Scratch game programming

[Mr Allen]

Been using the Web based version on Scratch and the app on Windows for a while to copy from books to make games using scripts and sprites and stuff.

But the scripts don't work, even though I put them in exactly as shown in the book! What am I doing wrong?

Please don't just tell me to use Google, I have done so.

 

[Misery]

You're going to need to provide alot more detail than that if you want help, provided anyone here even knows Scratch.

First thing about programming though: Check the versions. Are you using the same version # as shown in the books? That one can be pretty important. Always do that first before trying to use learning guides.

Also, if the scripts arent working, they should be putting out some sort of error, yeah? Typically errors displayed while programming could be anything from "error in line 12" to an entire freaking page of gibberish. I'm sure Scratch probably has it's own ways of displaying errors. But if it's not GIVING you an error... and thus causing more confusion... that might be a problem in itself. Is it giving you any?

Have you tried looking around for forums/whatever related to Scratch itself? I dont mean just using Google. Frankly I never trust Google. Bloody useless thing.

Lastly: Beware of typos. Scratch looks more like a drag-n-drop sort of thing, but most such tools still have a full scripting function in them (as in, where you just type everything out), and if that's what you're using, ALWAYS keep in mind that the slightest, tiniest, most miniscule mistake... no matter how silly and irrelevant it may seem... can bring any program to a screeching halt.

Be prepared for alot more of this sort of frustration though. ALOT more. If you're doing to get into game developing, even using some of the simpler tools, this is going to happen over and over and over and over again, and the solutions will get harder and harder to find. It's part of the process, unfortunately.

 

[Mr Allen]

You're going to need to provide alot more detail than that if you want help, provided anyone here even knows Scratch.

First thing about programming though: Check the versions. Are you using the same version # as shown in the books? That one can be pretty important. Always do that first before trying to use learning guides.

Also, if the scripts arent working, they should be putting out some sort of error, yeah? Typically errors displayed while programming could be anything from "error in line 12" to an entire freaking page of gibberish. I'm sure Scratch probably has it's own ways of displaying errors. But if it's not GIVING you an error... and thus causing more confusion... that might be a problem in itself. Is it giving you any?

Have you tried looking around for forums/whatever related to Scratch itself? I dont mean just using Google. Frankly I never trust Google. Bloody useless thing.

Lastly: Beware of typos. Scratch looks more like a drag-n-drop sort of thing, but most such tools still have a full scripting function in them (as in, where you just type everything out), and if that's what you're using, ALWAYS keep in mind that the slightest, tiniest, most miniscule mistake... no matter how silly and irrelevant it may seem... can bring any program to a screeching halt.

Be prepared for alot more of this sort of frustration though. ALOT more. If you're doing to get into game developing, even using some of the simpler tools, this is going to happen over and over and over and over again, and the solutions will get harder and harder to find. It's part of the process, unfortunately.

It is all drag and drop scripting because it's aimed at kids, but it's still blinking annoying when the darn thing doesn't work as it's supposed to.

Thank you for trying to help though, I thought this whole topic would be ignored and eventually sink into obscurity like a lot of my topics on here.

 

[Misery]

Yeah, that's pretty much how it goes. It doesnt matter if it's something aimed at people new to the whole idea (young or old), or if it's the more professional sort (like C#), it's going to be bloody annoying when it starts being a snot and just refusing to work.

I do game design work myself (if you've ever seen Binding of Isaac, the one I work on is similar to that, it released awhile ago and now an expansion is being made), and much of what I do is in XML. XML isnt too tough to use at all... nice and straightforward. But it's still bloody infuriating. Often, when an error occurs in the game, which is very frequently while I'm working on it, it produces this giant wall of utter nonsense formed out of red text that fills the right half of the screen while in-game. It's almost unreadable. And it can happen from ONE stinking typo. Out of thousands of lines of code, which could be in any one of TEN seperate XML documents that I work with in that game (each of them interacting with all of the others, because argh). Imagine how fun that must be.

And this is just indie stuff. I dont know how anyone that works full-time doing this (like at the really big studios) manages to deal with it without going mad. I'm usually ready to throw the damn thing out the window after about 10 minutes of it.

