There’s so much you can do with coding, and for kids who want to create their own online games or websites, it’s an essential skill. But learning to code can seem daunting, even for kids who are eager to create projects that require programming knowledge. Below we’ve got some expert tips for how to get your kids excited about coding.

Anyone Can Be a Programmer

If your student has struggled with STEM subjects in the past, they may think that coding isn’t for them. As much as we try not to label our kids, it can be hard to avoid, especially in school. Maybe they’ve been labeled as the kid who isn’t good at math or who doesn’t catch on to science lessons. The good news is that despite any labels or preconceptions your child might have, anyone can become a programmer.

An article in PLOS Computational Biology states that “competence at programming is not innate but is rather a learned skill that can be acquired and improved with practice.” In fact, they mention that instructors who believe that some kids will just innately “get” coding, while others won’t, invest less into the students who they believe just won’t be able to master coding fundamentals. 

If your child shows an interest in coding, but is hesitant because they feel they won’t be good at it, make sure to reinforce with them that anyone can become a programmer. Everyone catches on at different speeds, but the most important factor to mastering coding skills is how much practice a student is willing to put in. Just like learning a foreign language or a musical instrument, practice is what makes perfect.

The Creativity of Coding

The biggest misconception about coding is that it’s boring and all about crazy combinations of letters and numbers. Coding makes things come to life and can be super creative. As an article in THE (Technological Horizons in Education) Journal mentions, “most kids like to create things, so coding will come as naturally as painting a picture or building something with Legos.”

Through coding, kids can build their own games, apps, and websites. They can add music, photos, change backgrounds, choose font colors and sizes, add interactive elements, and more. While learning the syntax of a coding language is more about memorization and practice, what you can do with those coding languages can be extremely creative.

Point out all the creative possibilities of coding to your kids, especially if they typically enjoy building or creating things in their free time. 

Focus on Your Child’s Interests

The article in THE Journal also recommends approaching coding from the perspective of what your child is already interested in. If your child loves to play video games, talk to them about being able to build their own video game. If they like to make their own videos or play an instrument, coding can allow them to build a website featuring their own recordings. 

Kids who like more hands-on activities might be drawn to robotics. Not only can they build and customize their own robots, but with programming skills, they can program them to do countless numbers of tasks.

The possibilities with coding are endless, so it’s easy to find a way that ties coding into an activity your child already enjoys.

Highlight Languages That Match Your Child

Going along with the previous tips, it’s also helpful to focus on programming languages that coincide with why your child wants to code. An article from Syracuse University emphasizes that you shouldn’t get bogged down with a single language – instead, you should focus on what your student wants to do with coding.

Different languages are better suited for different things, so it’s ideal to start with languages that are both good for beginners and ideal for what your student wants to create. If your child is excited to create their own websites, HTML and JavaScript are great places to start. If their inspiration is to be able to build games, Scratch is ideal for younger kids before moving on to Python. 

Teachers That Get Kids Excited About Coding

CodeWizardsHQ’s classes are all about getting kids excited about coding. Each class focuses on teaching different coding fundamentals through fun, interactive projects. Students are able to start creating their own games and webpages from the very beginning thanks to CodeWizardsHQ’s proprietary library of images, graphics, and sounds. 

Although the curriculum is focused on interactive projects to make coding fun, it’s our teachers who really get kids excited to learn to code. We hire teachers who not only have professional coding skills, but they’re passionate about teaching kids. From the very first class, they tell their students that anyone can become a programmer, and they take the time to get to know their students’ interests so they can help students really make projects their own.

Classes in our elementary, middle, and high school programs are open for enrollment and ready to get your child started on their coding journey. 

The post Expert Tips to Get Your Kids Excited About Coding appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Although many CodeWizardsHQ students get interested in coding because their parents work in a tech-related field, Ben discovered his passion for coding and engineering all on his own. Now he’s even using his coding skills for outside projects.

Engineering, Robotics, and Coding

Ben has had an interest in STEM-related fields for a long time, starting with taking apart Nerf guns and rebuilding them and making complex LEGO creations. Then he started watching web development videos on YouTube, which inspired him to want to learn how to code. That’s when his mom, Dawn, discovered CodeWizardsHQ.

“We live in an area where we homeschool, and so when I was looking for a program it was important for me to have a program that went all the way through high school and he would keep learning skills,” she says. “With CodeWizardsHQ, I was really impressed that it had middle school and high school and that there’s a project at the end when he is finished taking all the coursework that he can do to show other people what he’s learned. That was something that I realized is important to colleges, but it’s also important that he gets to use his skills on other things, too.”

