Summary
Now, more than ever before, knowing how to code is an incredibly valuable skill in the job market. In this episode of Refining Rhetoric, Robert welcomes Classical Conversations® Challenge student and self-taught computer programmer Elijah Whitbeck to the show. Elijah relates his coding journey from developing his first video game to recently launching his first mobile app and starting his own company, PIRUX Games. Elijah offers valuable tips and advice for homeschool parents looking to teach their children to code and, intriguingly, discusses the similarities between Latin and code. Tune in to this first-ever episode of Refining Rhetoric with a current homeschool student as the guest!
Quote
“I’ve only come to where I am now with programming because of my passion. And the best advice I can give [to parents] is to understand your kid’s passion. Passion is what makes way for the learning.”
Elijah Whitbeck
Topics
- Intro to Elijah Whitbeck [0:57]
- How Elijah got interested in computer programming by creating his first video game [1:58]
- How Classical Conversations® helped Elijah learn to code [3:11]
- Elijah’s science fair project on cyber security and password strength [4:37]
- Elijah’s tips for creating strong passwords [6:05]
- Launching PIRUX Games [6:51]
- The challenges of creating Elijah’s first app, NumberSlam [8:42]
- Elijah’s future projects, including a geography learning app [14:03]
- Advice for parents wanting their children to learn to code [14:56]
- The similarities between Latin and code [17:08]
- Robert’s experience with programming [19:36]
- Farewell to Elijah [22:30]
- “Classical Tools Recap” [23:58]
- “Current Events Discussion”: TD Bank’s acquisition of First Horizon [25:57]
- Ad: Scribblers at Home: Recipes from Lifelong Learners [30:08]
- “Classical Crypto”: Polkadot [31:15]
- Outro [35:38]
Mentions
- Challenge B | Classical Conversations
- PIRUX Games
- Foundations | Classical Conversations
- Essentials | Classical Conversations
- Challenge A | Classical Conversations
- “Challenge A Science Fair: A Parent’s Perspective” | Classical Conversations Blog
- Brute-Force Attack | Wikipedia
- NumberSlam | Apple App Store | Google Play
- Scratch | MIT Beginner Programming Language
- Together with TD Bank | First Horizon
- Polkadot
- Gavin Wood
