Windows Firewall Recommendations

[Suddenly_Ass]

 

[-joe-]

Oh, not offended, we do an hour of JS coding every week together (it's like pulling teeth some days). However, touch -is- the future, and I'd rather he learn logic and proper UX principals, than just logic.

I originally had him on Ubuntu, but there are stability issues, and trying to get kids (or anyone else) to use tech that breaks before they have a chance to get to get really familiar with it is a great way to turn them off from it entirely.

My dad used to pay me for each lesson I completed on the Maxis typing thing.

The amount per lessson massively decreased when I started earning more per hour than an average adult, but it got me touch typing well very fast, age 9 or so.

 

[SkyFire]

That's pretty awesome. I have been trying to come up with a way to get my kids into programming. There isn't much out there on it. What kind of approach have you taken? Is he enjoying it? Are you Just having him build small scripts?

I was thinking about ripping some images for something they are interested in and building simple HTML / CSS 1 page sites. Just don't want to scare them off to young.

/threadderail

The first week we learned about variables. I setup an html file with some divs and we changed their colors by changing the values of variables (which translated into CSS, but behind the scenes so he only had to see the part we were learning about).

The second week we did more variables, but with strings for basic sentences, mad lib style to keep him interested.

The third week we did floats and ints with basic math. This was easiest for him, but also the most boring.

Given the boredom last week, this week I exposed some variables in the Unity editor for the game I had been working on last month, and let him tweak those and then run around with the changes. It's a 2.5 side scroller, so I exposed jump height, run speed, throwing distance, etc. Had him lol'ing pretty good.

I'm not sure much of it will really stick, but I am hoping it gives him a good foundation. I promised him if he can get his reading to a 4th grade level by summer we'll build a game together and have it done and ready to give his friends on his birthday in September. I'm not sure who is more looking forward to that

Next week we'll probably do more in Unity, dropping blocks, bouncing things around, etc.

My dad used to pay me for each lesson I completed on the Maxis typing thing.

The amount per lessson massively decreased when I started earning more per hour than an average adult, but it got me touch typing well very fast, age 9 or so.

That's awesome. I still don't really touch type, every so many words I get lost and have to look down. The one class I faked my way through that now I wish I'd mastered.

 

[shawnhag]

dude kudos for you seriously - if it wasnt for my dad teaching me BASIC and Qbasic I would have not pursued a lifelong career of computer science!

I have a 2 year old that is learning that when he moves the mouse it moves the thing on the screen - quite fun, hope to be doing JS soon

 

[Fatbat]

Because I have a 6 y/o learning to manage his own system

Yeah, but it's not like he actually has to interact with his AV. It just runs in the background. Switching to the desktop isn't difficult and he should probably know how to interact with that too. Most dev tools don't come in app form. He's going to have to interact with his computer like we all have been for the last 20 years. I've been on Windows 8 since day 1 and it looks just like Win 7, XP, etc. I don't even look at the new start screen nor do I run any apps.