books/learning for an 11 year old

[bwall]

I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this post.

I have an 11 year old that is interested in learning how to develop web sites. I would like to purchase him a book to help him begin. He has a microsoft frontpage book that is geared towards his age group and he liked it a lot. I would like to get him something a little more geared towards the coding and scripting side of web developement. I think the frontpage book is more from the what us see is what you get editor side of development. I showed him the code view of frontpage and he didn't even really know it was there.

Does anyone know of good books or good sites geared more towards getting the younger age group involved in web developement? Or is it kind of a give him my books and let him start reading. If that is the case I may have to get some other books geared towards beginning html, css, php etc to get his mind around the basics first. Any thoughts?

[immediate-info]

the problem with getting him programming boks is that they take a lot for granted. so he may struggle. however, you should be able to combat this by buying the "for dummies" books on whatever language you want. you can find them on amazon

[AlexDawson]

While I know you were more looking to visual books, FrontPage is seriously outdated and you would be supprised how quickly kids can adapt to learning code. If you want something which has a lot of design work and gives tips on producing websites I can highly recommend The Zen of CSS Design, it is linked to the award winning website CSS Zen Garden which has plenty of different designs your 11 year old can look at and see how it ticks under the hood by viewing source. Perhaps take him to your local bookstore and get him to take a browse round the web design books, theres a lot of good ones out there which will give real world skills and should get him excited about what he could produce

PS: In reference to the above, I would avoid the for dummies books, while on many subjects they do a fair job, as far as web design goes they are highly outdated, poorly written and teach bad habits

[thomasfrank09]

I started learning HTML when I was 11, so don't shy away from coding. I highly, highly recommend the book Head First HTML, as it is not a conventional, boring code book. It is developed to retain interest, and uses many different methods of learning with activities, lots of pictures, compelling stories to go along with the lessons, etc. I'm currently working out of Head First PHP and MySQL.

[WebMachine]

The Head First books are very visual and geared towards making sure the reader understands the material, not just dishing out the information. They use a variety of entertaining techniques, illustrations and interesting exercises, but still are appropriate for any age group that wants a good grounding in the subject (they don't talk down to you).

[sg707]

At 11, just let him be a kid. Don't worry about the real world until he's in high school. Remember, he only get to be a kid once in his life... just enjoy it. What did you do at 11?

[AlexDawson]

At 11, just let him be a kid. Don't worry about the real world until he's in high school. Remember, he only get to be a kid once in his life... just enjoy it. What did you do at 11?

I programmed VB and pascal if I remember correctly, how about you

[thomasfrank09]

Alex is right. If the kid has an interest than take all steps necessary to foster it. When I look back I really wish I had been more focused as a kid on gaining expertise in one skill area. It would have given me an even bigger leg up now.

[RyanReese]

At 11, just let him be a kid. Don't worry about the real world until he's in high school. Remember, he only get to be a kid once in his life... just enjoy it. What did you do at 11?

I was just beginning HTML and was doing PHP, SQL and fiddling with ASP (ASP got too confusing so I dropped it quickly)

[sg707]

Man~~ you guys really missed the SNES days? too bad...lol. I was busy playing video games which made me interested in computer technology

[RyanReese]

Naw I'm glad I made that choice, I was building up for a career (and I did play video games on the computer a lot while I wasn't learning lol.

[AlexDawson]

Man~~ you guys really missed the SNES days? too bad...lol. I was busy playing video games which made me interested in computer technology

I used to code simplistic games in Microsoft Basic on an old MSX machine when I was 7 years old for fun, does that count?