Good Time To Start Teaching My Little Brother?

[davidthefat]

Now that my little bother is turning 12 in a month, I think its a great time to start teaching him some programming. I personally taught me self C++ when I was 12, so I totally think its doable. Now I personally want him to get into robotics when he goes to highschool. So I think a great starting place is the lego robotics at the local middle school. Now I personally never joined since I thought they were all dorks, so I am not sure if they survived for 4 years. My little brother and I have totally different personalities, so he might not like robotics, but hes in the chess club at his school. He doesn't think chess club is lame, he probably will not think robotics is lame either. (He beats me in chess 5 out of 7 games...)


Now is it a good idea to give him a head start in programming or should I wait?

Also since I never tried the lego robotics, will it turn him on or off for the real deal in highschool?

Now he wants to play football too, should I get him to work out? Previous attempts at that failed

[Andrew Schreiber]

You should let him progress at his own rate. If he is interested he will ask for your help.

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by Andrew Schreiber

You should let him progress at his own rate. If he is interested he will ask for your help.

Apparently he thinks he is stupid and won't be able to catch up with the other kids or something... Thats why he doesn't want to join. I told him I would teach him, but he is hesitant

[Katie_UPS]

I hate the "I'm too stupid for robotics" misconception. Unless the local FLL team is full of very bright students who are very exclusive, I don't think he'd actually have a problem. If he's good at chess, he's probably good at problem solving and thinking logically: both are good things for robotics.

If he really doesn't want to join, then don't make him. But if you can, take him to an FRC event- thats what did me in. Have him wander around in the pits (supervised maybe and with safety glasses) and look at cool robots, collect buttons, and ask questions. If he thinks thats cool enough, he'll probably want to do robotics in high school, if not middle school. Also, remind him that not many people go into robotics knowing anything and that he's there to learn. If you can make it clear that you don't have know everything on day 1, he'll understand that he CAN join.

On a different note, FLL teams have a restricted team size, so he may not be able to join due to a full roster.

[Chris is me]

Maybe he just doesn't have an interest in STEM. Teaching him a skill that he doesn't yet want to know isn't going to necessarily change that.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

Apparently he thinks he is stupid and won't be able to catch up with the other kids or something... Thats why he doesn't want to join. I told him I would teach him, but he is hesitant

Where did he get the idea that he is stupid?

I'm very happy you want to teach him something useful. Since children usually look up to their big brothers and sisters, if you make a sincere attempt to lead or teach him, he'll probably follow. Just remember not to tell him he's stupid if he doesn't get it right away. (Lack of patience--probably one of the many reasons my little sister told me never to teach high school.) Maybe he needs to learn programming only, without any pressure to join a team.

I don't think anyone is too young to learn computer programming, but tailor the approach to his abilities. You know, "byte" size lessons and all that.

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by KarenH

Where did he get the idea that he is stupid?

I'm very happy you want to teach him something useful. Since children usually look up to their big brothers and sisters, if you make a sincere attempt to lead or teach him, he'll probably follow. Just remember not to tell him he's stupid if he doesn't get it right away. (Lack of patience--probably one of the many reasons my little sister told me never to teach high school.) Maybe he needs to learn programming only, without any pressure to join a team.

I don't think anyone is too young to learn computer programming, but tailor the approach to his abilities. You know, "byte" size lessons and all that.

Oh because I was playing a C teaching game on linux called Laby. He looked very interested and I told him that I would teach him programming. But since he didn't understand the things I was typing in, he got scared I guess. And also his math is on the low side compared to other subjects. Well he does a lot better than me than I did in Elementary

[davidthefat]

Was my email to the principal correctly worded?

I am a former student of (The middle school), "graduated" in 08, the year of Mrs. (Principal)'s retirement. I have a question regarding a club at (The middle school). I believe there was a robotics club in 2007, but I want to confirm if that club still exists. If that club does not exist anymore, would it be possible to reinstate the club? My little brother is currently a 6th grader and will be moving up to (The middle school) next year. I personally believe that this club will inspire kids to pursue STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics.). The club will induce critical thinking (I believe this is (My school)'s current mission), teamwork, and a taste of the real world projects. Tests and homework is all good but they do not represent the real world; you can study for a test, but real life success comes from experience. This club will give them this experience; it will also be a stepping stone to the robotics program offered at (My School), (School A), (School B) and thousands of other schools world wide. I would also be happy to assist the teacher who would be in charge of the club. If you would like more information go to this link: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...lt.aspx?id=970. This is a once in a life time experience for these kids. Thank you for reading this long email and I hope you consider it. If you want farther assistance, I can ask my mentor if the whole (My School) team can help the kids. I believe it builds character on both parties.

