Skills

Are Electronic Devices Good or Bad for Your Kids?

Every generation of parent has a unique issue to worry about. Today’s generation often wonders: is technology, and the resulting electronics, good or bad for my kid? In a world where tablets are made for children of all ages, this isn’t an unreasonable question. At CodeREV Kids we have a strong opinion on this.

First of all, we believe that every parent is the best judge of what can help their child. That said, we also believe that technology can be incredibly helpful to children. Remember that your job as a parent is to prepare your child for the world. That world you’re preparing them for is filled with technology. If you want them to be ready for it, then they must be comfortable with technology.

Not only will a familiarity with technology help your kid be comfortable in the world, but it can help them thrive and stay a step ahead of their competition. You’d be amazed by the things kid can create today! All they need is to know some basic coding. The best way for them to get this knowledge is through hands-on coding classes that help them learn through games, apps, and even robots.

If you’re still not sure why this is a good thing for kids, take a moment to learn why coding can be so helpful for kids. We love the fact that they can both build cool things, but they can also learn skills that are important in the larger world. Some of the traits that learning coding can help kids build include:

  • Having an active mind that’s ready to learn anything.
  • Learning how to form strategies and follow-through on tasks they begin.
  • Practical STEM skills that help in a variety of subjects.
  • Problem-solving skills.
  • Hands-on skills.

Now, does this mean that it’s a good idea to plop your child down in front of a computer and let them play without supervision for ten hours a time? Probably not. Again, it’s up to each parent to set limits. Some parents allow their kids an hour of screen time a day, in addition to the time they need for their coding classes and school classes. Other parents allow their children more flexibility.

If you have questions about how to best prepare your child for tomorrow’s technology, feel free to reach out to CodeREV Kids. We are here to spark a passion and drive in your children and we look forward to speaking with you.

Education

4 Tips to Improve Your Child’s Test Taking Skills

Is your child struggling with tests? While helping them to learn the material on the test itself is an important part of test prep, don’t forget to actually teach them how to take tests. CodeREV Kids is here with four tips that can help boost your child’s test taking skills.

1. Don’t wait until the last minute

This may seem like obvious advice, but remember that your child will do best if they don’t cram in the days before the test. Study after study has shown that spacing out study sessions is much more effective than a single, long study session. To teach your child to do this, encourage them to group topics into different sessions, show them how to take on smaller chunks of material, and make sure they’re covering each topic more than once.

2. Practice several test formats

Just ensuring that your student knows the material on the test won’t help if they don’t understand the format of the test. Teach your child strategies to eliminate wrong answers on multiple choice tests, have them practice essay questions, and practice allotting time so that your student doesn’t spend half their test-taking time on a single question.

3. Encourage the right attitude

Do you want your child to do well on their test? Of course you do. But this single test isn’t going to make or break their entire future. Make sure that they understand that preparing is what sets them up for future success. Studying, like learning to code, builds a child’s confidence – which improves all sorts of school performance factors. A child who’s too confident is likely to rush through a test, while a student who is under too pressure may have trouble focusing. Help your child understand a middle ground.

4. Remember that overall health will have an impact

Of course you want your child to be rested every day they go to school, and you recognize that a good breakfast is important, but it’s even more important on test days. If your child has the option of sleeping for an extra half hour or studying for that same time, remember that sleeping is going to be better for them.

At CodeREV Kids, we know how important studying is to a child’s future. We also know that our coding programs help children improve their critical thinking and problem solving skills – both of which can help them do better on tests. Reach out to us today to learn more about our numerous programs.

Education

How to Take Your Good Student and Turn Them Into a Great One

Your child is a good student and that’s something to be proud of. But if you’re likely many parents of good students, you’d likely prefer that they were a great student. There are actually several steps you can take to encourage your child to excel even further. At CodeREV Kids, we’ve here to offer some simple tips.

Make sure your expectations are clear

In many cases, parents work so hard to praise their children for what they’re doing – as they should! – that their child doesn’t even realize that there are other things they could do to excel even further. Take this example: A student gets rewarded for getting a B. Are they going to push even harder to get As if they already know you’re proud of their Bs?

This certainly doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be supportive, but it does mean that you can push them by letting them know that you believe in their ability to do even better. Stick to talking about their potential – not just their grades.

