Tag: apps

Opening Screen

Your Young Scientist Will Love Playing in This Sandbox (App)!

James Floyd Kelly

If you’ve got a young and budding scientist like I do, you may find yourself having to hit the internet for all kinds of questions — Why is the sky blue? How does a battery work? Can we make a volcano? (Yes, that last one came as a surprise.) My problem is that while I often enjoy sitting down and investigating hows and whys with my 7-year-old, I often wish he’d do a little self-study and digging. That isn’t always easy, however, when I limit his Internet access or if we lack the book on the subject-of-the day. My son likes to discover things by himself, and while I’ve done my best to put small kits and experiments in his reach, often times I just can’t sit with him 24/7 and monitor both his safety and his progress. But a new app is helping me with this problem…

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Bitsbox

New Kickstarter Alert — Bitsbox Teaches Kids Programming

James Floyd Kelly

A few weeks ago my oldest son (age 7) came up to me and asked one of those questions that many parents dread — “Dad, can you teach me to program?” While I’m half-kidding, I’m also half-serous. I’m not a programmer! I have some training (mainly in college, but some self-taught) and I’m comfortable hunting down a book when I need it, but, when it comes to teaching my son, I’m really at a loss. What I’d like to do is find a way to make programming fun and interesting, but also something he can do on his own or at least with me watching over his shoulder but providing minimum assistance.

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