Ben has been customizing his CodeWizardsHQ projects from the beginning, always going the extra mile to add his own touches, even when that involves researching skills he hasn’t learned in class yet. 

That’s why when his robotics team talked about wanting to create a website for the team, Ben decided to tackle it as a summer project.

“I thought it’d be a fun and interesting project to add on to what we already had, because I had a pretty nice base. So I just went ahead, and I did most of lesson 12’s homework without even knowing it on lesson 11. I got all those pages together and then just kept on working on it for fun because I thought it actually turned out really nice.”

Ben kept the website project a secret from just about everyone, including his mom, until it was ready to show to his teammates. The website he built is now the official website for his team (check it out at the end of the page).

STEM For School and Fun

Although CodeWizardsHQ is part of Ben’s high school homeschool curriculum, he does so much extra coding that he considers it a hobby, too. His other main activity outside of schooling is robotics. Although he’s been learning coding since middle school, Ben is actually a builder on the team.

“I’ve definitely thought about becoming a coder on robotics, but I really want to do building because then I’ll have a good understanding of both, so it means that I’ll be able to add input when I go to college and future job opportunities in both aspects,” he says.

Dawn admits that she was hoping Ben would use his coding skills on his robotics team after seeing what he’s accomplished through CodeWizardsHQ, but she still sees the benefits he has as a builder. 

“What I’ve realized is that he actually is able to use what he’s learned about coding from CodeWizards in his building. He’s able to communicate with the other coders about what they can do with the servos and the other robotics parts in ways that the other builders who don’t know how to program cannot do. I think that that’s a skill that will help him if he wants to be an engineer.”

Quality Instructors Make the Difference

It’s easy to see Ben’s passion and enthusiasm for coding and robotics, and as a homeschooling mom, Dawn sees the benefits for her son in other subjects, too.

“The research he’s done for his coding projects has carried on to how he does research in other classes and it’s something that has really helped him. It’s been fun to watch him learn these research skills without me having to sit down and formally show him how to do it. You give him hints and he just goes for it. He wants to find the answers to his questions himself now.”

Although the ongoing curriculum is what drew Dawn to CodeWizardsHQ for her son, ultimately what she raves about the most now are the teachers.

“I’ve been really impressed with the teachers that he’s had. As a homeschool mom, I’m kind of picky about that, because I was a teacher in my past life, so that’s the biggest thing. The best part is to watch his skills build upon each other and then for him to want to go above and beyond to learn more. He’ll ask questions and the teachers will always give him hints, but they never do it for him. The teachers are there to guide him, but they don’t do it for him and he has learned those skills that are important in any career.”

Ben’s most recent teacher, Lynn, has nothing but glowing things to say about him as a student as well.

It’s an absolute pleasure to be Ben’s teacher! Ben is kind, very enthusiastic, and inquisitive. He is in a private class, so we have time to explore the reasons why we’re writing code in a certain way. We often review alternatives, and make additions and enhancements to lesson projects. It is not rare for class to end with both of us saying, ‘That was fun!’

Lynn, CodeWizardsHQ

Ben’s Standout Projects:

Robotics Team Website

Who Is This Game

Star Vaders

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Ben and his family as a part of our community!

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Ben F. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Extracurricular activities for kids can be very hit or miss in holding their interest. With some they’ll find a lifelong passion or interest, but others might not make it through a school year. When it comes to learning how to code, there are many factors that can impact your child’s interest in this skill. Find out the most common reasons why kids stop their coding journey, and what you can do to make sure they get all the benefits of learning to code.

Starting With the Wrong Language

There are many programming languages in existence. Especially for parents who don’t have any experience with coding, it can be difficult to decide which one is best for your child. What’s most important is making sure your child starts with a language that is ideal for beginners. Choosing a language that is difficult for beginners sets kids up for failure and frustration right from the start.

While many college programs might begin with Java or C++, these languages are not ideal for kids who are just starting out. Choosing a language with a syntax that is less rigid and easier to learn is ideal.

It’s also important to consider why your child is interested in coding in the first place. Kids who want to create their own websites should definitely consider HTML and CSS along with JavaScript. Those who have a goal of creating their own games would do well to start off with Scratch before graduating to more advanced languages that game developers use professionally.