Find the right motivations for your child

Just making a small change in your child’s study habits can make a big difference. Take this as an example: Let’s say that you’ve always required your kid to finish their homework as soon as they get home from school. Instead, try letting them watch a TV show first. This may encourage them to focus more on their books because they won’t be rushing through to get to that TV show. Try different things to see what works best for your child.

Don’t get stuck in a rut

Your child’s life shouldn’t be all about school and homework. Yes, you want them to excel, but you should work to allow them to have passions outside of school. Certain extracurricular activities can benefit your child overall, like sports and music, while other extracurriculars, like learning to code, can actually prepare your child for the future.

At CodeREV Kids, we do think that every child has potential and that a child’s parents and instructors should encourage each child to reach their full potential. That said, remember that the journey should be fun. Make sure that you’re not focusing so much on grades or scholastic performance that you forget to give your child time to just be a kid. Once again, CodeREV Kids has options that are both educational and a lot of fun for your kid.

Coding Curriculum

Why Should You Choose CodeREV Kids Camps Over Other Coding Camps?

It wasn’t long ago that there were no coding options for kids at all, let alone camps. Today, more and more school districts are beginning to understand how important coding is, kids are becoming interested in it an earlier age, and there are more and more coding camp options like the ones offered by CodeREV Kids. We welcome the competition because we want kids to have as much access to these technology classes as possible – and because we know we’re the right choice.

Our staff is second to none

One of the things we really pride ourselves on at CodeREV Kids is the fact that we hire only the best. Our hiring process is extremely rigorous and our training process is too. Every mentor we employ has at least two years of experience teaching kids technology, and some of our staff have more than 13 years of experience.

Each mentor must also have at least one year of experience in the real world – specifically in the tech sector. Our mentors come from many different companies, including Riot Games, Microsoft, Google, EA, Sony, Sega, and many others. We stress to our instructors that working as a mentor for us is not just a job they take on for the summer – it’s a great way for them to share what they’ve learned with kids who are eager to learn. Our mentors take this seriously and you’ll see the effect in every classroom.

We have the best curriculum

Not only do we work to find the best instructors in the business, but we have created what we believe is the hands-down best curriculum out there. It can be challenging to make classes like these both fun and education, but we’ve done just that. Our goal is to strengthen STEM skills and our curriculum has been supported by the big wigs, including specialists at MIT Media Lab and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

While it’s true that we take our jobs seriously and we want to create the best camps out there with the best educational content, don’t worry – that doesn’t mean we forgot to bring the fun! Our camps are project based, which means that kids get hands-on experience and get to create their own projects, ranging from simple coding to robots to digital art.

Are you ready to see the difference that our passion can make? Then reach out to CodeREV Kids

Coding Education

The Future is Digital and Other Reasons Your Kids Need to Learn to Code

If you look at the jobs that have been booming in the last decade, it’s not hard to see that there’s one sector that’s here to stay: Technology. It’s difficult to imagine a career today that doesn’t involve digital technology in some way, from cell phones to email to in-depth html. At CodeREV Kids, we think it’s important for kids to get involved in the digital world as early as possible.

Why wait until college for your child to learn to code?

It wasn’t long ago that students could only hope to learn how to code when they got to college. Today, kids often teach themselves in high school or even as early as middle school. But why should they have to teach themselves? The good news is that now that we’re around, they don’t have to.

Learning early means a deeper understanding of a wide range of topics

If students learn how to code at an early age, they’ll also get the benefits of learning to code at an early age. For example, coding helps teach children logic, advanced thinking, and problem solving. You’ve likely heard that the earlier a child learns a language, the easier it is. The same is true of coding because it is indeed a new language.

Your kids deserve the best education

When you think of the best education for your kids, what do you think of? Do you think only of getting good grades? Do you think of them embracing critical thinking skills? Do you think of them learning skills that will actually be useful after they’ve graduated from high school and college? No matter which of those definitions you’d chose – or what combination of them – there’s no question that we can offer a truly excellent education when it comes to coding.

Teach valuable skills today in an environment kids enjoy

We know that if you tried to sit your kids down and teach them how to be a CEO at seven years old, they’d soon get bored. That’s why teaching kids coding is much more appealing than helping them prepare for any other type of career: It’s fun to learn. From our Minecraft servers to our flexible, at their own pace classes, we have options that your kids can get excited about. CodeREV Kids is here to make it a reality – just reach out to us for more information.

