# son is interested in electronics, now what?



## jamie_here

My 12 yr old is interested in learning about electronics, but books at the library are too simple or for high school students. He is learning some things by taking old appliances apart, but not sure where to go next.


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## Candy

He could get his ham radio license, that would get him into electronics and have a lot of fun too!


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## Cookie2

Ask your Extension Office if they offer a robotics club. If not, there might be one in a neighboring county.

Also, there are plenty of kits he can build. My hubby, an electronics engineer, loves the magazine "Nuts and Volts". For instance, in their October issue they dedicated the entire magazine to building animated Christmas displays.


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## halfpint

I second looking for robotics clubs. Also, you might want to check out the kits called "snap circuits", my boys loved them.

Dawn


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## unregistered358895

See if there is an electronics repair shop in hour area and contact the owner to find out what they suggest. They may be up to offering an internship, old manuals, or at least point you in the right direction.


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## V-NH

YouTube is the best resource in the world for educators or home schoolers alike


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## chickenista

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=online+electronics+course+for+beginners

here is a search for online electronics courses for beginners....


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## simi-steading

I was big into music, that took me towards amplifiers and lighting... I was building strobe lights for my friends when I was 12... A shame you can't get the parts to do that any more from Radio Shack...


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## Lilith

You could have him research and design a homemade power supply system from an alternative energy source that would allow a family to go off grid, then share his designs with us! 

Requirements could include 
1. power generation built exclusively from re-purposed common parts.
2. Storage system for the power from re-purposed common parts.
3. Inverter built from re-purposed common parts.
4. Charge controller built from re-purposed common parts.
5. limitations of the system - what exactly can this system can provide power for 365 days a year.

After reading the OP post again, this may be an EXTREMELY challenging for his age, instead scale back the project to being able to directly power an appliance and build from there to a charging system for an off grid system.


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## Micknleb

We started "Make: Electronics" with my 16 year old daughter this winter. It is a book and 2 different kits. The book is about $35.00 and the kits about $100 each. Available at Radio Shack. Not sure it will be worth it, but it looks pretty good right now.


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## Jay27

As an electrical engineer, I can tell you that if he has 'the knack', he'll find a way to feed the interest. But him stuff to take apart! Or have him try to fix broken stuff... It's already broken, what the harm? But him a good soldering iron... There are videos on YouTube on how to solder.


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## Michele of MI

My son really enjoyed Make magazine for electronics projects. It is written for older people so I would personally read it before giving it to a younger person just in case, but there were some really great build your own electronics projects in there. He will be 14 next week and really likes building electronic stuff and computer programming.We also give him broken computers, etc. to make things with, and as Jay27 pointed out, they will find a way if they are interested.


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## Daydreamer7102

http://www.eeme.co/


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## Shin

Yes I think an electronics learning kit would be just the thing. Hands on is the fun side. Many intelligent boys would enjoy one.


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## romysbaskets

My son has a great interest in mechanics but has a reading disability. He began taking things apart and fixing them when he was really young around 8. He was already helping Dad with the car by 9 yrs old. He was being given quads, lawnmowers and chainsaws to work on and fix on the island. He began running his own lawn service at 12, owned his own truck and riding lawnmower. Then he got paid to fix cars, lawnmowers and chainsaws as word spread about his work.. He took Robotics at a Charter school last year which was a good way to begin. 

I just posted what he did now at 17. We got him enrolled at a Technical college at 16 for classes on Small Engine Repair. He studies a lot more subjects than that by taking this course, it involves physics, technical reading, higher math and they repair all kinds of things that customers bring in. The school gets paid the fees and this in turn funds the school and the things the class does...like the Competition at State level. My son just won 1st place for the State of Colorado in this! He was the youngest to compete this year, the oldest was about 60. Despite how he has difficulty with the hard reading required...he did it! Next year he can take the Automotive classes that correspond to this course. He has applied to be in the apprenticeship program also. 

Your son needs to continue taking things apart, find him classes somewhere locally to you.... As he gets older, it gets easier to find these. Look at shops in your area, talk to them about a shop boy assistant who will donate time like an apprenticeship....depending on your laws there. Even if he is homeschooled, you can get him into a technical college by utilizing state funding if you apply properly. He will have to be older as our son couldn't do this until he was 16. It may be younger there. Buy him the manuals for what he wants to work on and also as someone said above, look up things on youtube..also look up car repairs on autozone.com for free instructions with diagrams, we like using that. Look at the classes he needs to be taught to support his work. Advertise what he wants to work on with a Craigslist ad and folks will donate stuff to him for schooling purposes! We did that for our son.


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## Annsni

Here are electronics stuff at Rainbow Resources

http://www.rainbowresource.com/searchspring.php?q=electronics


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## Savrens

Something seems to be missing in the replies.

*Safety!!!*

1. Learn about electricity. It is a wonderful helpmate but can also be deadly.

2. Do not poke around inside any electronics until you have some knowledge of the contents. Some effects of some components can be dangerous, even lethal. A person would likely first plug in a defective item. This could charge up capacitors. Touching the contacts could give you a shock. Think of a shock much worse than a defibrillator, or a taser, or even an electric fence charger. This can stop the heart.

Handled safely, electronics is a wonderful world.

Kits from places such as https://www.adafruit.com/educators would likely be better than kits from retail stores and hobby shops.

A good place to start seems to be this site I picked from Chickenistaâs search.
http://101science.com/Radio.htm.

Then you can turn him loose in the world of http://arduino.cc/ and https://www.raspberrypi.org/ a $35.00 computer.

Yes, your gift buying decisions have now been made easier for a few years!

Components are available from Amazon and Ebay as well as other online stores.


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## ilovebooks5

Here is a great website for electronics. It is an actual course that involves reading the lessons and building the projects, then taking weekly quizzes. 

quickstudylabs.com

My son has taken four of the Edison Projects and is working on his fifth. He has really enjoyed it.


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## gibbsgirl

Great thread guys!


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## Crankin

GETTING STARTED IN ELECTRONICS BY FORREST M. MIMS III 
$20.00 from Adafruit. This is a great book. Concise and easy to understand.
I have had a copy for 30 years. I am a mechanic and electronics was out of my comfort zone but I had to learn so that I could teach. And this book really helped me. 

I agree with Gibbsgirl great thread.


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