Also make sure to take your child’s age into account. Elementary-aged students often do better starting with block-based languages like Scratch before moving on to text-based languages. Middle and high schoolers can start with easier to learn text-based languages like Python, HTML/CSS, and JavaScript.

Picking the Wrong Program

Just like you don’t want to pick a programming language that is difficult for beginners, you also don’t want to choose a program that isn’t tailored to your child’s age and experience level. Enrolling younger kids in programs that are meant for teens or adults makes it more likely that they’ll fall behind, not fully comprehend what is being taught, and ultimately want to quit.

Kids also benefit from learning how to code from a live instructor versus a self-taught program or series of videos. Having a teacher available to answer questions and show coding concepts step by step is invaluable for young learners.

That’s why all of CodeWizardsHQ’s classes are taught online by a live teacher. Programs are divided by age group – elementary, middle, and high school – so the classes are tailored for each specific age range. Each program also follows a structured curriculum that focuses on project-based learning. Every coding concept is taught and mastered through fun projects, with students building and customizing their own games, websites, and apps. Not only does this make learning to code fun, but it gives students incentive to keep learning when they get to see results from their lessons right away.

Frustrations With Debugging

Learning how to code is similar to learning a foreign language – each programming language has its own syntax that you have to learn to be able to write the code correctly. Learning the rules of a particular language takes time, and kids are bound to come across errors as they learn. That’s where debugging comes in, which is the process of finding and fixing errors, but it can be frustrating. Especially for kids who are used to learning things easily, debugging can be discouraging and lead kids to want to quit.

Strengthening problem solving skills is one of the huge benefits of learning how to code, so it’s important as a parent to support your child when they come across roadblocks. Coding also teaches kids how to practice computational thinking, which is the process of approaching a problem step by step in a logical manner. Encourage your child to take each error one step at a time to help minimize feeling overwhelmed.

While it’s natural to feel some amount of frustration when dealing with errors, the goal is to persevere through that frustration. Using extra available resources can help in these situations. For example, CodeWizardsHQ offers live homework help sessions and has an active student forum where kids can go for help as well. If your child is struggling enough to want to quit learning to code, even after additional help, it’s important to consider if an adjustment needs to be made with the language they’re learning or the program they’re using.

Benefits of Coding

There are many benefits to learning to code that make it worthwhile for kids to stick with it, even if it’s tough in the beginning. As mentioned earlier, it really does provide a great framework for problem solving and computational thinking that kids can use in any subject in school and beyond. As they get further into coding, they’ll also get extra practice with math, both with actual numbers and with concepts like variables.

For kids with a creative streak, coding opens up a whole new world to what they can create. Programming allows kids to make interactive websites and games. In fact, several CodeWizardsHQ students have incorporated their own artwork and music into their projects.

Ultimately, with technology so much a part of our everyday lives, coding sets kids up for success in the future as well. Not only are programmers highly in demand on the job market now, but more and more jobs benefit from having coding skills. Having programming knowledge really does give kids a head start on the future, in addition to a fun skill they can use right now.

The post Why Kids Don’t Stick With Coding – And Why They Should appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

While many people took up new hobbies during 2020, Justin Johnson (JJ) decided to take that time to learn an entirely new skill – coding. His new training led him to two new jobs, teaching with CodeWizardsHQ and working with a local nonprofit. Every day he sees the benefits of learning to code at a young age.

Pivoting Within Education

Before the pandemic, JJ was working in education and had taught a robotics course and done some basic web design, but didn’t have much coding experience. When everything shut down due to COVID, JJ used that as an opportunity to take a coding boot camp. 

“I actually have a patent on a wearable tech device, but I just patented how the technology would work without necessarily knowing how to write the technology, so to speak, for the software and the hardware aspect,” JJ explains. “So during COVID I thought I could learn how to code so that I could code part of the application for the patent. I was trying to figure out what languages I should learn, and I decided to go into a boot camp that would teach me all these different languages.”

After graduating from the boot camp program, JJ applied to become a teacher at CodeWizardsHQ, which utilized both his new skills and his previous education experience. After nearly a year of teaching coding, he definitely has some favorite courses to teach.

“I really have enjoyed the API course, which is a high school course, because APIs are really important, that’s how websites get data, and it’s just fun. In that course the students can do a funny joke of the day or you can do an advice API, so it’s always fun to teach the students how to interact with that API and then they can read some funny jokes or a cool message that’s motivating.”