Education

Does Memorization Help Kids in the Long Run?

At CodeREV Kids, we believe that the best way for kids to really learn STEM skills is to get involved. We offer a wide range of hands-on coding classes that can help your kid to learn to code from a young age. That said, there are some fields where memorization still has a place.

Memorization can help improve a child’s language skills

When you think about memorization, do you think about kids simply memorizing important facts and then forgetting them as soon as they’re done remembering those facts for a test? That may not be useful memorization, but remember that there are other types. For example, you likely know the lyrics to more than one song by heart. That’s memorization!

Whether kids memorize poems, lyrics, passages from books, or something else entirely, they’ll become more familiar with the rhythm, vocabulary, and cadences in the English language. This is why kids are so fascinated by Dr. Seuss’s books – they are written with lovely tempos and upbeat sounds.

Do your kids need to build organization skills? Memorization may help

When a child memorizes something, they are doing several things they’re not even aware of – including breaking down a big task into smaller tasks that are much easier to complete. For example, consider when you memorize a song without meaning to. You don’t memorize it in its entirety the first time you hear it.

What’s more likely is that you hear it a few times, memorize the chorus, and as you hear it more and more, you start to fill in the rest of the song. This is all done without you even knowing it! Your brain is organizing the song into parts and automatically knows that the best bet is to memorize the part that’s heard over and over again – the chorus.

Memorization works with other skills

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years at CodeREV Kids, it’s that when kids learn one skill, it helps them with others. As they learn how to memorize, they’re also learning visualization skills, they’re learning how to rhyme, they’re building association skills, they’re learning about repetition, and they’re using reviewing skills.

Each of these skills will help them in the future as they learn other subjects, whether language or math related. Kids don’t have to start off memorizing an entire book. Just start with a fun quote and move on from there.

Coding Education

CodeREV Kids Spring Camps Are Just Around the Corner

We’re excited about our upcoming spring camps and look forward to seeing kids returning and our newest additions too. If you have questions about the possibilities, be sure to reach out to us. We offer a wide range of coding classes, from camps to at-their-own-pace classes. We believe strongly that every kid can learn to code and we’re here to help!

Spring camp dates

We have several locations with spring camps and they all run from March 27th through April 14th. Note that these are three separate class groups. The first meets on March 27th through March 31st, the second meets April 3rd through April 8th, and the final session is April 10th through April 14th.

Choose a half day or full day

When you sign up, you can decide if you want your kids to come to us for a full day or a half day. The full day begins at 9 AM and is over at 4 PM and the half day begins at 9 AM and ends at 12:30 PM. Note that kids get to bring their own lunches and snacks to ensure everyone gets what they want and can easily accommodate their own food sensitivities or allergies.

Pricing and locations for spring coding camps

The price of the camp you choose will vary based on whether or not you want a half day or full day, and whether or not you want to bring your kid the entire day. On a per-day basis it’s $60 for a half day and $110 for a full day, while a full week is $540. We’re going to have four locations available in several cities: Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Irvine, and San Diego.

There are numerous classes in both the micro and macro options

Our grouping is as follows. We have micro classes with 6 and 7 year olds and with 8 and 9 year olds. Our macro classes are broken into 10 to 12 year olds and 12 to 14 year olds. The micro classes are offered in three options, including Minecraft level design, Adventures in Programming, and MathCraft. Macro course options include Modding in Minecraft and Game Development.

Do you have questions about these or other coding classes offered by CodeREV Kids? Feel free to reach out to us and we can work to find you the right classes for your kids.

Skills

Have You Made New Years’ Resolutions with Your Kids?

You may think that since we’re already a few weeks into January, it’s too late to make a New Year’s resolution with your kids. Or you may think that resolutions aren’t really that helpful. At CodeREV Kids, we think it’s never too late and we think there’s nothing wrong with setting a few goals. Here are some tips we have to help you create resolutions that work.

Set resolutions for both school and home

It’s understandable that parents want to pair up home and school but the truth is that the work done at either one is different and should be rewarded differently. Children should have a resolution to get their daily chores completed but also to do well over an entire semester. The goals necessary to reach these very different objectives aren’t identical, so don’t choose a single resolution to cover both of them.

