Today I spent the whole day teaching code to 24 kindergarten kids.
Each one of them programmed a Lego Mindstorms robotized fireman truck (they had just studied a lot about firemen), and then they coded a cartoon using Scratch Jr.
That was a lot of fun for them and for me. They all enjoyed coding the truck and cartoon, and I'm suprised how far we got. I had planned teaching them about loops and basic actions (motors for the wheels and ladder for the truck, plus sounds and pauses) but they got me farther. Many asked about parallel actions and coded them, and some asked about conditions. Many asked about all Scratch blocks and used events.
That's impressive for kids who had no previous contact with programming. I'm impressed by those kids.
A funny moment was when some kids asked me if it was my job to do such things. When I answered yes, they told me I was overly lucky and that they want to be programers.
Now I have a Mindstorms teaching kit for kindergarten kids. :-) And most of all an excellent experience. As of today I'm proud I've been teaching from software architects in CentraleSupelec's master's degree to kindergarten kids.
Each one of them programmed a Lego Mindstorms robotized fireman truck (they had just studied a lot about firemen), and then they coded a cartoon using Scratch Jr.
That was a lot of fun for them and for me. They all enjoyed coding the truck and cartoon, and I'm suprised how far we got. I had planned teaching them about loops and basic actions (motors for the wheels and ladder for the truck, plus sounds and pauses) but they got me farther. Many asked about parallel actions and coded them, and some asked about conditions. Many asked about all Scratch blocks and used events.
That's impressive for kids who had no previous contact with programming. I'm impressed by those kids.
A funny moment was when some kids asked me if it was my job to do such things. When I answered yes, they told me I was overly lucky and that they want to be programers.
Now I have a Mindstorms teaching kit for kindergarten kids. :-) And most of all an excellent experience. As of today I'm proud I've been teaching from software architects in CentraleSupelec's master's degree to kindergarten kids.
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