Moms - need some help / information if any of you have it ! I have a 10 year old that LOVES to play video games (please - no finger pointing about letting him play LOL). He is wanting to "mod" the games on the X-Box and do the mod's for Minecraft on the computer. I am absolutely lost on this. Is there anyone that can walk us through this ? I would also love to get him into a summer day camp that would let him explore programming and game software. Any ideas on this ? Thanks for any ideas !
My daughter is a huge Minecraft fan too and has been asking for this software.
http://www.youthdigital.com/mod-design-1.html
I told her she can get it with her money, but she wants recording equipment first. (to record playing on Xbox or her computer).
You may find stuff online, there are many Minecraft sites with loads of info.
Programming - I've got a love/hate relationship with it.
I was a programmer for 15 years.
Is it fun? Sure.
It's also way too easy for jobs in this field to be off-shored plus H1B visas have them importing programmers - which keeps the salaries down (and falling).
I tell my son to learn it as a a tool for your engineering but do not rely upon it as your main bread and butter thing to make a living on.
The STEM programs do offer programming classes, but the numbers of students taking it are the lowest - for the reasons I mentioned above.
It's a pity because it was a great profession into the late 90's and early 2000's.
Taking a children s class for gaming programming is fine - it helps with logical thinking and will help keep him grounded in science.
You know what? Your son is interested in something that he could make a career out of.
Call your local community college and ask about computer programming classes for CHILDREN....state what he WANTS to do...they can direct you to the companies that offer programming classes for children.
This past summer we had an opportunity to send our oldest son to a programming summer camp, unfortunately, since we would be gone during that week, we couldn't send him.
Here's a link to a homeschool programming course.
http://homeschoolprogramming.com/
Good luck!! Encourage him!! He may come up with a game that will take care of him for life!!
There are some homeschooling programs out there that you can get for your son to help him learn.
I would contact contact your local colleges or universities to find out what programs they have.
Perhaps a small computer supply store could give you a name. Our science museum offers computer classes. I'd check there. There are clubs that learn how to do things on a computer. Ask at the school. They may have one. Ask at the high school. Teens do marvelous things with electronics.
I suspect that what you're asking is too difficult to put on paper. There are probably several steps.
My son has gone to, and is now (as a 21 year old college senior) a summer camp counselor/instructor, at ID Tech Camp. They have amazing gaming and programming camps at college campuses all around the country. Google it and see if you have a location nearby!
In my city there is a summer camp put on by one of our universities that teaches programming using the mindcraft platform. Instead of getting new items you program new items and you can design new levels. Maybe try googling mindcraft programming camps in your area and see what comes up.
I know Xbox is not open source and I am not sure about mindcraft. If they are not open source you have no access to the code to modify it.
I think kids are fine playing on the computer. Those who try and not let their kids on them are going to find out their kids are behind those who do play. The hand eye coordination will be a huge deal. They'll have basic working skills too. I still have to work and write stuff down every time I need to do something with my operating system.
Kids need down time too, I'm not saying that computers or game devices should take the place of playing outside or with toys not at all but I am saying there isn't anything wrong with computer time either.
code.org take a look at it, your son will love it!
