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http://hacketyhack.net/

This is the best learning to program thing i have ever run across. Not only does it run through tutorials but your also editing and interacting, saving, loading, running, etc. all inside the same program.

While I don't disagree with your suggestions of Logo, LISP, Scala, F#, Erlang, and Haskell, Hackity Hack is a kit that uses Ruby to teach kids to program. It looks kinda cool, and a nice place to start.

Hackety Hack is designed just for this purpose.

http://hacketyhack.net/ is a tool that makes it easy for students to make things relevant to today. It is a ruby based learning environment that makes web (producing and consuming http) and gui programming very simple, and lets non-programmers quickly make things that they consider useful and cool.
Highly recommended for introductory programming.

There are a couple of reasons that it's getting harder to teach languages.

1. Languages are moving away from knowing fundemental coding constructs (loops, if statements, etc) and towards knowing an API. You can't really do anything with a modern language without knowing what the libraries are. I suspect these things are frustrating for the learner programmer. I'd pick something with as simple an API as possible.

2. Back in the day, a junior programmer could write something in a couple of hours that was almost as good as the games, etc you purchased. This is no longer the case. I think it's difficult teaching the basics of programming when no child is going to produce anything that comes close to the games they play or the programs they use.

If I were to try and teach programming, I'd look at something like scratch or Hackety Hack

Good luck.

They can learn Ruby quite nicely using Hackety Hack.

You could also try Squeak if you're Smalltalk-inclined.

Try Hackety Hack.

http://hacketyhack.net/ is the answer!

You can write blogs, mp3 downloader/reader and basic graphical interfaces in a few (Ruby) lines.
I wish I had it when I was a kid... GWBasic wasn't so glamour :-/

For anyone else with programming-inclined progeny, take a look at one of why's other projects, Hackety Hack. It's an interactive Ruby environment for beginners.

In the 1980s, a language called BASIC swept the countryside. It was a language beginners could use to make their computer speak, play music. You could easily draw a big smiley face or a panda or whatever you like! But not just BASIC. Other languages like: LOGO and Pascal were right there on many computers.

In this century, you may have dozens of programming languages lurking on your machine. But how to use them?? A fundamental secret! Well, no more. We cannot stand for that. Hackety Hack will not stand to have you in the dark!!

FYI, the BBC article about Scratch also mentions Hackity Hack as a more advanced alternative: "And for those that want to get stuck into something that looks more like traditional code there are sites like HacketyHack.... The site teaches children to code in a language called Ruby. There are seven free lessons, including one that allows them to develop a blog with just six lines of code."

Note the end of this article - it mentions Hackety Hack. This is a highly-recommended development platform, geared towards the younger programmers and beginners. It teaches Ruby and strives to be community-oriented and easy to use (lots of built-in functionality).

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Eli

why the lucky stiff has started an amazing project called Hackety Hack, in an attempt to solve the Little Coder's Predicament. It's a development platform designed for the younger coders and beginners, with an emphasis on sharing, community, ease-of-use (lots of built-in functionality), and cute cartoon characters. Currently it teaches Ruby in a series of fun lessons, but _why has stated that it might teach other languages in the future. A slick help interface comes bundled, as well as a Ruby cheat-sheet.

Come and join in the public beta testing. The forum is active and the people are nice. And don't forget to share your exciting hacks with the rest of us!

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Eli