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Will appreciate some ideas if anyone has been through this.
Our 4th grader does not want to go to Summer camp this year. He is intolerant of heat and most of the summer camps in our vicinity are outdoor summer camps. Those indoors with an inclination towards engineering, coding are very expensive for our budget.
I would like to find something engineering or coding related that is interesting and would keep him busy for at least half of the day so that better part of the day is spent in educating himself rather than playing TV games or watching silly YouTube videos. The goal is not to teach engineering or coding but to develop the underlying abilities like logic. None of us in our household is from engineering or IT background so we have absolutely no clue on how to proceed in this.
We got him a couple of kits of SnapCircuit. He likes them but within 20-30 minutes he is done.
I would love to know if there are any at-home programs one can do or web-based programs that one can enroll?
Will appreciate some ideas if anyone has been through this.
Our 4th grader does not want to go to Summer camp this year. He is intolerant of heat and most of the summer camps in our vicinity are outdoor summer camps. Those indoors with an inclination towards engineering, coding are very expensive for our budget.
I would like to find something engineering or coding related that is interesting and would keep him busy for at least half of the day so that better part of the day is spent in educating himself rather than playing TV games or watching silly YouTube videos. The goal is not to teach engineering or coding but to develop the underlying abilities like logic. None of us in our household is from engineering or IT background so we have absolutely no clue on how to proceed in this.
We got him a couple of kits of SnapCircuit. He likes them but within 20-30 minutes he is done.
I would love to know if there are any at-home programs one can do or web-based programs that one can enroll?
Many thanks in advance.
get the books "basic c for dummies" and "linux for dummies"
get a cheap laptop and install ubuntu 16.04 operating system on it.
He can code using using a text editor and run it through the terminal window.
get him something with a microcontroller that he can program like a car or drone.
put him in a mandarin and spanish class while his brain is still pliable.
No. Just no. Yoga and gymnastics require you to be very flexible in order to survive in it, let alone thrive. I'm pretty sure flexibility is not a strong point for most nonathletic kids.
What I do recommend is high-intensity individual sports, with simple movements that don't require strength: jumping jacks, sit-ups, push-ups, etc. The kind of stuff he can pick up quickly and do at his own pace. Perhaps there are cardio boot camps for kids, where it doesn't matter how well you do, as long as you participate. Just no team sports; a weak player will be ostracized there. While I see nothing wrong with a computer camp, I do believe that a camp must have some an outdoor physical component. Doesn't have to be all-day football and running drills, but some form of daily exercise is a must. No keyboards or screens in the world can ever replace the sensation of wind on your face, the sight of tall trees on a clear day, the runner's high after vigorous cardio, and the "ahh" feeling when you chug cold water after being outside for hours.
I do agree with buying a Linux laptop. There's also Raspberry Pi, which is a programmable circuit board embedded into a plastic chassis. It can do everything a simple computer can do: predict weather, emulate old video games, show world clocks, put on LED light shows, etc.
Last edited by MillennialUrbanist; 03-25-2018 at 02:59 PM..
I teach coding to 4th graders. It's a lot of fun. There are MANY organizations that run free after-school, in-school, and camp programs targeted for your child's age.
For your child's age, I would suggest starting with Scratch. Forget text editors and all of that stuff. That can come later. Most teaching tools for this age use a game format.
Scratch is one of the most popular platforms, but there are other drag and block style platforms for kids. Codavengers uses a dungeons and dragons theme. It's a little violent so schools are reluctant to use this one.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Are you near a big city? My library has a huge coding after-school program for elementary/middle school kids, where kids compete.
The Great Courses are currently offering a Python video course for $79.95, (DVD version, normally $269.95). The video download version is twenty bucks less. The course consists of 24 31-minute video lessons and a 314-page guidebook/coursebook, printed with the DVD version, PDF with the download version. Both versions include the videos available via streaming.
However, be sure to read the user reviews before purchasing. Many have noted that the program code in the video is wrong and will not run if entered as is. One review even noted that it became a game where his students played, "What's wrong with this code?" If you son is "smart" and a "problem solver", this might be a nice challenge for him.
