alt Hacker News> The student who wants to engage with programming and software likely has other goals in mind.
And the student who doesn't learn these concepts will inevitably run into a roadblock soon thereafter.
> But a student who gets to just sit there and listen to you drone on and on about "abstractions" and "instructions sets" and "data is code" and "semantics"
You don't "drone on" about these things. You introduce them as it makes sense, by pointing things out about the first programs as they are developed. You don't talk about abstracting things and assigning semantics; you do it, and then point out what you've done.
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They will then run into a roadblock when they’ve already done something fun and are invested in the project.
Reading is easier when you know your latin roots, but we don’t make kids speak latin before See Spot Run even if it would help.
> You introduce them as it makes sense
So we agree that maybe dragging them right into the start by teaching assembly (because it's good at teaching those things) as the first time language isn't the best strategy?
At no point will I argue against learning it. Knowing how machines work is great, and I think going "down" the stack benefits a lot of developers ONCE they're developers and have an understanding that programming and computers are things they like and want to do.
But first you have to foster enthusiasm and nurture interest. You don't do that by declaring that you're going to teach your kids assembly... you do that by listening to your kids interests in the space and helping them achieve their goals.