I hope to teach my kids programming so I started with the older on learning algebra. I have been using the tablet app called dragonbox algebra (which is amazing!). The issue I am facing now is that my kid knows visually/mechanically what to do in the app but they don’t understand why they have to do some things. We have been moving to the whiteboard so they have to translate swipes and taps to regular algebra notation. They literary think in terms of the app. What has helped a lot is to do a problem on the app then do the same problem on the board. Their eyes light up when they see the connection.
I think I will have the same translation dilema if I start with scratch. At some point we will need to get writing textual based code but I am not confident that I can get my kids exited about programming without graphical tools like scratch/dragonbox.
In classroom setting most teachers could not teach the textual form of programming but something like scratch allows kids to explore and build the vocabulary to be able to translate to a textual representation.
I think I will have the same translation dilema if I start with scratch. At some point we will need to get writing textual based code but I am not confident that I can get my kids exited about programming without graphical tools like scratch/dragonbox.
In classroom setting most teachers could not teach the textual form of programming but something like scratch allows kids to explore and build the vocabulary to be able to translate to a textual representation.