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JudoGeek Blog

Still Loving SCRATCH and the upcoming Scratch day. 

A little while back I wrote about Scratch ( Blog Entry here ) which is a fantastic visual programming environment designed for young people.

Scratch ProjectSince that post I have worked with my children and created a few more games, which you can find at http://scratch.mit.edu/users/lancew

You will notice that I have created a bunch of spelling games. These were built with and for my son, who although being one bright little guy has not been hitting 100% his spelling tests at school. He loves computer games, so I have been creating games for/with him using the words he is given to learn from School.

The result? He has got every word correct since we started creating games!


To me, this is perfect example of how finding the right way to teach the student is essential. My boy loves games, he knows we are being sneaky and making his spelling the game. He does not mind, he knows he has to learn them, so he does not mind, because the way we are doing it suits him. As a sports coach, this make sense to me, sometimes that is what you need to do, find a way to help someone do something they are finding difficult/dull.

The other positive is that my kids are being exposed to programming at a early age. They are becoming literate about software. They are gaining an understanding of what happens to create the Wii games they love and also the cartoons they love.
They are also picking up programming fundamental concepts. Scratch is teaching them about loops, conditionals, objects, etc.

I am a fan, a big fan of Scratch. And I'd like to help promote it's use with other kids/parents/teachers. Luckily, just such an opportunity is coming up... SCRATCH DAY!

Scratch Day is May 16th 2009, and I hope to organise an event here in the UK, I'd love to have some help, so if yu are interested, drop me an email!


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