Coding for Kids
Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in
exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I
compensated in any other way.
Coding for Kids
Homeschool Review Crew
Homeschool Code Academy
Do you know anything about coding? I don’t. It’s a newer thing and I’ve never been very computer literate. But coding for kids has become easy with a new Homeschool Review Crew review. Recently we gained access to Homeschool Code Academy for ten months for one child to learn coding for kids. The program we received is called Python for Beginners: Learn Coding at Home.
About the Program
Python for Beginners: Learn Coding at Home works through on-demand video lessons that teach your child what they need to know. Parent participation is minimal and mostly optional. The videos help them do coding on their own with a teacher so that they can then do it on their own without the step by step instructions.
You don’t need previous coding experience to use this program. It is geared for students in the middle school grade range. I would say that I agree with the gearing though I think adults or older children could still use and learn from the program.
The lessons are of different lengths. So one video and assignment might take fifteen minutes one day but the next might take twice as long. The lessons should be done in order with no skipping and picking going on so that they make the most sense.
There are 158 total self-paced lessons within the program. They are divided into 13 sections. Those sections are:
- Introduction
- Hardware and Software
- Working with Output
- Working with Variables and Keyboard Input
- Doing Math with Python
- List and Tuples
- Turtle Graphics
- Writing Programs that Make Decisions
- Loops- Writing Code that Repeats and Counts
- Re-using Code with Functions
- Getting Unpredictable with Random Numbers
- Space Game Code Along Program
- Conclusion
Software Engineer Matt Bohn designed the program after creating the parent Homeschool Code Academy. Computer jobs are on the rise and it is where the future generations will find a lot of jobs so I do think we should at least familiarize our children with the basics. This program does a good job of that.
Our Thoughts
I do want to start off with there being a program that you have to download to use this course. I didn’t realize this before we started the review. We try not to download things onto our children’s computers because it slows them down.
The download did not take long to load on my computer. You do need this program to be able to use the coding for kid’s program.
Once the download is done you are ready to use the program. It really does walk you through each step teaching you how to do the coding for kids program so that when they expect you to do it on your own you are prepared.
The program does not have to be used daily but it is best to use it several days a week so that you are continuing to remember what is being taught.
All in all, we loved this experience. My son who is 12 used the program. He has had no exposure to any type of coding before so it was neat to see him learning and flourishing with the program. The only downside was that other children wanted to try it too and I’d only logged one child in!
Well, technically the login is in my name and he is using the program as me. You can see on your dashboard
what program you have and how far you’ve done so that’s nice for when I get online to look at what he’s done.
To check his actual coding I do have to go to the Thorny download but it’s not as hard to check as I thought it would be. Of course, I don’t really know what he’s doing but it’s neat to see that he has done something!
Learn More
You can learn more about coding for kids and what other reviewers thought of the program by reading all of the reviews that are linked up on the Main Blog Post over on the Homeschool Review Crew blog. Homeschool Code Academy can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
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