Tips for Taking Part in Your Child's Coding Journey
For information about Coder Kids classes and camps, visit register.coderkids.com/onlineclasses.
At Coder Kids, we teach hundreds of kids to code each semester and throughout the summer. Oftentimes, parents want to know what they can do to help, and don’t know where to start! We have three simple tasks that we ask of our parents. Here we go!
Tip #1: Ask Questions
This is the most effective tip that I’m going to give you. If you don’t know what they’re working on, ask! If you want to know what’s coming up in class, ask! If you want to know how they feel about coding, ask! When you ask questions about what they’re working on they can feel that you care about it. And if they care about it and are invested in it, they will produce better projects and work harder while they are in class.
It might be hard to ask questions about a topic you are not familiar with, but we really appreciate it when you do. We want to be more than just another after school program. Our instructors work really hard, and we want coding to be a part of their lives!
Tip #2 Ask to see their work
Kids love showing off what they’re doing, whether it is in soccer, Minecraft, or learning to ride a bike! Let them show off their skills in coding! Whether it is a cool new project they made in Scratch or a challenging level they just passed on code.org, asking them to show what they’ve done and being proud of them for it is motivating for your child and for us! This is another thing that will keep them driven and excited to do more work. It is all about the motivation to create, and to not be afraid to make mistakes.
Tip #3 Keep the Username and Password Handy
Scratch is a free platform, so even though your child could set up 100 accounts with it, we recommend having your child sign up for one account, and then keeping track of the information somewhere. Plus, if they know their login information, they are much more likely to do some extra work at home.
If you don’t currently know your child’s username and password, just send a quick email to your Coder Kids instructor, and they'll provide those details right away.
Ask your child questions, ask to see their progress, and maintain the username and password, and your child will be well on their way to developing their coding skills and having a blast along the way!
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