[hmahncke]

A lot of discussion here about the limitations of Scratch as a programming language.

But the magic of Scratch is the community. My daughter learned Scratch, and she joined multiple teams of 10-year olds making all kind of interactive stories and games. And virtually every interaction she had was positive, uplifting, and helped her construct her identity as a programmer.

She now teaches Scratch for kids and programs in Java and Python. But making those friends and doing those team projects was invaluable - and nearly unreplicable in another language/ environment.

[andrewstuart]

Whilst I totally agree with you, on the other hand, a child's first introduction to programming should be easy, intuitive and powerful.

What could be worse than an introduction to programming that puts a certain number of children off because it's not those things?

Clearly alot of kids manage to drive it enough to their satisfaction, but the failings of Scratch must leave many children behind.

I know my son gave Scratch a go and gave up.

[vxNsr]

I have trouble understanding how another language is more intuitive than scratch, indeed you don't provide any examples of more child friendly languages, just that it didn't work for your son.... which could just be because your son doesn't wanna program.

[piceas]

I would like a physical version made of blocks that can be arranged rather than dragging boxes on the screen. Not another language as such but I suspect would be more intuitive.

[bryanbraun]

This reminds me of Code-a-piller. It's a toy designed for pre-schoolers, so definitely not a full language, but it's physical and lets you sequence basic instructions in an intuitive way. More here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYEKD1Befg8

[normac2]

I've heard the exact opposite, that the online community is toxic and one of the main downsides.

I assume both are true in different cases, and you just have to be careful what part of the community you get involved in.

[electriclove]

How did she get involved with joining those teams? Is that something she sought out herself? Are there programs that facilitate this?