Tools To Help Your Kid Become The Next Great Programmer

Today’s kids are growing up in a world of video games, apps, and digital tools. This can leave some parents confused when trying to relate to their children regarding anything tech. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools for families who want to code together and make their own apps and games. If your child is interested in learning programming, check out these resources. Together as a family you can enhance your computer science knowledge and stretch your creative muscles to make something cool. The ability to code computer programs is an important part of literacy in today’s society. When people learn to code, they learn important strategies for solving problems, designing projects, and communicating ideas.

Scratch is a free programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations however the possibilities are basically endless. With Scratch you can share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively which are essential skills for life in the 21st century. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is provided free of charge. Scratch is designed especially for ages 8 to 16, but is used by people of all ages.The Scratch website hosts a whole ecosystem, including the coding app, tips, galleries, educational videos, and many other things. You can either create an online account or just start creating on Scratch (link) or download an offline version (link)

Tynker is an educational programming platform aimed at teaching children how to make games and programs. Instead of typing the source code, you visually drag blocks of code and snap them together. Tynker is based on HTML5 and JavaScript, and can be used in the browser without plugins, as well as on tablets and smartphones. Tynker mixes learning with entertainment by using visual elements and characters that get children’s attention. Moreover, they can learn to code robots and drones as well. Tynker introduces its visual programming language within a series of coding puzzles. Kids learn and apply coding skills with fun adventures. To solve these puzzles, kids are presented with a buggy code snippet to fix. Kids exercise logical thinking to create programs that stress efficiency; and in that process, they learn about programming using loops and conditionals. For older students, they can be introduced to Python as they solve coding puzzles, learn to code games, and complete programming activities. Tynker is also available on both Google play store and Apple store or visit the official site (link) for more details.

Kodable is a great coding app for teaching kids basic to complex level programme procedures. Kodable provides easy to follow lesson plans focused on student outcomes so teachers can teach their students to code, no computer science knowledge required. Kodable will help kids to learn Javascript, Python, HTML, CSS, Java and more. Kodable breaks down computer science into the basic concepts kids need for a strong foundation. Kodable offers materials focused on topics ranging from communication and social emotional learning to real world impact of computer science. Students learning computer science through the Kodable and CodeHS K-12 pathway will learn foundational skills in computer science, preparing them for the next step in their learning, whether that is taking an additional course or pursuing computer science in college or career.

Kids can choose from over 70 lessons with both on-screen and off-screen components. Every lesson includes instruction guidance, vocabulary words, and student materials. You can teach K-5 computer science as its own content area or integrate into math, ELA, digital citizenship, robotics, or other subject area. The student can choose a character to roll through the levels and will come across directional, rotational, colour coding and looping procedures. Level 1 eases the student into the app and its progresses nicely through further stages, all but a little repetitive at times.

At Vatebra Tech hub, we offer weekend robotics classes where your children learn how to build robots to solve solutions using the Lego Mindstorms, the Pitsco Tetrix Prime and Arduino software programming. Application is still going on.

We will be running 3 sessions till the next summer program.
Session 1
26 October – 14 December – 8 Saturdays
Session 2 
15 Febuary – 4th April – 8 Saturdays
Session 3
16th May – 4th July – 8 Saturdays

Time: 10am – 2pm 

Ages: 6-18

Location: Vatebra Tech Hub, KM 25 Lekki – Epe Expressway Ajiwe, Ajah.

Register here: http://bit.ly/vthrobotics

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