Many Ways to Teach Kids to Code

   As the new school year approaches, I have an opportunity for the 3rd straight year to team up with our business partners at Telligen to help 30+ middle school students learn about technology and do some pretty fun and amazing things with technology through our Hyperstream club. This year, we will focus more on coding skills. So....what exactly does it mean to "code"? Coding is what makes it possible to create computer software, programs, apps, games, etc. Have you used your smart phone, tablet, or computer today? If so, it is because someone wrote code for you to do these things. And guess what? This technology and these skills are only becoming more and more in demand.

    Hmm....2020, that is when our current high school students will graduate college and when our current middle school students will graduate high school. Helping them learn the basics of coding and computer programming can set them up for success in an even larger digital world. But what if your school or your child doesn't have an opportunity to be in a technology group like Hyperstream? Well, there are great websites where they can learn to code for free. Below are a couple great resources, resources our Hyperstream club will be using this year. Have fun!

www.code.org    This site is AWESOME! Totally free, has some super-famous computer programmers supporting it, and is simple enough that my 9-year old son can work through it on his own, but difficult enough that I am challenged by it to. Basically, it is a step-by-step tutorial of what coding truly is at its most basic level and you get to complete challenges and earn trophies as you go. Here is a video explaining it better than I can.

Five IPad Apps that help learn coding skills. This blog post by Richard Byrne is a great description of some free resources that your children (and remember...even you!) can try to learn the basics of coding. I have not tested these yet, but plan to test them soon and have our students test them. Let me know what you think if you have tested them or when you test them. 

  Good luck!