What programming language/environment is suitable to teach young children

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

Basically i got half of a phonecall Re: someone starting a pilot project to teach kids how to program. I may be that person.

Specifics
The program is in a third world country
Kids are the target group

Assumptions
This is someone's effort to drive the ICT sector of my country

Unclear
I have no idea about the kids background and knowledge.
I have no idea how old they'll be.

I was thinking that it would be an opportune time to introduce them to an opensource world. I have no specifics or anything to work with as yet but i'm trying to get an idea of what language to use. I'm here trying to bounce a curriculum in my head. Any suggestions on the language??

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

Im currently reading

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_programming_language

 

[temp02]

Tough call, it will depend a lot on how much the "kids" (depending on their age) want to learn how to program.
On a simpler level, probably creating batch scripts would be nice and easy for them to learn how to "command" an computer.
On a more advanced level, I bet Lazarus and it's simpler (for native English speakers) (Free)Pascal syntax and use of IDE, also it's completely open source.

Good luck.

EDIT: oh and I almost forgot about LOLCode, it will for sure get some laughs out of them.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Visual Basic is always a good place to start. Microsoft gives a big discount to not-for-profits and educational establishments. Visual Studio is the best IDE out there, bar none.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

Thanks for ur suggestion guys, keep them coming. I particularly like lolcode.

 

[unibrow1990]

Python is a great teaching language, it is very easy to understand and use and it has great syntax. There is also a huge knowlegebase of free python learning material available on the web to get anyone started.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

thanks buddy keep em commin

 

[robal]

Hi,

A good start would definitely be something very visual.
I remember doing first steps in programming using LOGO language (dialect of Lisp).

It may seem like a bizarre choice, as the language is different from today's procedural, object oriented ones like Java and C.

However, the "Turtle Graphics" use makes it a great learning tool.
Have a read here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_(programming_language)

Free GUI based environment here:
http://fmslogo.sourceforge.net/

Edit: I meant a language for rather young kids. Absolute beginners to programming.

Cheers,

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

I still havent received any more info so im open

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

Update: One set of the kids will be 10-12 (just before high skl)

and one set 13-18.

 

[MT Alex]

I just want to second robal's LOGO idea. When I was a kid LOGO was taught from 4th to 8th grade. It is a wonderful tool for letting kids understand that simple lines of code can create some wonderfull visual programs. It was a good blend of cognitive/creative skills. That being said, we had Apple II's at the time, I'm not sure if it is available for a modern machine. I sure as heck would hope so.

 

[unibrow1990]

Just a note about python, It also has turtle graphics included into it as a package. Logo looks like a great learning language, but python has the advantage of being good for instruction and practical for application development.

Turtle graphics for python: http://docs.python.org/library/turtle.html

 

[MT Alex]

Python sounds pretty fantastic. It's quite obvious that I have been out of the programming loop for a long time.

 

[[I.R.A]_FBi]

hmm i have sent in my resume for consideration and await further information.