A Summer of Coding

Happy Monday Everyone!

In my attempt to not let the girls waste away every brain cell on meaningless electronics over summer break, I've decided to let them work on coding!

Let's talk about coding first. A good friend and fellow homeschooler pointed me to Khan Academy a few months ago. This website is amazing and FREE! Let me say that again...FREE. Anyone can use Khan academy so it's not just for homeschoolers. After reading through my review, hop over and check it out.

You can click HERE to access Khan Academy.

Opal was super excited to code, Mae not so much. I promised Opal that if she finished fourth grade strong, she could work on coding during the summer. Khan Academy has an hour of coding and then tons of other computer animation and website design tutorials. Opal LOVED coding and I LOVED that I didn't have to do anything other than create a student account for her. She breezed through the coding class but struggled a bit in the computer animation once it reached more difficult levels. Mae hardly made it through the simple coding so we agreed she can come back to it in a year.

Khan Academy Review:

• The coding class has kids create a snowman and add color by watching videos.
• Khan Academy partnered with Pixar (aka Disney) to teach kids how to do computer animation. Opal was able to create a ball and make it bounce.
• The more kids do, the more they unlock.
• Khan sends a parent report each week detailing time spent in each activity.

Mom review: 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Once I saw Opal's love of coding, I decided she needed to really learn this concept. I am not familiar at all with coding, so me teaching this is a no go. I found one group, but I had to learn coding in-order to teach Opal. Not gonna happen. Then I found an online coding class called Homeschool Hackers that will teach basic coding using Minecraft. Just like Khan, anyone can join this group, not just homeschoolers. Homeschool Hackers does cost money, but it's only $9.95 a month! As soon as I found this group I was jumping for JOY!!

You can click HERE to access Homeschool Hackers.

Something I learned from this coding adventure is that coding has different languages! A few of my husband's coworkers are true computer geeks and when he mentioned this coding class, they gave him the 411 on coding. They literally peppered him with questions and the final result of the conversation was that Python is a good language for kids to start in when learning to code. Homeschool Hackers teaches Python by using Minecraft and creatively combined the two into Pycraft!

A few things you should know about this group.

1. You must purchase the full PC version of Minecraft. It costs $26.95 and you can get it HERE.
2. After you purchase PC Minecraft, you need to register at Homeschool Hackers and pay the $9.95.
3. After you register and pay, Homeschool Hackers sends you a video link with instructions. We have to wait until July 1st for Opal to get into their Pycraft server and start coding.
4. You have to pay by the end of each month to receive the video instructions for the following month.
5. The Pycraft servers are secure and monitored to protect your littles!!!!
6. The recommended age starts at 8, but if you have a younger child who is interested, you can sign him/her up!

Homeschool Hackers Review:

• It was easy to register.
• It's a cheap way to learn coding.
• It's secure and safe!
• The video allows kids to pause and view over and over.

Mom review: 2 very enthusiastic thumbs up!

Happy Coding Everyone!