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How Old are the Propeller Kids? How the teach them? — Parallax Forums

How Old are the Propeller Kids? How the teach them?

prof_brainoprof_braino Posts: 4,313
edited 2010-12-15 16:13 in Propeller 1
I'm interested getting my kids interested in engineering.
Various posts indicate a couple people seem to have a similar interest.

My idea is always take advantage of the efforts of smarter people, SO:

How old is (are) the kid(s)? - Mine are kindergarten and elementary school
How are they in relation to other kids - one is advance math & reading, another is drooling, rest are average.

How to teach? Starting point is forth and robot club. To me forth is easiest, but I see Hanno has success with 12Blocks, so that may be the option.

What is most appropriate start point for age group? I've seen that the kids always rise to the challenge, no matter how difficult. There's always at least one group that aces everything. Where this is due to a clever statement of challenge or due to dad doing all the work I do not know.

What is/was first successful project/scenario? (school robot competition/dance bots? etc) none for me yet

Is there data related to this on how kids learn and/or how to get them interested? (no clue here)

Any ideas are welcome, no matter how off the wall they might first appear. I've been working towards this for years, and I wish to at least get started before they graduate from college.

Comments

  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2010-12-14 07:32
    Starting with a robot is great. Gets the kids interested. The language for controlling the robot has to be simple enough for them to make the robot perform some simple task. I am thinking of an old 8 bit micro that had an on screen robot that could draw on the screen as it moved and had a very simple language. The program to draw a circle was something like:

    pen down
    repeat 360
    step 1
    turn 1
    end repeat
    pen up

    Can't remember the name of the program or the uP it ran on but my kids loved it when they were that age.
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2010-12-14 09:24
    I would think that Hanno's 12 Blocks would be a great start.

    My kids learnt to type (play) on a mini-computer screen before they could walk - I had an Singer/ICL mini-computer in my garage (a/c of course) in 1976. Next they used to draw using Apple Paint on an Apple //c. Then I taught them to solder. I taught the boys to program in MSBasic on the PC. All three worked in an electronics assembly house, my daughter part-time while at school. They are kids no longer - youngest 26. The two boys are in electronics/electrical. My daughter didn't like electronics although she came 2nd in her year at school! She is now a school teacher in Singapore.
  • ctwardellctwardell Posts: 1,716
    edited 2010-12-14 10:09
    I'm interested in hearing thoughts on this as well.

    Earlier in the year, when my daughter was 5, I let her help stuff some LED's on the board for one of the Velleman blinky face kits. She liked doing that and had fun showing off what she helped build.

    I'm thinking next step is a simple robot that can be programmed in a simple language, like mentioned in an earlier post.

    C.W.
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2010-12-14 12:37
    The Lego Mindstorms "brick" had a very simple visual programming model.
    I would use any language that does not contradict the way that kids learn math.
  • lanternfishlanternfish Posts: 366
    edited 2010-12-14 13:20
    kwinn wrote: »
    Starting with a robot is great. Gets the kids interested. The language for controlling the robot has to be simple enough for them to make the robot perform some simple task. I am thinking of an old 8 bit micro that had an on screen robot that could draw on the screen as it moved and had a very simple language. The program to draw a circle was something like:

    pen down
    repeat 360
    step 1
    turn 1
    end repeat
    pen up

    Can't remember the name of the program or the uP it ran on but my kids loved it when they were that age.

    Was it LOGO?
  • Ray0665Ray0665 Posts: 231
    edited 2010-12-14 16:25
    That old 8 bit Drawing program you were thinking of is turtle graphics. Today it can be found in the LOGO language here is one of many links to sites on logo this I think also includes a link to a down loadable pc version

    http://mckoss.com/logo/
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2010-12-14 18:43
    It is never too early. You start teaching these kids when they are in the womb. There are many sources about this. However, if they already popped out of the cooker, begin teaching immediately. For example, using a talking keyboard and computer, a child can learn the alphabet and numbers at a very early age and begin reading. One also needs to provide constant stimulation in terms of (intellectual and physical items). In the experiment made famous some years ago, the child with nothing acted like a case of retardation while the child with lots of toys, games, music, and a rich stimulating environment, turned out to be gifted (in the genius program). The child has a flexible open brain, ready for programming, even before birth. If correctly filled, it shapes his or her destiny and the future.
  • prof_brainoprof_braino Posts: 4,313
    edited 2010-12-14 21:59
    jazzed wrote: »
    The Lego Mindstorms "brick" had a very simple visual programming model.
    I would use any language that does not contradict the way that kids learn math.

    I used the Mindstorms with a group of sixth graders. They were able to get it to do things, but it struck me that interface was getting in the way more than it was making things easier. Later I heard it was designed by un-average college kids, which might account for the disconnect.

    But really, the programming environment is only a peice f the puzzle. Another peice is the task. What would be a good class of task, expressed as a SEQUNCE of simple tasks, that togehter make an outcome that's interesting to an eight year olds? Or a ten year old? Once they get above 16 or so they can do wonders with all kinds of takes as shown by the first robotics etc.

    Other significants parts are team and mentoring. How do we form a team, and how to mentor and keep the group on track without them falling asleep or running away?

    Anybody with advice or experience, please post!
  • jazzedjazzed Posts: 11,803
    edited 2010-12-14 22:13
    prof_braino wrote: »
    I used the Mindstorms with a group of sixth graders. They were able to get it to do things, but it struck me that interface was getting in the way more than it was making things easier. Later I heard it was designed by un-average college kids, which might account for the disconnect.
    Then you tried some alternative with the same kids with better results?
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2010-12-15 06:35
    @lanternfish

    It could have been but I am not really sure. All I can remember is the on screen robot was roundish, had a head, and a tail that went "down" when it was drawing a line. I think each step of 1 was 1 pixel, and I am sure each turn of 1 was 1 degree. At the time I thought it would be a very good teaching aid for teaching younger kids shapes, angles, etc., and older ones trigonometry.
  • Ray0665Ray0665 Posts: 231
    edited 2010-12-15 07:41
    Speaking of Mindstorms and its programmable brick, does anyone recognise my Avatar?
  • prof_brainoprof_braino Posts: 4,313
    edited 2010-12-15 09:08
    jazzed wrote: »
    Then you tried some alternative with the same kids with better results?

    Not yet, I'm looking for alternative now. Hopefully from someone that has tried something specific, and has some opinion as to the good and bad of it. I don't know how many off us are teaching professions that can provide this kind of analysis. Of course, I'll take whatever I can get.
  • kwinnkwinn Posts: 8,697
    edited 2010-12-15 14:02
    @Ray0665, sorry I missed your post last time. You are absolutely right, it was turtle graphics. Thanks for jogging my memory. I will have to download that PC version of Logo and see what it looks like.
  • Ray0665Ray0665 Posts: 231
    edited 2010-12-15 16:13
    The MS logo implementation is pretty good I think you will be impressed with its capabilities
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