[KarenH]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

If you want farther assistance, I can ask my mentor if the whole (My School) team can help the kids.

I'm not very good with business letters myself, but here's one detail that needs fixing:
further, not farther.

[GaryVoshol]

David, FLL teams don't show up in the usfirst.org look-up site.

Does your FRC team sponsor any FLL teams? That might be a place to start. Revise your letter to the MS to just ask if they still have a team. Then talk with your FRC leaders to see what they want to do about it next FLL season (which starts in September). If there still is an FLL team, your FRC team can offer mentorship. If the FLL team has folded, the FRC team can offer to restart one. You don't have to worry about it until after FRC build season. But if your team wants to mentor FLL, you might be able to organize a relationship with an existing team and invite them to your competition.

[N7UJJ]

The email is great!
However, mention that you would like an appointment to meet with the principal and any other teacher who might be interested. Then follow up with a phone call in a day or two to set up an appointment.

As for your brother, it would be wonderful if mom and dad would spring for a Mindstorm kit for home and let your brother play with it. Don't teach him, but rather help him if he asks or program the bot yourself and maybe show him how you did something clever. In other words, the goal is not to teach him programming, but to stimulate his curiosity.

And, as others have pointed out,take him to a competition. The FLL is the "real deal"; the only FIRST (unlike FRC, FTC) where all the teams have mastered autonomous programming.

Best of luck!

[Joe G.]

I did FLL for 6 years. I started at the age of 10. It was easily one of the best experiences of my life. One of the great things about FLL (there are many great things) is that the "get the best score you can" approach gives a thrill to people of ANY skill level. Sure, the top level teams achieve near perfection. But my first year, we were THRILLED when things went right for us, and we scored a big 35 out of 400 points. Participating in FLL, and the constant progress you make over the years, is a GREAT way to learn the basics (and not-so-basics) of engineering.

And if there aren't any teams nearby, start one! FLL teams are easy to make, with a much lower budgetary commitment than FRC. My team was home-grown, run by two committed families who owned mindstorms kits, and made it to the world championship.

[Tetraman]

Back in my day, in middle school, I played in a Lego Mindstorms competition similar to FLL. The entire club split into groups of 3 and so the 5 or so teams of us played against each other, plus the other 10 or so teams from the other area middle schools. It wasn't FLL but it played like it and pretty much WAS it.

After this (and my group getting second place) we were told that if we were interested in contining robotics, that the high school did some bigger robot league. Thus, I made it into FRC with team 174 and the rest is history.

While I can't say that I got into Robotics because of FLL, I can say it was an FLL-like game that pulled me into FRC.

I went into the Lego Mindstroms League because I loved building with Lego, and went into FRC because I loved working on a team, working on design and solving puzzles. Guess what? I'm an art kid. I studied art in high school and it wasn't until college were I completed a degree in Industrial Design that I came close to actually working on things close to what I did in Robotics. Everyone finds their own niche in the team and will be able to provide something of worth.

[steelerborn]

My brother is 11 and I have already taught him Pro-Engineer, and he can CAD a whole robot by himself now. In fact he is actual going to skip his middle school years in FLL and shadow an FRC team for two years, so when he is Freshmen in High School he will have the experience of a Junior.

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

Also since I never tried the lego robotics, will it turn him on or off for the real deal in highschool?

FLL is the real deal. FRC isn't the only real deal in town and you shouldn't buy into that mindset - it will limit your thinking.

Having been a judge for several FLL events, I can honestly say that the FLL teams bring it. They know what they are talking about and they understand the value of FLL, including areas of programming, building robust robots that can compete on the field, team organization, and mentorship.

We have a student on our team who competed in FLL and through her FLL experiences, found out about LASA Robotics. From the time of middle school, she could not wait until she was high school age and could be a member of our team. She can be found in our team's programming/electrical room, working away.

Research the FLL team availability in your area. Find out what other options are available. Talk to your brother about his interests and how he wants to spend his time. When you are talking with him, make sure that you are in a listening mode and pay attention to what he is saying.

When he talks about being stupid, remind him that we all have to start learning somewhere, sometime, and that includes the mentors on the teams. Show him some threads here in CD where the mentors are asking for help, starting somewhere and learning.

Jane