Gratitude 105

We've switched to scratch. My son and I have one on one time twice per day, usually right at his chaotic times while medicine is kicking in. Generally it's Minecrafts as that is a safe place to be as chaotic as we need to be, but today its been a day of scratch. Its fun to see how quickly he is picking it up, he is already on his own setting up new sprites, reskinning them, and setting up keys to move them around. I step in with some things that are just outside of his zone. The first time we go through it, it seems like he is paying no attention and does not care, but after a few times of going through a concept he seems to be picking it up.

I have really been trying to get him to do the problem solving as much as possible, so if we are paired up and I am "writing" the code, I try to get him to drive as much as possible. Even if its not a direct we need a forever block, describing to me what the sprite should do and what the player needs to do to make it happen is a huge step. I try to make him give me as small of a step as he can without pushing too hard because I understand that it is his time that he is a bit chaotic.

I am so grateful that this technology exists and we can make games together. This is totally not something I had as a kid and would have loved to have or been encouraged to pursue.