Hi all,

My 8 year old is asking if he can learn how to program. He has asked specifically if I could set him up with a ‘programming kit with lessons’ for a Christmas present. I’d like to support this, and it seems like it’s not a transient interest as he’s been all over scratch, and using things like minecraft commands for the last year. I have an old (pre 2017) MacBook Air I can set up for this. How do I / what would you advise I set up for him, to a) keep him safe online (he’s 8!) and b) give him the tools he needs in a structured way.

I am not a programmer. I know enough bash/shell and basic unix stuff to be dangerous and I was a front end dev a very long time ago, but I wouldn’t call myself a programmer and don’t know what concepts he needs to learn first.

Hugely appreciate any advice, thanks.

Edit: So I posted this then had a busy family day and came back to so many comments! I will methodically go through these all, thanks so much.

A couple of things on resources: he has expressed interest in 3D worlds and I noticed comments on engines, but wonder if that’s too advanced?

Totally agree with the short feedback loop rather than projects that take days.

He has an iPad 6 and I’m happy to pop a Linux distro on the Air, so certainly open to that.

So many links to research. Hugely grateful.

  • @Alxrg@lemmy.ca
    6•9 months ago

    +1 for Linux but use your MacBook Air. There are Educational Linux versions that would be a great environment for your kid to learn to code. It can also be set up with kid safeguards.

    You can also run Linux from a Usb if you’d rather not install it over MacOS

    I recently put Linux (Mint) on my old 2015 MacBook Air and it’s been really great.

    • svetlyak40wt
      2•9 months ago

      @Alxrg @fmstrat oh, I’ve installed Ubuntu on Macbook but had many troubles with the keyboard.

      Probably some of these problems are originated from the StumpWM – a tiling window manager written in #commonlisp

      Not all problems are solved yet. For example, a key near the left shift should produce ` and ~, but it outputs < and > instead. I don’t know how to remap it.

      • @Alxrg@lemmy.ca
        2•9 months ago

        For OP’s question (just to stay on topic before we veer off), would you still recommend a Linux distribution on their MacBook Air?

        Edubuntu seemed like a good choice to reuse their existing hardware and have a safe environment. There’s lots more choices to choose from

        I’m only casually using my Linux MacBook but haven’t had any troubles with the keyboard.

        Although a nice tiling window manager sounds like fun. I’ll have to look into it.