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Programming, subject matter
* Where is the music?
* Where is the music?
==Programming==
We have activities for the Smalltalk, Python, and Logo languages. Etoys includes a different version of turtle graphics We have to provide an appropriately graded curriculum on the basic concepts of programming, starting with simple actions, such as Turtle Art drawing commands. Then we have to deal with variables, subroutines, control flow, functions or methods, and so on up to object class definitions and libraries. The laptops also have FORTH and Perl installed, and we will want materials for those, starting no doubt in later grades.
We also need to bring in the Computer Science idea that the deep structure of a program is not the surface syntax, but is much more like the trees that we build in Turtle Art.
==Subject matter==
Whether in math, science, music, art, or any other subjects, there is much that cannot be discovered in unguided exploration, that has taken thousands of years of human history to achieve. The chief task in building new learning materials will be discovering ways to structure learning to maximize the amount of discovery the children can achieve, with the minimum of direction.
We also need to be clear about skills that need practice more than discovery, as in music and sports, or keyboarding or language. What is the proper balance?