I heartily suggest getting a Linux machine for your son. But in my case, I'm more partial to the Mint version of Linux than Ubuntu. Mint is very similar and an offshoot of Ubuntu, so either are highly recommended.
p.s. Nobody that I know of pays full price for The Great Courses material. They are constantly running sales of one type or another. The current one is nice because in addition to the discounted prices, there is no shipping charge.
p.p.s. I question if Python through The Great Courses are appropriate for a 4th grader. Maybe if he's smart. Probably not if he is a typical 4th grader.
@Dangerous-Boy,
I have been thinking of Raspberry Pi but as I said, I myself have no idea how to use it but I have been looking for YouTube videos that can teach him. It's our experience, some of the things he learns best if he has a visual aide.
He has been taking Yoga lessons for 2 years, primarily for meditation purpose but they also do Yoga poses and that has definitely helped him with the flexibility.
He started Tae Kwon Do earlier this year and slowly getting a hold of it.
He also plays Violin for almost 2 years now.
The languages are definitely on my mind but with all the above activities, 5 days of the week, he is left with a little time to focus on school work, still, he is doing great school. But with this level of engagements, he is going to have a tough time in the high school. So within a year, we plan to finalize what he will continue.
@MillenialUrbanist,
You are spot on with the exercise. They have a good PE program at school, 2 days a week and those two days, he comes home literally sweaty, even in the freezing winter. But just 2 days are not enough, I would like him to do it every day. We are not aiming for any team sports but the plan of daily physical exercise is certainly in place this summer.
@Coney,
Thanks a lot for all links. After reading your comment, I went to our local library to see if there are any books on this and I found Scratch coding books. I got the books to read so that I can show him some videos on this type of coding. He also loves MineCraft and I got him CodaKid kit for Minecraft. We have not started using it as I do not want any distractions in studies but once summer vacation starts, he will get that.
We are about an hour from NYC but our local library does not have these free coding lessons.
In an ideal case, I would like to have someone to teach him or be a part of some program. I will go through all the links that you have given during the weekend to understand the better implementation of this idea. May I PM you if I have any more questions?
@volosong,
Some of the Great Courses DVDs are great but most of them are geared towards the adult. I got their meditation DVD so that DS could understand what meditation is and why one should do it, but they were just talks, no interesting pictures. It was very difficult for him to keep him focused. But on the other hand, YouTube videos geared towards children about meditation, he got the concept within 5 minutes.
I myself use these DVDs and they are pretty good. So I will definitely keep these in mind for future. Our library has almost all of their collection.
Yes, please DM me. One of the organizations that I work with seems to be winding down. Otherwise, I would suggest coming into Manhattan on a Saturday when they offer a free workshop for the kids and the parents. They just had one, but for some reason, I don't see anything planned for the future. It's hard to learn coding from books. Better to learn it by working on one of those websites geared for children. A fourth grader can teach themselves without an adult. Most of them do, but they need to be the kind of kid that can stay on task without giving up when they get frustrated. Ask your middle school if they participate in An Hour of Code in December. Also, does your child's school have a robotics program? Many kids learn computer science and coding through ROBOTC, a computer language. In my area, robotics programs are extremely popular and they start in 4th grade. Once you learn one of the basic languages (python, javascript, etc.) it isn't hard to learn others because they are very similar. The block coding , like Scratch, teaches kids the fundamentals, which they can then transfer to "hand coding" and using frameworks. You can see on Thimble by Mozilla some of the other projects made by kids.
No. Just no. Yoga and gymnastics require you to be very flexible in order to survive in it, let alone thrive.
As a longtime yoga participant, I'll just toss out there that this ^^ is completely inaccurate.And, FWIW, the very essence of yoga is going at your own individual pace.
That said, I don't see any real reason to push yoga camp (if that's even a thing) on a kid who is interested in coding. There is no reason not to go with already established interests for summer recreation.
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