Hi all,

My 8 year old is asking if he can learn how to program. He has asked specifically if I could set him up with a ‘programming kit with lessons’ for a Christmas present. I’d like to support this, and it seems like it’s not a transient interest as he’s been all over scratch, and using things like minecraft commands for the last year. I have an old (pre 2017) MacBook Air I can set up for this. How do I / what would you advise I set up for him, to a) keep him safe online (he’s 8!) and b) give him the tools he needs in a structured way.

I am not a programmer. I know enough bash/shell and basic unix stuff to be dangerous and I was a front end dev a very long time ago, but I wouldn’t call myself a programmer and don’t know what concepts he needs to learn first.

Hugely appreciate any advice, thanks.

Edit: So I posted this then had a busy family day and came back to so many comments! I will methodically go through these all, thanks so much.

A couple of things on resources: he has expressed interest in 3D worlds and I noticed comments on engines, but wonder if that’s too advanced?

Totally agree with the short feedback loop rather than projects that take days.

He has an iPad 6 and I’m happy to pop a Linux distro on the Air, so certainly open to that.

So many links to research. Hugely grateful.

  • fmstratEnglish
    10•1 year ago

    One suggestion I haven’t seen, get him a super-cheap laptop with Linux. The exposure to a new environment beyond his phone (and likely Chromebook) will help him get more comfortable with things outside the norm.

    It will help him discover if he likes to “make things” or “figure things out” which are very different activities that both directly corrolate with programming.

    • @[email protected]
      5•1 year ago

      +1 for Linux but use your MacBook Air. There are Educational Linux versions that would be a great environment for your kid to learn to code. It can also be set up with kid safeguards.

      You can also run Linux from a Usb if you’d rather not install it over MacOS

      I recently put Linux (Mint) on my old 2015 MacBook Air and it’s been really great.

      • svetlyak40wt
        1•1 year ago

        @Alxrg @fmstrat oh, I’ve installed Ubuntu on Macbook but had many troubles with the keyboard.

        Probably some of these problems are originated from the StumpWM – a tiling window manager written in #commonlisp

        Not all problems are solved yet. For example, a key near the left shift should produce ` and ~, but it outputs < and > instead. I don’t know how to remap it.

        • @[email protected]
          2•1 year ago

          For OP’s question (just to stay on topic before we veer off), would you still recommend a Linux distribution on their MacBook Air?

          Edubuntu seemed like a good choice to reuse their existing hardware and have a safe environment. There’s lots more choices to choose from

          I’m only casually using my Linux MacBook but haven’t had any troubles with the keyboard.

          Although a nice tiling window manager sounds like fun. I’ll have to look into it.