I can definitely say, not everyone likes dealing with the more complicated code... you'd be surprised at how often devs go with simpler tools. Ever tried Game Maker Studio? Some seriously amazing stuff (like Spelunky, considered one of the greatest indie games ever made and responsible for jumpstarting an entire genre) has been made with that... yet it's main focus is on the drag-n-drop idea (though you can do manual scripting if you want). I've used it before, it's very easy to learn and experiment with and has TONS of functionality. There's also the various versions of Multimedia Fusion, another popular drag-n-drop tool for game design.

Since you're just starting out, it might seriously be worth your time to experiment with a few different tools of this type rather than just immediately sticking to one. You might find one of these others just fits you better.

Good luck either way. Making a game... even a simple one... isnt easy. If you're able to stick with it, even despite all the problems it'll throw at you, that's pretty impressive. Alot of people give up easily.

 

[pjcnet]

I can't help with Scratch as I've never used it, but I've seen people offer other suggestions and if you really wanted to attempt something truly professional give the Unity Game Engine a go, you can make 2D or 3D games, it's totally free with absolutely no catches and there's numerous tutorials around, even on Youtube, as with any reasonable game engine you will have to learn scripting however. Massses of commercial games (mainly indie) are made in Unity, loads are on Steam for instance and some are really good. It's never been a better time for single developers since the good old days of the 8 bit era in the 1980s as a lot more people are beginning to appreciate more simplistic games that are highly playable again, also Stream have done wonders by accepting masses of indie releases, some from single developers. Game prices starts from as little as 32 pence at the time of writing on Steam and there's even quite a few totally free games if you wanted just to get yourself known at first.

In my opinion Unity is very good and it proves this with so many commercial games using it, but it's not quite up to the very high standard of some of the top commercial game engines. More recently however you can download the full version of the very powerful CRYENGINE with no obligation, it is one of the best engines, but if you ever did wish you sell your games I believe you have to pay them royalties **NOW CHANGED SEE EDIT BELOW, that's the only catch, although being more powerful it maybe more difficult too and I think it's mainly just a 3D engine (I could be wrong as I've never used it, but I've never seen 2D games use the CRYENGINE). They launched this offer to help and tempt more indie developers to start using it instead of Unity, I have seen a few indie releases use the CRYENGINE under their new deal, but most still use Unity without any ties what-so-ever, this probably means there's more community support with Unity too.

EDIT: The CRYENGINE site now says it's royalty free which is a change from the recent past, but they are a profit making company and must be making money somehow which makes warnings bells sound in my head, I haven't read all the small print or what all the catches are if any, so I only know for certain that Unity has no catches what-so-ever. I notice Crytek are charging for "optional" memberships if you want support and training for the CRYENGINE that isn't cheap, perhaps it's extremely difficult without paying for this expensive service. I've also seen an asset marketplace where Crytek get a whopping 30% of all sales, you are more likely to get assets on Unity for free or very cheaply and certainly won't be paying anything towards the developers.

 

[Misery]

To be honest I would stay away from either of those when you're just starting out.

CryEngine in particular... not good for smaller indie devs. That one... it's not made for "smaller" games. It seriously isnt. 3D game design is... let's just say, a hell of alot harder to learn and do. I've worked with 3D stuff before in the past... frankly, I've never liked doing it. 3D game design has issues.

Though, that also is somewhat up to preference. To me, most of the genres (okay, all of them) that I'm into are worsened when done in 3D, but that might not be the case for you. I will say though, there's alot of reasons why so many games are done in 2D nowadays. Even many games with 3D graphics are STILL 2D in terms of actual gameplay... they're just using 3D models instead of sprites. ....Also working in 3D is going to make your learning process WAY slower. Just trust me on that.


Now, Unity on the other hand.... eehhhh.

Remember that giant red blob of text I mentioned? The wall of gibberish? Yeah. The bit I DIDNT mention: The game I work on is running on Unity at it's core. That explosive doom blob is one of the screwball forms that errors can take with that. What *I* do is in XML, which is problematic enough. I'm only one member of the team though (there were about 10 of us originally, for the expansion it's just me and 3 others). My role is enemy/boss design & implementation and I balance the game's difficulty and fix room designs. And for whatever reason they put me in a position of authority so I can veto things made by others if I dont think they fit the game. Also I complain alot. What I DONT do is engine work, which is much harder than all of that stuff combined. THAT is the nasty, ultra-complicated part when it comes to development, it's NOT done in XML, and that sort of thing is the core reason why "simpler" tools like Game Maker, MMF, or Scratch were created... because they can either be used to work your way up towards the more difficult stuff, or they can be used as the base for your games to begin with, meaning that you dont need to go that far yet can still produce the results you want.

