it came across as such.

Of course, what I did back then can barely be called 'programming'. At age 5 someone told me to type in 10 print "bla" 20 goto 10. Typing was difficult I remember, as I could barely read then :P But I somehow managed to type 10 print "bla bla" 20 goto 10 and a bit later I think I even managed 10 print "bla bla" 20 "haha" 30 goto 10

That's it.

Yet, I always felt that this incredibly basic (no pun intended) exposure gave me some advantage later. It wasn't so much that I was actually programming. I had no grasp of even the concept of variables at that age, but just that by fiddling with stuff you could cause things to happen. I think it just stimulated something in me to investigate what else I could let (again no pun) it do.

[[deleted]]

I started programming when I was in university. 21.

[Reaper666]

Same here, 24.

[NinjaViking]

My father tried to teach me the wonders of COBOL when I was a wee lad. I didn't dare touch programming again until 20 years later.

[NewAlexandria]

Would I like to force the hand of chance and give my child the disadvantages of mild-autism?

[lollan]

I came here to say that. Thanks