Helping Local Teens Through Technology

In addition to teaching with CodeWizardsHQ, JJ works for the nonprofit Next Level NOLA, where he leads the tech pathway. The organization works with recent high school graduates to either prepare them for college or help guide them to a career path. With the tech pathway, JJ guides students through learning fundamentals of coding to get them prepared to take a coding boot camp.

“Before getting back into tech, I wanted to work in what are called under-resourced communities, so it’s great to teach code in a city like New Orleans.”

It’s with his work for Next Level NOLA that JJ really gets to see the benefits of learning how to code at a young age.

“I see 18- and 19-year-olds who are just now learning how to code and it’s a struggle. Whereas if you start in elementary school or middle school, or even high school, and you start learning it in a fun way like you can with CodeWizards, you realize the learning curve just speeds up because you’re learning it at a young age,” he says. “I’ll go into work and I’ll be teaching a 19 year old a concept, and I’m thinking my middle schoolers [at CodeWizardsHQ] know this and they’re having a ball with this concept and I’m trying to help my 19 year old struggle through. If only more people started at a younger age.”

Learning and Growing 

Some of JJ’s proudest moments as a teacher have come watching his students find creative ways to solve errors that come up in their projects. 

“A student and I were working on a project where you interact with a website that would allow you to view a page from 10 years ago, so it’s like a time travel API. The issue was the URL for the API was an http URL, so because Google updated their http to https, when we tried to go back to an older website we weren’t seeing it,” he explains. “Then one of my students and I troubleshooted, but because the student is always studying outside of CodeWizards, he thought of a really cool way to concatenate an ‘s’ into that URL during class. It was really great to see his thought process and then it became a team effort when we explained it to another student. When it finally worked and we could see the previous website from 10 years ago, it was a really great moment.”

While JJ continues to learn and add to his own coding skills outside of teaching, he also loves watching his students grow and appreciates being able to stick with students for several courses.

“I like that you can start out with a student in the middle school program and then if they continue along, you see their progress over those 12 weeks and then the next 12 weeks and so on. The journey is what I really like at CodeWizards because you can get a cohort and you get to stick with them all the way through.”

The post Teacher Spotlight: Justin Johnson appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

The age-old saying goes “practice makes perfect,” and we’re used to applying that wisdom to learning musical instruments, playing sports, learning math facts, etc. You already know the reasons kids really need to learn code, but did you know practice is important for learning how to code, too? Whether your child is taking a little time off from coding classes over the summer or is just waiting for their next CodeWizardsHQ class to start, practicing the skills they’ve learned is an important part of their coding journey.

Why Practice Is Important

At its most basic level, learning to code has a lot in common with learning a foreign language. Every programming language has its own syntax – rules that must be followed to write code that will run correctly. Just like with a foreign language, if you don’t practice these syntax rules, over time you’ll start to forget them.

Practice also helps lead to mastery. CodeWizardsHQ classes teach your child coding skills, but the more they practice these skills, the better they’ll understand them. Practice is the difference between having a basic understanding of a coding function and mastering it. Mastering coding skills leads to fewer errors, quicker completion of projects, and more time to learn more advanced skills.

Especially if your child is taking an extended break before their next CodeWizardsHQ class, practicing what they’ve already learned will make them better prepared for when they do take their next class. Less time needed to review old topics means more time to learn more new skills!

The benefits of practice are pretty easy to understand, but what exactly should your student do to practice their coding skills?  

Update Completed Projects

One of the easiest ways your student can practice coding is by adding on to projects they’ve already done in class or for homework. One option is to go back to an early project and add elements that they learned in later classes. It’s a great confidence boost for kids to see how much they can do now versus when they first completed the project.

Adding additional customization is another fun way to practice with already completed projects. Maybe they want to change all the sprites in their Scratch animation or add new music. Or they can change out colors or photos on a website they created. 

A twist on this for students in our elementary program is to remix Scratch projects made by other people. This is a built-in feature to Scratch, which allows users to copy an existing project and change it however they want. It’s a great way for students to practice what they learned in Scratch with something new, but without having to build an entirely new project.

Follow a Tutorial

Tutorials are a fun way to practice coding skills in a more guided way. It’s a step above adding to already finished projects, but offers the support of instructions along the way. To prevent frustration, it’s important to find tutorials that aren’t too advanced for your student. However, this is a great opportunity for students to stretch their skills, so they shouldn’t be afraid to try a tutorial that is a little unfamiliar.