The stuff I do work on, it's difficult enough as it is. It seriously is. The learning curve was kinda mean, and the game itself is made out of about 5 bazillion seperate files... and I DONT mean art/music/sound assets. I'm talking about the things that make it run. Even just the XML files... there's probably about 150 of them in the current build. And that's only the start.

And that experience is part of why I say to stick with the simpler things when you're starting out.

But not just that technical stuff. One very important thing to remember: Learning to make games is NOT just about learning to use the tools. It's not just about learning to code or learning to create the art or whatever. The truly important aspect is to learn various aspects of game design, mechanics, and balancing. It doesnt matter how good you are at coding or whatever: If you get those three things wrong, your game will come out badly.

So, my suggestions:

1. Start out SMALL. Use the easier tools, like what you're already doing. Your first projects should be small games. Short things. You're not going for a big ambitious project here... these are a chance to make sure you understand the tools, but also to give you a chance to experiment with design aspects and game mechanics. But also, it gives you the chance to do these things while NOT over-complicating things. It makes you less likely to get overwhelmed right away.

2. This isnt required, but consider doing some testing. As in, working with developers that are also making games. Find games in the sorts of genres you have an interest in, and get to know how things work not in the finished product, but during the design phase as well. Of course, the difficult part is finding the right ones... when I say "testing" I dont mean just "buy the game and play it". It's more of getting to know the dev and actually working *directly* with them, and usually doing what I call "internal" testing. Which involves testing builds that arent available to the public (and you're often also expected to give suggestions for both new ideas and solutions to problems, as well as do some bug-reporting). How exactly you go about doing that, getting into that position, is for you to figure out... for me, I tend to find that it just sort of happens. I think if you go out there and just have a real go at it, interacting with the community, it might not be as hard as you might think. Again though, not required... I just think it really helps with learning.

3. Do you have some specific games that you feel like you're going to want to take inspiration from? Study them a bit. But also DISCUSS them with others that are also into them. Talk about the aspects of design, and learn from that. It's amazing how much insight can come from this.

All of that might sound like alot to take in, but seriously, if you take it at your own pace... even if that pace ends up feeling slow... so that you dont get overwhelmed, you can totally do this.

I mean, heck, if *I* can do this, anyone can. I'm absentminded as hell, easily confused, and I couldnt do math of any sort to save my life. But I'm still getting exactly the sorts of results the guys in charge wanted. You can definitely do this too, in whatever genre you're wanting to.

Even for the really small games out there though... alot of time, work, knowledge, and skill goes into them. It's NOT easy stuff. So go into it slowly and learn at a pace that works for you. Dont make the same mistake that I've seen too many people make and dive into the deep end without knowing how to swim. Seriously. That doesnt end well, and it's best not to find out why the hard way. "Rome wasnt built in a day", they say. Neither is a game. Takes bloody forever, really...

 

[pjcnet]

1. Start out SMALL.

That's something I never ever did listen to, I used to think, what a waste of time if I was doing something that can't achieve what I really want to begin with, so I always went in the deep end and still will, but that's just me and I agree that for most people your advice is good. When I was still at school I got a couple of games marketed in the 1980s, it was a shame it was on their crappy machines though as otherwise I would have made a lot more from the 20% royalty, I taught myself programming from just changing other people's code when I was 10 without any training and I was writing complex code very shortly later. Even a few years ago I dived in on a decent sized website that was also running a fairly complex service using LINUX, when the system was down I was the only person available and my entire experience of LINUX was literally 20 years before when it was in fact UNIX so I was out of touch to say the very least and I'd virtually forgotten UNIX too, but I still sorted out the issue quickly and within a few weeks I was promoted to SYSOP writing scripts and defending against cyber attacks, I learnt the system like the back of my hand very quickly, but that is I suppose my special skill. If I was going to attempt games today the lowest level I'd start at would be Unity, even though it is in my opinion inferior, it's as you say easier, especially for small teams or single person developers and it's still good enough for masses of successful commercial releases, plus there's absolutely no cost to get started.

For people's information here is a list of known Unity games to date:
List of Unity games - Wikipedia
(Impressive, there's loads of very successful indie releases and there's even some blockbusters in the list.)

Here's a list of CRYENGINE games:
List of CryEngine games - Wikipedia
(Not quite as many, although there's some major blockbusters, but not so many successful releases are by indie developers.)

