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Happy 6th Birthday Sugar Labs

Happy 6th Birthday Sugar Labs

1. I just got back from Turtle Art Day in Kathmandu, Nepal. OLE Nepal helped organize a 2-day workshop with 70+ children from four schools. Many thanks to Martin Dluhos, Basanta Shrestha, Subir Pradhanang, Rabi Karmacharya, Bernie Innocenti, and Adam Holt, all of whom contributed to the event.

1. I just got back from Turtle Art Day in Kathmandu, Nepal. OLE Nepal helped organize a 2-day workshop with 70+ children from four schools. Many thanks to Martin Dluhos, Basanta Shrestha, Subir Pradhanang, Rabi Karmacharya, Bernie Innocenti, Nick Dorion, and Adam Holt, all of whom contributed to the event.

It was not a surprise that children in Nepal are like children everywhere else: they take to programming like ducks to water. We began by taking the children in small groups to learn some basics about controlling the turtle: one child plays the role of turtle, one holds the pen (a piece of chalk) and the rest, in a circle, instruct the "turtle" how to draw a square. They need to be very precise with their instructions: if they just say "forward" without saying how far forward, the turtle keeps walking. If they say "right", without saying how far to turn, the turtle keeps spinning. After they draw a square, I ask them to draw a triangle; then they are ready to start with Turtle Art. I've posted a few of the chalk drawings in the wiki: [[:File:Chalk1.jpg|simple ones]] from my session, to [[:File:Chalk1.jpg|more elaborate]], from those working with another one of the mentors.

It was not a surprise that children in Nepal are like children everywhere else: they take to programming like ducks to water. We began by taking the children in small groups to learn some basics about controlling the turtle: one child plays the role of turtle, one holds the pen (a piece of chalk) and the rest, in a circle, instruct the "turtle" how to draw a square. They need to be very precise with their instructions: if they just say "forward" without saying how far forward, the turtle keeps walking. If they say "right", without saying how far to turn, the turtle keeps spinning. After they draw a square, I ask them to draw a triangle; then they are ready to start with Turtle Art. I've posted a few of the chalk drawings in the wiki: [[:File:Chalk1.jpg|simple ones]] from my session, to [[:File:Chalk1.jpg|more elaborate]], from those working with another one of the mentors.

Of note: One child approached me to say he is teaching himself to program Python. I showed him how to export Python from his Turtle Art projects. I'll be curious how he uses that feature. I am making a new set to [[Activities/Turtle_Art/Turtle_Cards|Turtle Cards]] to demonstrate the steps we took in explaining Turtle to the children.

Of note: One child approached me to say he is teaching himself to program Python. I showed him how to export Python from his Turtle Art projects. I'll be curious how he uses that feature. I am making a new set to [[Activities/Turtle_Art/Turtle_Cards|Turtle Cards]] to demonstrate the steps we took in explaining Turtle to the children.

2. While I was in Kathmandu, I had a chance to meet with the Nepali FOSS community, thanks to Shankar Pokharel, Ankur Sharma, and Subir Pradhanang. We had a nice talk about the challenges and opportunities facing FOSS in Nepal.

2. While I was in Kathmandu, I had a chance to meet with the Nepali FOSS community, thanks to Shankar Pokharel, Ankur Sharma, and Subir Pradhanang. We had a nice talk about the challenges and opportunities facing FOSS in Nepal.