We have several tutorials already available on our website in JavaScript, Python, HTML, and Scratch that show kids how to make fun games:

JavaScript Tutorial: Easter Egg Hunt
7 Beginner JavaScript Projects for Kids
Best Python Games and Engines and How to Program Your Own
HTML and CSS Tutorial for Kids: Thanksgiving Matching Game
Scratch Coding for Kids: Halloween Candy Collector Game

Create Something Brand New

The ultimate challenge for new coders is to build something totally from scratch. Even elementary students who are just starting out can try their hand at building an animation or simple game in Scratch by themselves. 

The first time creating a project on their own is always going to be challenging, so as a parent it’s important to encourage them to keep going when they hit roadblocks. They’re guaranteed to run into issues they aren’t expecting, but finding the solutions is the best coding practice they can get.

Still Time for Coding Classes This Summer

If your child is itching to get back to coding classes before school starts in the fall, there’s still time to enroll in our August courses. There are limited openings still available in all of our accelerated classes, which go through an entire CodeWizardsHQ course in 3 weeks. 

Or you can choose one of our summer camps. Kids ages 8-10 can learn how to build their own Roblox game in Intro to Roblox Game Development and students ages 11-18 can learn how to make custom items in Minecraft with Intro to Redstone Logic in Minecraft.

Learn more about our entire summer program or our year-round classes.

The post Practicing Coding Between Classes appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Jackson’s dream is to work for Nintendo, so when his parents were looking to supplement his virtual schooling, they decided coding classes would be a good fit. Now Jackson is several courses into the CodeWizardsHQ elementary program and he’s even starting to teach his friends some basics.

Supplementing Virtual Schooling

When Jackson’s school went virtual at the beginning of the pandemic, his parents were concerned he wasn’t getting the same amount of instructional time in the transition. They wanted to find an extracurricular activity to challenge him that was still something he’d enjoy. That’s when they found CodeWizardsHQ.

“He always talked about building video games and at the time he was really into Minecraft, so I knew this would be perfect,” says Jackson’s mom, Amy. “Me and him had a discussion, and he really wants to work for Nintendo one day and I said, ‘if you want to work with Nintendo, you better start now.’ At the end of the day, if he doesn’t go into game design or anything like that, there’s going to be a technology aspect that this could be beneficial for in the future.”

Jackson really enjoyed learning how to make games in Scratch and has now progressed to programming with JavaScript and Python. His parents also appreciated the time that Jackson got before class to interact with his classmates, especially when his school was virtual.

“I know it’s very minor, but I think just having the 15 minutes before class like where everyone’s logging on and they can just chat about anything, especially when he wasn’t getting a lot of interaction,” says Amy. “It was just great that he could talk to other kids that were interested in coding, because we’re in a rural area where coding is not pushed, so I think sometimes he doesn’t have a lot of people like peers to talk to about this type of stuff.”

Sharing His Coding Skills

After showing his friends some of the games he made in his CodeWizardsHQ classes, Jackson had the opportunity to teach his classmates in virtual school a little bit of Scratch.

“In third grade – it was a virtual class – I taught people how to use Scratch to launch a rocket,” he says. “Someone told me right after that they started using ScratchJr. I thought it was pretty cool because he made a game that was like Among Us but with ducks.”

Now that school is back to in-person classes, Jackson’s principal has asked him to share his coding skills even more.

“His principal is really involved with the kids and he was asking the other day for me to send the link to one of Jackson’s projects because he wanted to see it,” says Amy. ”He said, ‘we’re going to start teaching coding in the school system’ – they teach basic stuff – ‘and I’d love for Jackson to come down and maybe help and do some of that stuff.’”

Outside of school and CodeWizardsHQ, Jackson enjoys playing video games and reading. He’s also started showing his younger sister some coding basics.

“I taught her how to do the rocket thing in Scratch, and she wanted me to show her more once she got her own Scratch account,” he says.

For Jackson’s parents, they’ve enjoyed seeing how far he’s come already with his coding skills and they like that he can stick with CodeWizardsHQ through high school. They can see the benefits and that kids really need to learn to code.

“I really liked the idea that it started off kind of slow, in a good way, but then it accelerates really fast. He’s learning things that I didn’t see as quickly in other programs’ curriculum,” says Amy. “That was important because he really loved Scratch, but I told him you’ve got to graduate from it. Looking back, one reason I went with CodeWizards was because I liked the idea that it was mapped out where it went all the way into high school. We wanted to make sure we picked a program that he’s not going to grow out of.” 

