Alfred Thompson asked about PreAP Computer Science on Twitter.

I have been teaching PreAP Computer Science for a long time, I think we started a few years before C++ was on the AP Computer Science Exam.

We spend the first two six weeks making sure that students have a basic understanding of computers and how to use them.  I make sure that students know the components of a computer science, can go to a store and figure out what they want to buy and make sure they know how to use all the basic tools, include word processing, spreadsheets, and powerpoint.  I also make sure they can use the internet for research.

We also spend time with planning and flowcharting. I have been using Raptor to introduce programming for several years now.  Then we move onto the AP language.  I like to get through basic file handling and through arrays as those are the two topics that seem to make or break programming students.