Suggestion for initiating a 14 yr old into this new world

hi, i would like to provide my grandchild of 14 the opportunity to get to know this new world. he is a smart boy and has curiosity enough to get interested into robots, or electronics or software, or all the three.

i would like to hear suggestions on what product should he start with and how should i proceed so that he as a nice experience and appreciate you help on this. just for the record i do have technical background in ee but do not follow this type of segment.

thanks,

Albert

apdusp:
...he is a smart boy and has curiosity enough to get interested into robots, or electronics or software, or all the three...

i would like to hear suggestions on what product should he start with and how should i proceed...

First off, I would talk to him and make sure this is something he really wants to do.

I first got interested in "robots" when I was about 6 or 7 years old; this was around 1979 - my Saturday staples were Battlestar Galactica (the original), and Buck Rogers, along with a large helping of other science fiction and such. I tried my hand at simple circuits at the same time; playing with light bulbs, wires, motors, and batteries - much of it scavenged from old toys or junk found in neighbor's trash cans.

As I grew older, my parents continued to "encourage" me - several different robot toys (Big Trak, Tomy Armatron, etc - all of which I still have and they still work!), various toy building products (Lego, Tinkertoy, etc) - and then, when I was about 10 or so, I got my first computer (a TRS-80 Color Computer with 16K of RAM, and a tape drive - plugged into my TV). I also got one of those Radio Shack "150-in-1" electronics kits. Some of my friends had computers, too; and one of them was building tube radios!

By the time I was 14 - as a freshman in high school - I had been programming in both BASIC and assembler, was on BBS's constantly - in short, I was a major geek (and still am).

I guess what I am saying is make sure your grandson really wants to do this. I'm not saying everyone will follow a similar pattern as I did (I do have to say I've met kids who are younger than I was then doing incredible things with Arduino's and Raspberry PI's, though!) - certainly one can develop a taste for something later or sooner. But what you don't want to have happen is for you to sink a bunch of time and money into something in which he doesn't really want to do or participate in, but is afraid to say no to his grandpa (for a multitude of reasons, as I am sure you can imagine).

That said, one would think that if he truly were curious about this kind of stuff, you would have seen (or heard of from his parents) this kind of interest; there isn't any reason today why a kid couldn't find a free way to program a computer (amazing stuff can be done with javascript and HTML5 built into every modern browser), or take apart and learn from electronic junk, or read up books from the library (or online) about electronics and robotics, begging his parents for money for parts or other materials...

Do you see what I am getting at here? Today, it is far easier and inexpensive than -ever- for someone who is truly interested in the topic to both learn about it, and participate - for little to no cost - than it ever has been before. So you need to access the situation, and find out if he is truly interested in the topic, and if so - why he hasn't been able to progress any (in programming, if nothing else)...

If your grandson shows interest, one way to start out with Arduino could be to go to one of the many tutorial web sites.

http://tronixstuff.wordpress.com/ is one of many, and one of my favorit places to learn new Arduino stuff.
It starts out with very baic stuff but have enough lessons to learn for a long time.

make sure you have all the needed stuff and make sure you start with the abolute basic stuff.

I think it is totally cool and generally ultra nice to see a grandparent wanting to do what you plan!

Hi,
There is also the ArduinoInfo.Info WIKI HERE:

Your Grandson might find this Starter Set a good beginning.

There is a detailed How-To for that set here: http://arduino-info.wikispaces.com/YourDuinoStarter

DISCLAIMER: Mentioned stuff from my own shop..! (You may want to check a comparison of Starter Sets ) HERE: There's more about Getting Started HERE

Then start him into playing with other sensors like Ultrasonic, Motion detector, etc. Let us know how this works out and what you decide would be (would have been) helpful.

So you need to access the situation, and find out if he is truly interested in the topic,

Absolutely. If he has no background in this, you may find it better to just start some simple project with a starter set and say "Hey, look at this.." With no pressure on him. I had the experience of my Dad deciding to "teach me about Radio" when I was 10 and was turned off. At about 13 or so I got into it myself.

If you're lucky, he'll say, "Hey, What is all this stuff??"

Something I just read:

What I found interesting about this was the commentary in the article about the one kid who turned out to enjoy programming, but was basically being hindered by his parents who were only allowing him 20 minutes a week (!) to use any kind of "screen" (ie - watch TV, use a computer, play a video game). To me - that is boarding on crazy unbelievable!

What the hell is wrong with parents? I mean, sure, perhaps some limits are appropriate - make sure your kid gets exercise, fresh air, socializing (if they're able), does their homework - but what a way to swing a pendulum toward the opposite end! The kid went on to create a hit app after he was really exposed to programming.

When I wrote what I wrote earlier - I never gave thought to the idea that a parent might be hindering the interests of their child; it didn't cross my mind, it seemed unfathomable to me, but I realize that it is possible (and unconscionable, IMHO). I was fortunate in that I had parents who understood my interests and desires, and spent then-massive amounts of money (and honestly, on a salary that really couldn't afford it, I now know - humbling, certainly) to allow me to pursue them. Ultimately, it was thanks to thier encouragement and help that I'm a software developer today.

So - perhaps this may be why your grandson hasn't shown an interest? Or why you think it is worth pursuing? Questions to consider, but again, you should discuss this with him...

/...20 minutes a week! - how many potential prodigy software developers are we as a society hindering, I wonder...geesh.

I second Cr0sh.

My first thought when I read the title was "why isn't he teaching you?" When my youngest was 12 he was the "expert" among his friends.

...R