Parents everywhere are looking to prepare their kids for the digital world and tomorrow’s economy. For many, this means enrolling them in online coding classes. However, not all programming courses are the same. Some coding classes emphasize the wrong material or, worst of all, aren’t very enjoyable. Before signing up for your kids, you should check out what separates the leading coding classes from the rest.
In-Demand Coding Languages
Kids take online coding courses so they’re ready for what tomorrow brings and can make leading apps, websites, and video games today. Some coding courses teach languages that programmers seldom use in the field, or even drag-and-drop programs like Scratch, which is really designed to convey what coding is like, not a language that programmers actually use in the field.
Instead, look for a coding course that teaches powerful, popular languages, such as:
- Python
- Java
- JavaScript
- C#
- C++
The program should be perfect for total beginners and teens with considerable coding experience. The school should work hard to place students in the appropriate class so they’re stimulated by the new material but never overwhelmed.
Once they’ve attained a certain amount of skill and experience in one coding language, they’ll be ready to move on to the next.
Fun is Everything
True, kids learn important skills in coding classes, ones they’ll use later in school and while working. But at the end of the day, online coding classes are still an extracurricular activity, and nothing is more important than kids having fun. What better time is there for fun than childhood?
Leading online coding programs revolve around teaching kids how to create and design their own video games, ones they can play afterwards with friends and family. Many parents have struggled to pry their kids away from playing video games — imagine if your child was that addicted to learning!
Leading online coding courses understand how to harness gamification dynamics, the same principles that make playing video games so engaging.
Small Classes
It’s best to avoid the type of extracurriculars that stuff as many kids as they can into one class. Such an environment is seldom ideal for teachers or students. Instructors struggle with classroom management issues, while students try to get heard and jostle for face time with their teachers.
Ideally, there are no more than four students per class, so students and teachers can focus on the classroom material instead of secondary things like misbehaving peers. It’s even better when the teachers hired are undergraduate students in computer engineering or computer sciences, as they have expert domain knowledge and first-hand experience playing video games as kids.
It’s hard to describe how joyful and nostalgic playing video games is as a kid, so it’s vital to have teachers who understand such intangibles in a meaningful way.
You don’t need to look far to find after-school coding programs for kids promising to ready them for whatever tomorrow brings. Knowing how to code is a crucial skill in the digital world, but don’t sign up for a program unless it hits on all the above points.
