As ugly, malformed, and abused as basic is, I think it is the best
language to teach to 5th graders.

Java, smalltalk or any OO language is probably not the best place to
start. The concepts that are required to make good OO programming is
too complex and are in addition to the basic coding of the methods
themselves. I think even C & derivatives are too complex in syntax,
kids get buggy eyed with all the curly braces really easily.

I have a 10 year old, and he seemed to pick up basic but I think
anything more complex would be too tough especially to start with. I
imagine teaching a room full of kids would be much more difficult.

You gota remember that basic programming is still going to have a lot
of concepts that are totally new to them (at least most of them).

- Ben
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