 

[IzzieDee1]

Been using the Web based version on Scratch and the app on Windows for a while to copy from books to make games using scripts and sprites and stuff.

But the scripts don't work, even though I put them in exactly as shown in the book! What am I doing wrong?

Please don't just tell me to use Google, I have done so.

Hi,
I just joined this group. Are you still working with Scratch? I have been learning it for several years. If you need help, let me know.

I took an e-course a while back on edX Scratch with video lessons. Maybe that would help.
IzzieDee1

 

[pjcnet]

I'd like to add that there's been a large increase of indie developers using the Unreal Engine 4 recently and if I was starting out I'd be very tempted too, this is because it's now "free" to download the full version and you pay only 5% of gross revenue after the first $3,000 per product per calendar quarter which means you pay absolutely nothing unless you make a significant amount of money and to me that's a really good deal because the Unreal Engine is in my opinion considerably more powerful than the Unity Engine, it's probably still somewhat more difficult to start out with than Unity, but not as difficult as the Cry Engine which not many indie developers use at the time of writing.

There is still more Indie developers using the Unity Engine at the time of writing and there's still a larger market place for purchasing graphics Etc. compared to the Unreal Engine even though it's not exactly small and it will almost certainly grow further, also Unity is significantly improved and optimised with version 5 compared to version 4, although I personally still respect the Unreal Engine more when I see the overall finished products. I have read of a big disadvantage of Unity however which has been putting off quite a few new small developers recently and that's because of what's missing in the free version, don't get me wrong the free version of Unity is still good enough to make reasonably good commercial games, but a huge thing missing is "Profiler and GPU profiling" which is very important when you need to optimise your game, "It reports how much time is spent on rendering, animation, physics, your game logic etc right down to the level of individual assets". It's extremely difficult to optimise a game and to find out what could me using a lot of GPU resources without it and because of this using the free version of Unity can be a major hindrance. What's worse is the pro version of Unity which is the only version to have this feature is in my opinion quite expensive, in fact it costs $125 per month at the time of writing which is hardly great for people just starting out without much money. Please click here for a full licence comparison of the features of Unity Free vs Unity Pro and you can see there's quite a few other features missing in the free version too. In my opinion Unity should at least include a cut down version of the profiler in the free version that is still good enough to reasonably optimise your game and it would be much better to optionally offer the pro version as a "free" download with a small royalty agreement if you start making a significant amount of money similar to the Unreal Engine. Game optimisation is in my opinion absolutely essential, it should never be an optional feature, especially when it costs of lot of money.

In a way I'm however glad the Unreal Engine is now becoming a first choice over Unity for some indie developers as in my opinion the overall quality of the games is better.

List of Unreal Engine games - Wikipedia
(Impressive and look at how many games are in development + planned at the time of writing!)

 

[IzzieDee1]

I think that that the Unity and Unreal software is too difficult for a child of 10-12 years. I am wondering how to get started with "learning how to learn". That's the problem. Many of the kids I teach hesitate to press the green flag (of Scratch) because they are not finished with their program, or do not understand, or any other reasons. Many just want to be told exactly what to do. Getting them to experiment and try new blocks is very difficult.

 

[pjcnet]

I think that that the Unity and Unreal software is too difficult for a child of 10-12 years. I am wondering how to get started with "learning how to learn". That's the problem. Many of the kids I teach hesitate to press the green flag (of Scratch) because they are not finished with their program, or do not understand, or any other reasons. Many just want to be told exactly what to do. Getting them to experiment and try new blocks is very difficult.

You might be surprised what many children are capable of. I started writing complex code at 10 years old which included games not long after I was first introduced to computers on the Commodore Pet in 1979 and these days computers are obviously everywhere, meaning a lot more children start at an early age. For example, I wrote a Breakout game and I also made a simple AI to play Connect Four when I was around 11. I probably would have been writing code even earlier if I'd been introduced sooner still, but back then computers were barely even heard of in the home and the first officially affordable home computer was in fact the Sinclair ZX80 in 1980 (the ZX80 was mainly sold to a few enthusiasts and it wasn't until around a year later that home computing really started taking off however). That said I am on the autistic spectrum, computers were and still are my special interest and not all children would be this good at programming.

