I like to ask my son (9 yrs) how he thinks things work and how they are made; his favorite video game, tv, how we send each other messages and emojis. I also ask him who he thinks makes things in tech.
Sometimes I ask him to explain to me or teach me something and that generates a good exploratory conversation. Other questions I ask him about tech are on how they affect our lives, do they make it better or easier, etc.
In terms of coding specifically:
At ngVikings, Jeff Whelpley and his daughter Mady gave a really great talk on their app that is built on top of Blockly.
During this talk he mentions how using teaching for visual learners also really works well on kids. He also gave an outline and timeline on how he got his daughter to be the awesome hacker she is today.
He started with the low-level fundamentals and only 1 concept per week:
Week 1:Intro to coding
Week 2:Variables
Week 3:Functions
Week 4:Conditionals
Week 5:Loops
Week 6:Object
The example Mady gave of each fundamental were really good, so I used them with my son. For example, variables are just boxes that have a name and that you can put anything into and functions are recipes, etc.
Lastly, remember to continue to limit tech and scope and scale up as your child becomes more and more enthusiastic / skilled.
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In terms of tech in general
I like to ask my son (9 yrs) how he thinks things work and how they are made; his favorite video game, tv, how we send each other messages and emojis. I also ask him who he thinks makes things in tech.
Sometimes I ask him to explain to me or teach me something and that generates a good exploratory conversation. Other questions I ask him about tech are on how they affect our lives, do they make it better or easier, etc.
In terms of coding specifically:
At ngVikings, Jeff Whelpley and his daughter Mady gave a really great talk on their app that is built on top of Blockly.
During this talk he mentions how using teaching for visual learners also really works well on kids. He also gave an outline and timeline on how he got his daughter to be the awesome hacker she is today.
He started with the low-level fundamentals and only 1 concept per week:
Week 1: Intro to coding
Week 2: Variables
Week 3: Functions
Week 4: Conditionals
Week 5: Loops
Week 6: Object
The example Mady gave of each fundamental were really good, so I used them with my son. For example, variables are just boxes that have a name and that you can put anything into and functions are recipes, etc.
Lastly, remember to continue to limit tech and scope and scale up as your child becomes more and more enthusiastic / skilled.