Kids need hands-on learning. They need to be engaged with whatever they are learning in order to truly internalize it. Everything else is just rote memorization that could get lost after a week. Consider a recent article for DNA Info titled “‘Creative Engineering’ Class Teaches Kids Coding and Programming.”
Camille Bautista of DNA Info writes, “Kids can get an early start on cracking computer codes through a new series of ‘creative engineering’ classes being offered in Bed-Stuy. Ada and Leo, a 12-week workshop for children ages 6 through 9, starts this January. Brooklyn-based programmer Ben Wheeler is offering the introductory classes out of his Putnam Avenue home in hopes of sparking kids’ interest in technology, he said. ‘The biggest thing I hope that they get out of it is to see themselves as the kind of people who make things with computers, who create technology,’ Wheeler, 36, said. ‘So that when they hear about a programmer as an adult, or a project a teen did, they’re imagining that’s something they might do.’ Students can 3D-print their own designs, learn circuitry work and construct their own robots with LEGO MindStorms kits. Wheeler and teacher Audrey Fox guide participants through programs such as Tinkercad, a free online design tool, and Scratch from MIT. The father of two has already hosted one 12-week session this past fall where kids have created their own games, he said. Wheeler was motivated to start Ada and Leo after teaching adult programming classes and seeing the creative spark in his young daughters. ‘I saw the way my daughter, who is six, and her little sister were becoming creative with drawing with markers, writing and starting to make little picture books,’ Wheeler said. ‘There’s really meaningful work and meaningful expressiveness at the end of that.’ ‘I want to find the same kind of things they can be doing with computers. How could I make them feel the same kind of delight in the simple version of coding the way they do with drawing?’”
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.