For many people, how there is even a debate still going on the validity of coding in the classroom is mind boggling. Yet, that debate continues to rage on throughout the country. Consider a recent article for the Lancaster Online titled “What do kids learn from coding? Much more than just computer skills, educators say.”
Kara Newhouse of Lancaster Online writes, “Third-graders at Pequea Elementary School in Penn Manor can’t quite explain how computer coding is used in the real world, but they do know this: it’s a lot of fun. ‘I like coding because you get to play games, but it makes you think and stuff,’ said 8-year-old Kennedy Dings. Last Thursday, Kennedy and her classmates participated in Hour of Code, a global campaign in which children try software programming for one hour anytime during Computer Science Education Week. The event was launched in 2013 by Code.org, a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to expanding participation in computer science. During the first year, only a few Lancaster County schools and organizations joined in the Hour of Code. This year, at least 10 local districts and private schools participated. Kennedy and her Pequea classmates, who have been learning coding all year, served as ‘tech experts’ for older and younger students at Hambright Elementary during Hour of Code. (Pequea’s third-grade classrooms are located at Hambright this year because of school renovations.) On Thursday they introduced fifth-graders to coding with online and offline games. In the online games, students drag and drop instructions — ‘lines of code’ — into a sequence to make a character perform a task, such as navigating a maze. The instructions are in plain language, such as ‘turn right’ or ‘jump,’ but the principles are the same as for building computer programs. In a board game called Robot Turtles, players get a stack of cards with directions such as ‘move forward’ or ‘blast through the wall.’ They take turns picking choosing cards to create their code.”
When it comes to customized coding education, your best bet is CodeRev Kids. At CodeRev Kids, our lessons focus on computational thinking, which encompasses a wide variety of programming languages and concepts.
Our lessons build upon one another and we adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise. Thus, the entire curriculum is customized. We are known for saying we are the most educational tech camp out there, but we also keep the focus on having fun. As a result, students stay engaged while learning to blend creativity with technology.