I had the opportunity a month or so ago to experiment with a Yourduino "starter kit" that my son (6th grade, we'll call him "E") brought home on loan from his middle school Engineering Club. I had just become interested in Arduino after seeing some student projects entered in the UVM Design TASC competition, so the timing was perfect! Our Weekend With Arduino preceded the announcement of the Physical Computing Course by about a week, so things really came together for the two of us to pursue our interests. Since that time his Club has purchased a Robot Kit from Youduino which he has assembled and is now beginning to program using Python.
I'll be honest: one of my challenges will be to take this process one step at a time and NOT have E jump ahead and do my homework for me! That said, exploring Arduino wiring and programming with an almost 12-year-old is giving me an authentic experience in student learning and approach. Like me, he is more apt to dive in and start plugging in wires before reading the instructions... as I write this he is wiring up project 15. My understanding of circuits and wiring theory is (for now) more advanced, so his involvement also gives me the opportunity to teach as I go. I suspect others will concur that teaching a topic can often help us clarify our own understanding, and I am finding that to be true in this case.
We didn't get much further than basic LED circuits that first weekend, but also worked through the details of software, drivers, and the basics of creating and transferring a sketch. One of my personal stumbling blocks was the use of the breadboard, but the SIK instructions helped make that clear this time around.
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