My best friend is a single father. He has a son who recently turned 12 years old. Last year, he was in a workshop at his school, where the kids learned how to design something simple in a cad program that they got to print on a 3D printer. During that workshop, they were briefly exposed to C++ and I don't know what context that was in but he talks about it all these months later.
Yesterday I asked him if he would be interested in learning how to use C++ to program Arduinos. He said he was definitely interested.
When I was 12, I was given a Commodore 64 computer. I taught myself how to understand it using the book that came with it along with periodicals that existed at the time. I learned how to create programs with Basic as well as how to make sprites and when I was 16, I learned how to write data directly to sectors on a floppy disk and needless to say that by the time I got my first college degree, I was way ahead of my peers in terms of what I understood and what I was able to do in a work environment which put my career on a fast track where I ended up building a nice life for myself and my family.
This boy's father, my best friend, has spent his adult life doing construction and is now teaching himself how to be a blacksmith. He and I are definitely polar opposites in that he can't stand being indoors for too long and I'm not a fan of being outside for too long. And what I do know, is that if his son is interested in technology, then he could have a nice advantage in life by learning at this age when his brain is prime to learn and absorb.
So, I'm sure you can understand that I want to expose this young man to the wonder of technology, and I want to teach him in the most effective way possible. In short, I'm looking for advice on what others think might be the best way to approach this.
I don't want to screw up and discourage him by overwhelming him, and I've never tutored anyone before in technology, much less a 12 year old.
Thank you,
Yesterday I asked him if he would be interested in learning how to use C++ to program Arduinos. He said he was definitely interested.
When I was 12, I was given a Commodore 64 computer. I taught myself how to understand it using the book that came with it along with periodicals that existed at the time. I learned how to create programs with Basic as well as how to make sprites and when I was 16, I learned how to write data directly to sectors on a floppy disk and needless to say that by the time I got my first college degree, I was way ahead of my peers in terms of what I understood and what I was able to do in a work environment which put my career on a fast track where I ended up building a nice life for myself and my family.
This boy's father, my best friend, has spent his adult life doing construction and is now teaching himself how to be a blacksmith. He and I are definitely polar opposites in that he can't stand being indoors for too long and I'm not a fan of being outside for too long. And what I do know, is that if his son is interested in technology, then he could have a nice advantage in life by learning at this age when his brain is prime to learn and absorb.
So, I'm sure you can understand that I want to expose this young man to the wonder of technology, and I want to teach him in the most effective way possible. In short, I'm looking for advice on what others think might be the best way to approach this.
I don't want to screw up and discourage him by overwhelming him, and I've never tutored anyone before in technology, much less a 12 year old.
Thank you,
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