If you want to start simple then there is always the classic children's programming language known as Logo to get children introduced to programming, obviously it's not up to the task of creating anything commercial and it has barely any real use, but it's a tried and tested learning tool that's been around for 50 years at the time of writing. There's even various online Logo interpreters these days if you search for them, please click here for instance, you can even publish your creations online or look at other people's creations including their code on this particular site. Alternatively Microsoft Windows Logo (also known as MSWLogo) is available free (just search for it). There is also NetLogo which takes standard Logo a stage further and is somewhat more advanced, this is also free.

Here is an intro to some MSWLogo commands:

 

[IzzieDee1]

My dilemma is these kids speak Dutch and won't understand the english. (although many of them seem to know more because they play games that are in english). It's too bad because, as your links show, there are a lot out there.
The nice thing about Scratch is that one can change the language.

I am curious how you got started. What kind of text editor did you use to start? Or did you start already inside an IDE ? Did you understand that it was different from MS Word? Every time I think of planning a short introduction to non-Scratch programming I get stuck on this one thing. The kids probably know MS Notepad but that is a very primitive editor. Kids saving files in a directory and the concept of "running" the file. The file is a program because its extension is .c or .cpp.

I mostly work with javascript because I like making webpages with maps and fotos. But one can animate things with javascript and that is also a nice jump from Scratch to text programming. But I still have to introduce an editor (I use Bluefish).

 

[Mr Allen]

Hi,
I just joined this group. Are you still working with Scratch? I have been learning it for several years. If you need help, let me know.

I took an e-course a while back on edX Scratch with video lessons. Maybe that would help.
IzzieDee1

I'm in Sheffield, England.

If you have info on any Scratch courses, send me a PM with the info please.

Merry Christmas

 

[the_tortoise]

I am wondering how to get started with "learning how to learn". That's the problem. Many of the kids I teach hesitate to press the green flag (of Scratch) because they are not finished with their program, or do not understand, or any other reasons. Many just want to be told exactly what to do. Getting them to experiment and try new blocks is very difficult.

I have never, ever understood this concept of "learning how to learn".....it seems bizarre to me. Humans are born with the capacity to learn. Also there are many ways to learn, many ways to conceptualize things (not just one correct way -- especially not for really abstract things) ......not everyone has the same learning/cognitive style.

I suggest you find a way to make experimenting seem fun and safe (and specifically address it in class repeatedly....talk about trying and failing, making mistakes and correcting them or even starting over completely...how its a part of design and innovation, a part of programming, a part of learning, a part of life)..... Make it a game if you can. Reward your students for trying things without instruction, reward them for making mistakes; Make a contest for who can make the most mistakes in class, frame it in terms of the winner showing immense bravery, creativity, determination and work ethic, and give them a prize.

 

[IzzieDee1]

I guess the real problem is unlearning the bad learning habits that one uses in school. Like doing a project and stopping when it is finished. I've seen kids finish a Scratch project and then just stop and stare at the ceiling without any inclination to go further with a program. Others cannot be stopped from adding changes. So I try open ended lessons where they are encouraged to add music or effects. i.e. there is no final solution. Problem arises for some kids on the spectrum who need more structure and less choices (If I understand correcty). That's what I am looking for here.

 

[IzzieDee1]

I'm in Sheffield, England.

If you have info on any Scratch courses, send me a PM with the info please.

Merry Christmas

This is one link: Programming in Scratch
The class is not running now but if you register and log in you can view the coursework. I believe the videos are on Youtube.

I do not know how much you have learned already. It would be helpful if you posted a link to your project and I can have a look at it. I teach Scratch to Dutch kids so many of my projects have Dutch comments (I come from US but live in Netherlands). Scratch - Imagine, Program, Share

Merry Christmas

 

[the_tortoise]

I guess the real problem is unlearning the bad learning habits that one uses in school. Like doing a project and stopping when it is finished. I've seen kids finish a Scratch project and then just stop and stare at the ceiling without any inclination to go further with a program. Others cannot be stopped from adding changes. So I try open ended lessons where they are encouraged to add music or effects. i.e. there is no final solution. Problem arises for some kids on the spectrum who need more structure and less choices (If I understand correcty). That's what I am looking for here.

I am professionally diagnosed with Autism (and ADHD, which might change things) and when I was a kid I could not be stopped from going further if I was interested and could see other things to do. I regularly got in trouble for it.

I also usually needed to do things in a way that was different from how I was supposed to do them or else I couldn't do them at all.