Jackson’s current CodeWizardsHQ teacher not only recognizes his coding skills, but loves his enthusiasm in class.

Jackson is one of the most enthusiastic and hard working coders I’ve ever met. He’s always the first to volunteer, answer questions, and always seem to be an exercise ahead of the class. He has a super bright future ahead of him if he keeps it up.

Alan Shoiket, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Jackson’s Standout Projects:

Shop Project

Space Game

Finding Nemo

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Jackson and his family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Jackson J. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Myles’s parents wanted him to find an extracurricular activity he loved, but sports just didn’t hold his interest. Then they decided to lean into his love of electronics, which led them to CodeWizardsHQ. Myles has been having a blast ever since!

Branching Out with Homeschooling

Myles’s mom, Nancy, started homeschooling in 2020, which was the perfect opportunity to start looking into new educational opportunities for Myles. She saw the benefits of learning to code and the reasons why it would be a great fit for Myles.

“I wanted to incorporate curriculum that was different than what he was accustomed to, and in my research I really liked that CodeWizardsHQ had a program that graduated him all the way through high school,” she says.

It was a natural fit for Myles, who loves to play video games and wants to design video games when he grows up. Starting with learning Scratch in our elementary program, he loved making his own games and animations and has now progressed to learning Python.

Although Nancy initially went with CodeWizardsHQ because of the curriculum, what she’s been most impressed with since Myles started classes has been his teachers.

“I listen to some of the classes sometimes and he’s had three teachers so far and they’re so patient, especially with 9 and 10-year-olds,” she says. “What I like the most is how they can have a technical brain, but they also understand different personalities within the class. They’re able to get the fullest potential out of each different kind of student.”

Bonding Over Coding

When he’s not doing schoolwork or in his CodeWizardsHQ class, Myles enjoys doing what a lot of kids his age like – playing video games, watching YouTube videos, and playing with his dog. He also has two older siblings who are both in college. Coding has turned out to be a bonding point for Myles and his older brother.

“One day during his coding class I was catching up with his brother who’s at college, and his brother is taking his first coding class ever in college,” says Nancy. “He was telling me all about CSS and Myles gets done with his coding class and comes in and he hears me talking to his brother, so they start talking about CSS and they’re both learning the same thing together. That just kind of blows my mind that I’ve got a 19 year old in college learning the same content that my 10 year old is learning here at home.”

Although she doesn’t have a background in coding, seeing Myles excel in his classes and be able to share a common experience with his older brother has reinforced Nancy’s decision to enroll with CodeWizardsHQ.

“The curriculum builds on itself so that whenever they graduate into these more advanced platforms, it’s going to be easy for them. There is work to do outside of the class as well, but that repetition is so good for the kids. And did I already say that the teachers are awesome? It blows my mind how they can be so good at the technology piece and then also so good with their soft skills with the kids.”

Myles and his mom have obviously had a great experience with CodeWizardsHQ teachers, and his teacher loves having Myles in class, too! Here’s what his current teacher, Alan, had to say about him as a student.

Not only is Myles one of the smartest students I’ve seen his imagination, creativity, and his sense of humor truly brighten every single class.

Alan Shoiket, CodeWizardsHQ Teacher

Myle’s Standout Projects:

Movie Quiz

Comic Book Project

Newspaper Project

At CodeWizardsHQ, Our Students Are Our Top Priority.

We are lucky to have Myles and his family as a part of our community!

Interested in learning to code this summer? 
See our summer classes and coding camps for kids.

Level up your child’s learning experience. Take a coding class with CodeWizardsHQ:
Elementary School Coding Program, Middle School Coding Program, High School Coding Program

The post Student Spotlight: Myles P. appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Looking for activities to keep your child engaged and learning this summer while still having fun? Our brand new virtual summer camps teach kids fun projects using popular online games Minecraft and Roblox and can be taken from home. They’ll be having so much fun learning new skills for the games they love, they won’t even realize they’re gaining valuable coding skills, too!

Before we dive into the camps and all the fun projects students will be doing, here’s all the info you need to know as a parent before registering your child.

