JavaScript - transitioning beyond the basics?

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Anne Briggs

May 09, 2017 04:15

Hello! My two daughters, ages 8 and 11, were able to complete the Intro to JavaScript course and enjoyed it. We wanted them to continue. They have been trying the Advanced JS: Games & Visualizations (which seems to be the only other course available) and this course seems way too hard compared to the previous one. They can do some of it but the challenges are mostly beyond them. Even when they manage to complete a challenge it is usually due to guesswork or trial and error. When they ask me for help, I try looking at the previous lessons and hints and they are of almost no help to me. I'll ask them things like "What does popMatrix mean?" and they will respond, "I have no idea!"

Could anyone suggest what we can do to go beyond the basics to more of an "Intermediate" JavaScript course, whether on Khan or elsewhere? They know more than typical "Hour of Code" projects but the more advanced stuff is too hard. We seem to be stuck in a difficult place where we can't make any progress. Thanks!

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Inger Hohler

May 12, 2017 15:13
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Hi Anne, great to hear your daughter have enjoyed the Intro to JavaScript. Before students tackle the Advanced JS it is not unusual that they keep working on programs of their own for a while, and check out the Documentation both under every program, and under the w3school or elsewhere. At that stage I learned a lot by following the questions and answers in the CS forum on Khan Academy. Even if they cannot ask questions of their own, they can be inspired, and perhaps get you to ask the questions for them.

You can also consider if you want to start them on HTML and CSS, where there is also a fairly linear progression through the course.

I hope this helps.
Anne Briggs

May 12, 2017 15:37
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Inger, thank you for your comment and helpful suggestions! When I hadn't heard back from anyone, I told my computer skilled husband about our problems. He explained to me that JavaScript is so interlinked with HTML and other web technologies that you can't really just study JavaScript in a vacuum the way you might a language like Japanese. When he looked at the Khan Academy offerings, he suggested our girls try this order of courses after the Intro to JavaScript course: 1) Intro to HTML/CSS: Making webpages, 2) Intro to SQL: Querying and Managing Data, 3) HTML/JS: Making webpages interactive, 4) HTML/JS: Making webpages interactive with jQuery. Then maybe going back and trying the more advanced JavaScript offerings. We will also look into the w3school initiative you mentioned. Thanks again!

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