Reading what you say about choices and structure, what comes to mind is how much trouble I had figuring out essay questions......speaking for myself only, I'd say it wasn't that I ever needed fewer choices (the following might be part of what you mean by "structure"?) -- it was that I needed more clarity/explanation, I needed specific details and/or concrete examples of what was being asked, requested, or proposed. I would have done better with a hundred highly specific choices, explained in concrete detail, than with one choice explained in a broad, ambigiuous and/or abstract way.

Perhaps the students who finish a project and stare at the ceiling just have no interest in changing things to see what's possible (meaning they could, but they simply don't want to). Or maybe they've already created a mental model of all possible changes and can see it with perfectly clarity in their mind, so they see no point in actually applying those changes to the program (because it's just a learning exercise, and the changes are optional).

If you really want them to make changes could you extend the assigment so that if a person finishes their project early then they are required to go further and try specific changes -- perhaps an ordered list of them? (You could say following the order is optional and then people who needed an order given to them could use it and people who didn't could just do what they liked.)

 

[IzzieDee1]

Thank you for your response. Yes, the challenge seems to be what to do when the goal has been reached. (Every child works at a different speed as well.) An example in programming would be that the child has just learned how to draw a square. There are two possible instructions after this:
1) Teacher says: Try to draw another figure, experiment with the number of sides and angles, OR
2) Instruction sheet: Draw a pentagon. Change angle to 60 degrees. Change number of sides to 6.

The first encourages experimentation and the risk of doing something wrong. This is the goal of teaching programming. The second has exact instructions but once again, when it is finished more instructions are necessary. If I made cards with different figures and an ordered list of instructions on each, would it be difficult for a child to pick one (i.e. too many card choices) ? Then programming would be learned via repetition with slight changes each time. This is ok since another goal is for a child to become comfortable with programming, which is different from being able to program.

I will try the idea of an ordered list on pre-made cards.

 

[the_tortoise]

Thank you for your response. Yes, the challenge seems to be what to do when the goal has been reached. (Every child works at a different speed as well.) An example in programming would be that the child has just learned how to draw a square. There are two possible instructions after this:
1) Teacher says: Try to draw another figure, experiment with the number of sides and angles, OR
2) Instruction sheet: Draw a pentagon. Change angle to 60 degrees. Change number of sides to 6.

The first encourages experimentation and the risk of doing something wrong. This is the goal of teaching programming. The second has exact instructions but once again, when it is finished more instructions are necessary. If I made cards with different figures and an ordered list of instructions on each, would it be difficult for a child to pick one (i.e. too many card choices) ? Then programming would be learned via repetition with slight changes each time. This is ok since another goal is for a child to become comfortable with programming, which is different from being able to program.

I will try the idea of an ordered list on pre-made cards.

I would only need "draw a pentagon. change it to a hexagon."

I don't understand the distinction you see where one child can learn to program and the other can become comfortable with programming but never learn to program.....I may not understand what you mean (fully or partly), but if I do understand what you mean I don't understand why you think this.

As long as the child is picking up on what is happening and why, seeing patterns (repetition allows a child to see patterns and overarching structures if their brain is naturally inclined to look for these things) and creating associations and concepts in their mind, I don't see why they couldn't learn to program starting with repetition plus changes.

Also, that they don't see anything they want to do independently or anything they are curious about in the Scratch programming language should not be used as a predictor of whether or not they could ever learn to program (perhaps they could not be the sort of person who can program anything in any programming language, if what they do with Scratch really does reflect anything at all about their abilities/potential, but that's not the same as "has no ability to program"). It may be that programming in Scratch is just not suited to them and they would do better learning something else as their foundation.

Many different types of instruction can lead to the same result -- it ultimately depends on what happens in the mind of the child and on how they learn and form concepts..... that is something you can't really control with the type of instruction or learning opportunity (not unless you understand extremely well what a child's thinking is like and how they learn, at the level of the individual), you can only hope that the instructions and opportunities you provide will foster the intellectual growth and skill development you hope for.

 

[IzzieDee1]

Hi,
Regarding programming, I did not express myself very well. I wrote about what I observed and I mixed up several different students in my discussion. I'll try to be more careful. Next week we start with a new group of kids. The second part of our Scratch programming is for the kids to come up with their own ideas, based on what they learned (or remember) from the first course.

I am not a trained teacher and am a self-taught programmer. I volunteer with an organization that has after-school programs, one of which is learning to program. The course is one day in the week (1.5 hours) for 6 weeks. I do not get to know these kids the same way a school teacher would.

I'll write again when the course starts.