• No previous coding experience required. We welcome all experience levels with our camps, and in fact they’re great introductions to key coding concepts. If your child has taken CodeWizardsHQ classes before, the camps teach new skills specific to Minecraft and Roblox, so they definitely won’t be bored!
• Both camps last for 1 week. Our virtual summer camps are taught by a live teacher and meet for 2 hours every day for 5 days, so they’re easy to fit into any summer schedule.
• Options are available for kids ages 8-18. Our camp that focuses on Roblox is available for kids ages 8-13 and our camp for Minecraft is for kids ages 11-18.
• Choose from 4 different sessions throughout the summer. Both camps are available on the following dates: May 31-June 4, June 27-July 3, July 5-9, and August 1-5.

Intro to Roblox Game Development

Your child might already be planning on spending the summer playing their favorite Roblox games with their friends. But what if they could learn how to build their very own Roblox game in just a week? That’s exactly what they’ll get to do with this camp!

Using Roblox Studio, students will get to build their own obstacle course game and will learn how to add basic elements to their game, such as blocks to jump on, health-damaging obstacles, and moving parts. Plus they’ll get a great introduction to programming with Lua, the coding language Roblox uses. 

By the end of the week, not only will students have a complete obstacle course game they can play whenever they want, they’ll have the skills to build other Roblox games. Who knows what their imagination will come up with next?

Intro to Redstone Logic in Minecraft

Minecraft has become so popular because of its infinite possibilities. It really is a game that has something for everyone. With this camp, students learn how to use redstone, an element used for mechanical and electrical programming in Minecraft.

Once they get the hang of redstone, they’ll move on to building logic gates, similar to what electrical engineers create. Not only will they learn key concepts of coding and engineering, students will have a whole new world opened to them for what they can create in Minecraft. 

During camp they’ll learn how to build a fireworks machine, a chest fullness detector, a TNT trap, and an available room detector. But the skills they gain will help them build countless items in Minecraft. They’ll even get an introduction to command blocks and how they can use those to create their own mini games within Minecraft!

Space is Limited

We keep camp class sizes small so kids get the time and attention they need to master each project, so space is limited and camps are already filling up. If your child loves Minecraft or Roblox, this is the perfect opportunity to sign them up for a fun virtual class that also teaches them real programming skills.

Learn more about our virtual summer camps or enroll now.

The post Get a Sneak Peek at Our New Virtual Summer Camps appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

Some programmers start coding as kids or teens, often thanks to video games. But others start later in life. For CodeWizardsHQ teacher Angel, it wasn’t until he went to college that he decided to pursue computer science. He saw the possibilities for learning how to code, and now he shares those possibilities with his students.

After high school, Angel spent four years as a police officer in the military. When going into college following the military, he started looking toward the future.

“Where we are going with right now, everything in the world is moving towards electronics and technology, so I just did a complete 180 from law enforcement and went straight into programming.”

Even with his decision to dive head first into programming, he didn’t quite know what to expect with his first coding class in Java.

“It was definitely more difficult than I thought than I expected but I feel much more rewarding,” he says. “What got me interested in coding was the creativity of it, how you can pretty much branch off and do a lot of things with programming. It doesn’t just stick to just doing games, you can branch off and do web pages, you’re very free to do anything with programming.”

Embracing the Excitement

When he started to look for a job toward the end of his college career, that’s when Angel discovered CodeWizardsHQ.

“I was really getting closer to the end of the journey of my school year, so I thought it was time for me to start diving into something that’s going to be in my career field down the line. I just stumbled across the job application, I applied, and I’ve loved it ever since.”

Although Angel has taught classes for all of our programs, the majority of his classes so far have been elementary school coding classes.

“Teaching elementary students has been great, I really enjoy it. The kids are really excited about programming, and I’ve never seen that anywhere before. When I was growing up, coding was not even talked about in school, so coming into CodeWizardsHQ and seeing these young kids excited about coding, that makes me excited, too. It makes me wish that someone had introduced me to programming sooner.”

One of the biggest challenges Angel has faced as a teacher is keeping his students excited through the natural trial and error that comes with coding, which can be frustrating, especially for younger kids.

“Programming is not always 100 percent exciting 100 percent of the time. Sometimes it can get frustrating. It does involve a lot of critical thinking, a lot of trial and error, and one of the challenging things is having a kid go through that on their own. You kind of have them to walk through it, like, hey, this is kind of part of the process when it comes to programming. You’re not always going to get it right the first time right.” 

To connect with his students and encourage them to keep trying, he shares his own experiences learning how to code for the first time.

“I tell them that in my very first programming class, I didn’t do so well. I kind of left that class off in the back like it was one of those classes where I could do everything last minute, and it wasn’t anything like that. So trying to explain that to a child, sometimes you have to find creative ways to explain it.”

