How to teach your children how to program using LOGO

From ArticleWorld

Despite the many jokes circulation on and off the Internet, some programmers have children. So do system administrators and engineers, and, actually, the majority of those who come in contact with programming for a significant amount of time.

It is a well-known fact that the first models children have can be traced to the activity of their parents. Therefore, they may be interested about programming from an early age, just because you seem to be doing that for some time during the day. They may ask you what exactly do you do, and, if they seem to be curious and intrigued, you can use LOGO to show them some tricks.

What to do with LOGO?

LOGO is a programming language designed in the 1960s, with the initial purpose of being used in programming classes and showing non-programmers (like children or philosophers) some basic programming. Although it lately evolved into a fairly usable scripting language through its non-standard dialects, LOGO can still be used to create some interest.

Its central point is a cursor (a "turtle") which can be ordered to draw and move around the screen. This makes it an interesting way to teach some algorithms, while remaining more friendly than printf and complicated compound type declarations. The basic plan for showing a few neat tricks to your children looks roughly like this:

1. First, obtain a logo interpreter (of course). LOGO interpreters exist for just about any platform, so choose one that is accessible to your child. You should not force him to use a platform he cannot use, although making some extra buzz by using some futuristic Enlightenment themes may get some extra curiosity. Make it fun above all.
2. Learn some LOGO yourself. The language is quite fun and easy to learn. If you know some programming, you can learn it in an afternoon. After you master it well enough, go to the next step.
3. Show it to your child as if it was a new toy. Play with him, and let him understand that you can do even more than you have already shown, so that he stays curious. Observe him at all time though. He may either not like it at all, but, if he gets bored, it may also be simply because he is a child. We are adults and can stay focused on a task for a long time, but children cannot
4. At the end of each incursion, show him some interesting tricks yourself, some programs you wrote. Make challenges, but do let him win at times.
5. If your child seems very interested, act as if you are interested as well. If he discovers something, act like you did not know it and look fascinated, even if his "great discovery" is only how to draw concentric circles.