Create resolutions for extracurricular activities

Extracurricular activities are fun and kids don’t need to set goals with them, right? Well, you’re partially right. What we’ve found is that any kid who wants to sign up for our coding classes can increase their self-esteem, their problem-solving skills, and their overall STEM skills. However, if you set goals these results can be even more significant. For example, consider setting goals to get your kid from our simple Minecraft server to our modded server.

A great goal for every child: Learn how to ask for help when you need it

Resolutions and goals can help kids learn how to problem solve. They can teach them how to take a big goal and break it down into smaller, more easily completed goals. However, if you’re not careful, you may end up trying so hard to show your kid they can do it all on their own that you discourage them from asking for help.

You do want your children to be self-sufficient and to work to solve problems on their own. However, once they hit a wall, you want them to feel comfortable asking for help. One great resolution is to have your kids identify situations in which they may need to ask for help. Whether they need a math tutor, assistance with chores around the house, or have a problem with friends that they need support with, teaching your kids how to ask for help is a great lesson.

Education

A Blast from the Past: Learn Why Dictation is Making a Comeback

Whether you refer to it as a game or as a learning activity, dictation may be old school but it’s still a great way to find out how your child is doing with their language art skills. It’s very simple: Just read out a sentence or two and have your kid write it down, word for word. They may choose to physically write it out or they can use a keyboard. What you’re looking for is skill-level in language so the medium doesn’t matter. In addition to showing you where their skill level is, dictation can help kids in a number of ways.

Dictation can help increase your child’s listening skills

If your child has trouble listening, try this: Read a sentence while they sit and listen. Read it again and have them write it down while you’re speaking. Then read it a third time while they check their work. Once they’re done, move on to the next one. This teaches them to listen without even realizing what they’re doing.

Find out what common mistakes they’re making

If you’re relying solely on what you hear when your children talk, then you’re not up to date on their language skills. For example, do they know the difference between their, they’re, and there? Do they know when to use it’s and when to use its? What about two, too, to, or you’re and your? These can be confusing but if you don’t see them write them down, you’ll never know if they’re really perfected them.

Teach them to focus five minutes at a time

A common complaint of parents is that their kids have trouble concentrating. At CodeREV Kids, we recommend your child comes to us and learns how to code. They’ll figure out how to focus very quickly and will love doing it!

Another option is to teach dictation five minutes a day. They may not have the focus to do it for twenty minutes at a time, but if you tell your kid you’re going to dictate five sentences, they can likely focus. As time goes on and they learn to look forward to this challenging activity, add a few sentences to the game. Just make sure they’re still having fun and be sure to check their work every time.

Coding Curriculum

What to Look for in a Successful Coding Class

If you’ve been thinking of sending your kids to a California coding class then you’ve likely wondered how to choose the right option. At CodeREV, we want every parent to know exactly how to determine the best coding classes for their kids. Here are some of the criteria we recommend you consider.

Are the classes designed by teachers?

It takes a special overlap of talents to create a unique program that will keep kids interested and impart the information that’s needed. We have struck the right cord by hiring creative folks, education folks, and educators who have decades of combined experience. We know how kids learn and we know what they need to know about coding.

What’s their reputation?

Before you choose a coding class, take a moment and simply search the company you’re considering. What do reviewers say about them? What have kids have to say about them? It’s likely unreasonable to find a company that’s never had a negative review but if you see the same complaint over and over again then it’s likely the company you’re considering isn’t the right fit.

Do they make learning fun or is it a chore?

One of the great things about teaching kids coding is that most kids are naturally drawn to it. They like technology, they like video games, and they like hands-on learning. All of this combines to create a love of coding pretty easily. However, some coding classes may rely too heavily on instruction rather than hands-on instruction. We always strive to keep kids involved and make it as fun as possible so they’ll look forward to coming to us for coding classes.

Does it offer a good value?

Teaching your kid to code can be one of the best investments you ever make. With most any job now relying on technology, teaching your kids the basics of coding is a great idea in and of itself, but when you consider that it also boosts confidence, improves problem solving, and teachers critical thinking skills, it’s easy to see that the value in coding classes is a long-term value.

If you have any questions about our classes, we encourage you to reach out to us. We offer both group classes and self-paced options. We are here to help your child find their love of coding and we hope you’ll trust us with this important work.