Staying Active

When he’s not teaching, Angel does his best to maintain an active lifestyle in between his busy schedule.

“I’m a Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner, I’m blue belt, so I do that pretty often. I go train martial arts every so often as well and then go to the gym. I try to stay active as much as I can because I spend most of my time in front of a computer.”

He also has three pugs at home, Bruce, Luna, and Mimo, who he jokes are kind of like his kids and definitely keep him busy. In a few short weeks he’ll also be graduating from the University of Texas at San Antonio. 

Although he realizes that not every one of his CodeWizardsHQ students will go on to pursue programming in college like he has, he encourages parents to see the classes as an investment in their child’s future.

“Even though maybe your child might not want to use it later on, at least your child knows that they have those skills already. If they get introduced to it again as they grow older, they’ll be much quicker to pick it up with that background already,” he says. “If they do love it, even better, because by the time you get to my age, they should be already a pro.”

The post Teacher Spotlight: Angel Gonzalez appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.

You may know about our internship program, which allows students who complete our high school program to work with their peers on a real world coding project for a nonprofit organization. But what is it really like to be a CodeWizardsHQ intern? Learn more about our internship experience directly from two of our most recent interns, their parents, and one of our internship mentors.

Supporting a Nonprofit

For those who aren’t familiar with our internship program, it’s a one-of-a-kind opportunity that gives students a chance to work as a professional programmer. Students are invited to apply for the internship after they complete their final Capstone course. Those who are chosen then get to do a fully remote internship, working with other interns to complete a project for a nonprofit. Although a CodeWizardsHQ teacher serves as a mentor to guide students along the way, it’s really up to them to hit deadlines and work together to complete the project.

Most recently, our interns have been working on a project for Wonders & Worries, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit that provides services and support for kids who are coping with a parent’s serious illness. The project involved building an app for one of the organization’s fundraisers.

Devansh started with CodeWizardsHQ back in seventh grade, completing both the middle school and high school programs before moving on to the internship. He appreciated the extra challenge that the internship presented in applying what he learned in class to a real-world project.

“The internship went a step further by helping polish the skills that we had developed during classes in addition to real-world problems that had to be solved through problem-solving and individual research,” says Devansh.

His fellow intern, Jash, also started with CodeWizardsHQ in middle school and was excited about the freedom the internship provided in addition to the extra challenge.

“Even though it felt like more work outside of regular classes, it truly provided the opportunity to be more independent and responsible and accountable. It boosted my confidence and gave a glimpse of real world work experience,” he says.

Devansh and Jash worked together to build a scorekeeping app for the No Worries Classic, a sporting clay shoot event that serves as one of Wonders & Worries’ biggest fundraisers. During the internship, they learned firsthand about the importance of managing deadlines and different tasks that needed to be completed.

“Managing my time for working on the different tasks was definitely a challenge, along with balancing the work for the front and back end tasks, communicating with the other interns and learning new skills while working on building the website,” says Jash. “However, the best part was that these challenges turned out to be my strengths over the course of my internship.”

Celebrating the Final Product

Jash and Devansh’s CodeWizardsHQ mentor, Alex, is proud of the work they the accomplished for Wonders & Worries.

“This was a huge project that several young developers have worked on, and Jash and Devansh took care of the admin side of things. So admins can now add users, change data, delete data, all that stuff, thanks to Jash and Devansh,” he says. “Typically, nonprofit organizations don’t have the largest budget, so it’s a win-win situation: The nonprofit gets a tailor-made web app, and our students get a chance to experience what it’s like to work as a team on a software project that will actually have an impact on the world.”

For Jash, after several weeks of work, the final result was the best part of the internship.

“What I enjoyed most was seeing the final website come to life! My contributions, efforts, time, dedication and commitment had paid off. I felt a sense of pride and achievement based on changes I made to the code, seeing the work I put in used in the real world,” he says.

Devansh also appreciated the real world experience that the internship gave him to work with his peers on a project.

“I found collaborating with my fellow interns to be a very exciting experience, as it was remarkable to see the ways in which we were able to coalesce our skill sets to create a functioning product for the user,” he says.

Overall, the internship was a great experience for everyone involved, including our students’ families. 

“Everything about the internship that my student shared was great,” says Jash’s father, Tejal. “The opportunity, flexibility, mission, content, support, collaboration made it an awesome experience.”

The post Behind the Scenes of Our Internship Program appeared first on CodeWizardsHQ.