Functional Programming for Kids
Learning and science
programming tutorial
SHOW HN2016
How HN took it
0 positive, 4 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 6 critical, out of 10 comments about the project. Thread score -0.42.
Idea: 0 for, 4 againstDesign: 0 for, 2 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Maker's kids (12 and 13) enjoyed the tutorial
From 1 comment
I have went over this tutorial with my kids (12 and 13 years old) and they enjoyed it a lot.
viebel on HN
Objections
Language and walls of text too advanced for young children
From 1 comment
Whoa... this is all over the place. The imagery suggests this is a tutorial for 6-8 year olds, but the language would be incomprehensible to any child under the age of 16. The…
magic_beans on HN
Abstract content is unappealing to kids; needs story-based lessons
From 2 comments
Functional programming is already extremely abstract, and children (and many adults) have a very difficult time with abstraction. You should find a way to make these lessons into…
magic_beans on HNCompletely agree. Its easier for kids to learn through stories and examples that accompany the story. One fundamental aspect of functional programing is that it specifies the use…
tcamp on HN
Treats programming as math, which is misleading
From 1 comment
Sadly this set of tutorials seem to follow the disturbing trend that "Computer Programming is Math." I think this is wrong. Computer Programming is field of turning informal and…
gravypod on HN
Imagery and pictures do not help adult learners
From 1 comment
Have you used this on actual kids? I feel you would learn very quickly from them. As an adult, I can only speak for myself, and although this is nice, I think it is comparable to…
startupdiscuss on HN
Requests
Use stories or real-world examples kids relate to
From 3 comments
There is some good content for how kids can learn to program but not why kids should learn. I would focus on building equations kids would relate to, like "graphing the change in…
thecolorblue on HNFunctional programming is already extremely abstract, and children (and many adults) have a very difficult time with abstraction. You should find a way to make these lessons into…
magic_beans on HNCompletely agree. Its easier for kids to learn through stories and examples that accompany the story. One fundamental aspect of functional programing is that it specifies the use…
tcamp on HN
Explain why kids should learn programming
From 1 comment
There is some good content for how kids can learn to program but not why kids should learn. I would focus on building equations kids would relate to, like "graphing the change in…
thecolorblue on HN
Test the tutorial with actual children
From 1 comment
Have you used this on actual kids? I feel you would learn very quickly from them. As an adult, I can only speak for myself, and although this is nice, I think it is comparable to…
startupdiscuss on HN
Questions
Was the regular adult tutorial tried with the kids?
From 1 comment
That's great. Did you try the regular "adult" tutorials with them? It would be interesting to see if they liked this more, or found one of them interesting.
startupdiscuss on HN
Is polish notation confusing for kids?
From 1 comment
define kid strong math knowledge needed to understand it. polish notation could be also confusing.
Dolores12 on HN
Alternatives named
Bootstrap World and WeScheme
From 1 comment
A related project teaching basics using scheme is this one: http://www.bootstrapworld.org/materials/spring2016/courses/bs1/index.shtml paired with the online IDE:…
ivan_ah on HN
Microsoft F# online tutorial and Coursera Scala tutorial
From 1 comment
Have you used this on actual kids? I feel you would learn very quickly from them. As an adult, I can only speak for myself, and although this is nice, I think it is comparable to…
startupdiscuss on HN