Teaching Computer Skills For Home-Schooling Parents

Do you want to teach your child computer skills, but have no idea how to do so?

Computer programming is not exactly a trivial thing to teach. Home school parents can usually handle the easier subjects, learning themselves as necessary simultaneously as they teach their child. The challenge in programming comes with there being so much information available online. The internet is a wonderful thing, and it is great to have access to so much info, but sometimes it is overwhelming.

Where to start if you want to provide a solid, basic understanding of computer programming skills to your child? Learning a bunch of random facts on programming does not serve much purpose. What your child does need is a solid grasp of principles. Regardless of what direction your child goes, be it engineering, computer science, or something completely different, learning the principles of breaking down a problem into manageable pieces and creating those pieces (which is pretty much what programming is), will serve him or her quite well in the future.

Computer programming is about thinking in terms of the structure, or architecture, of a system. Certainly the language details of the programming language must be mastered (this is referred to as syntax), but more importantly the thought process and problem solving approach inherent in programming needs to be learned.

Which programming language should you teach?

Of course if your student is a male, he probably wants to learn how to make video games. Game programming is certainly a viable goal to shoot for. Or perhaps the next killer iPhone app is in your child's future, who knows. Whatever the ultimate goal, I believe learning the "C" language is an excellent starting point. C is a relatively simple language, from the perspective of not having a ton of details to get mired in, yet at the same time is a very powerful language. C is a good language to teach fundamental principles. If you start with an object-oriented language like C++ or perhaps Java, you run the risk of being overwhelmed with all the terminology that goes along with it. Best to learn principles first, then advanced topics such as OOD (Object Oriented Design).

What's the best way to learn?

I think the easiest way to learn programming is to be tossed into a real 'project', rather than just learning individual details of the language. Developing a project from start to finish, over a period of time, demonstrates the entire process of design, coding, and debugging. It gives a better view of 'what programming is' versus just learning the language.

While progressing through a project, the language details (again, the syntax) will come along naturally.

Who is qualified to teach you?

As an engineer who has been out of college now for 20 years, I definitely understand how to break a problem down and solve it. I've taken it upon myself to create a lesson program to teach computer programming to beginners. I believe I have the unique ability to be able to relate to the beginner mindset, and to be able to translate the complex ideas behind programming into terms that are understandable to the beginner.

My lessons are all video-based, so it isn't just a bunch of dry reading. I'll lead your student through the creation of a project, from start to finish, teaching the fundamentals of computer programming along the way. Check it out, send me an email with your thoughts and I'd love to chat.