The Return of Robot Turtles
If you missed your chance to get in the original Kickstarter, this is your opportunity to get your young learners on the path to programming.
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Promote Computer Science Education With Hour of Code
Participate in Hour of Code to help reach the goal of introducing 10 million students of all ages to programming. All it takes is one hour.
Continue ReadingGeekMom Bit by Bit: RoboMind Teaches Text Editor-Based Programming to Kids
RoboMind is a no-prerequisite-required introduction to programming, where the objective is to create programs that allow a robot to perform certain tasks.
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Robot Turtles: Programming for Preschoolers
Dan Shapiro devised a board game that he and his four-year-old children can play together.
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Kids Program Video Games With Kodu for Kids
New book Kodu for Kids will systematically teach your kids how to program with Microsoft’s Kodu.
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Lego Mindstorm EV3 Available September 1
We finally, finally have a date. The retail version of the EV3 will ship on September 1 for a price of $349, but if you shop around online, you may be able to pre-order sometime this month.
Continue ReadingMotherboards and Daughtercards: Build a Computer With Your Kid
So when our ancient PC stopped working this winter, I knew that I wasn’t going to build another computer. She was.
Continue ReadingGive Kids Arduino Adventures
Arduino Adventures: Escape from Gemini Station is a great introduction to Arduino robotics projects for kids (and adults who want an easy starting point.) The book was written by James Floyd Kelly and Harold Timmis and published by Apress.
Continue ReadingReview: Python for Kids
Python for Kids is a book from No Starch Press that aims to teach kids ages 10 and up and their parents about the Python programming language. I happen to have an 11 year old daughter for convenient review purposes, so we’ve been working through the book together.
Continue ReadingGeekMom Gift Guide: Books, Books, and More Books!
You’ve likely started your holiday shopping, or at least feel guilty about not starting your shopping. But the whole process is a lot less work since the advent of internet commerce. Books are perfect for purchasing through this conduit, since one size fits all and they aren’t that fragile. Here are the GeekMom writers’ recommendations for books to buy your loved ones this holiday season. There are a very large number of them, so be sure to click to see them all!
Continue ReadingTeach Your Kids Basic Programming With Super Scratch Programming Adventure
A new book from No Starch Press, Super Scratch Programming Adventure!: Learn to Program By Making Cool Games makes it even easier to teach your kids basic programming skills.
Continue ReadingAn Interview With Etsy and Hacker School About the Etsy Hacker School Grants
On Saturday, we shared the news about Etsy providing ten lucky programmer women five thousand dollars to attend Hacker School. Today, we have the whole story direct from the source. I interviewed Marc Hedlund from Etsy and Nicholas Bergson-Shilcock from Hacker School to get more details about the grants, the partnership between Etsy and Hacker […]
Continue ReadingHacker School and Etsy Team Up For Scholarships To Support Women In Technology
Etsy is a popular site for selling (mostly) handmade goods. Hacker School is a free, three-month programming school in New York. Together they’ve announced Etsy Hacker Grants that to support women in technology. Hacker School “batches,” or sessions, are held in different places. Last year’s were at NYU and Spotify. The current group is at […]
Continue ReadingWANTED: Rosie the Programmer
It’s a pretty uniform feeling among geeks with daughters: We want to raise strong, smart, independent girls who can stand above stereotypes. So when I’m faced with marketing geared toward girls, I feel a mixture of emotions. Part of me is excited to see something cute and girly, and part of me is outraged at […]
Continue ReadingTurn Your Kids Into Linux Hackers At SCALE: The Next Generation
The Southern California Linux Expo (SCALE) celebrates its tenth year with a new feature, called SCALE: The Next Generation. The free and open source community of today is reaching out to their future leaders by hosting this mini-event for kids within the larger Linux conference. Mimi Cafiero and Malakai Wade, eighth graders already with backgrounds […]
Continue ReadingMuse of Nerds: College Physics, Innovative Robotics, Homeschooling — Dr. McColgan Can Do It All!
For my Muse of Nerds this month, I’ll formally introduce you to someone I have talked about in the past: Dr. Michele McColgan of Siena College. I met her through our homeschooling group (she has two elementary-aged children) and she has introduced my kids to science, math, robots, computer programming, alternative energy, a Lego Robotics […]
Continue ReadingEnter the RootsTech Developers Challenge!
The second annual RootsTech Developers Challenge will award $5,000 to the developer who creates the best ancestry research application using available APIs. The deadline to apply is December 17, 2011 January 1, 2012, so hurry! Once you apply, your entry must be submitted on or before January 15, 2012. The winning entry will be announced […]
Continue ReadingOur Adventures With Robotics: The Lego Mindstorm Kit
I have a daughter who wants to design robots. She used to want to be an astronaut, and now she thinks that maybe she’d still like to go into space, but “only for a year or so,” since she’s discovered it could be a dangerous job. I assured her that a career in robotics looks […]
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