During early December 2016, I saw a notice on Twitter about a free Hour of Code session at the Apple Store. I wondered how and what they could teach kids in one hour of computer coding. I signed up my daughter, who was six years old at the time and who didn’t know anything about programming. Before I show you what my daughter learned in a one-hour session, let me give you some background on Hour of Code.
What is Hour of Code?
Hour of Code is a global movement designed to show that anybody can learn computer science basics through one-hour games. It has reached tens of millions of students in 180+ countries.
What They Teach to Younger Kids
When we attended the Hour of Code, there were seven kids at the table. Each kid was assigned an iPad. An Apple Store staff member explained how we would use the one-hour session to learn computer programming through games on a web browser. The games led the kids step-by-step to do block programming, including call function, looping, etc. My daughter’s favorite game during the Hour of Code was “Code with Anna and Elsa.” It was fun to see Elsa and Anna follow my daughter’s code to complete the task.
Between sessions, there were also videos to explain more advanced computer logic concepts, so that my daughter could follow their teaching to add more complicated code.
After she completed the session, the Apple Store instructor gave her a certificate of completion to reward her participation.
Hour of Code resources
Currently, many different companies are hosting Hour of Code in their communities. Many Hour of Code tutorials have been created to accommodate different grade levels and programming languages, and all are designed to make programming fun.
Each tutorial has teacher resources that can be used by teachers or parents—you don’t have to be a programmer yourself to teach children the basic concepts. Students don’t even necessarily need a tablet or any personal computer to start learning: some activities (i.e. Kodable hour of code) use whiteboard, markers, or cardboard to teach programming language.
Conclusion
Hour of Code is a fun way to teach your kids about computer programming, and as a mom and a software developer, I highly recommend it. And you don't need to wait to the end of the year for a free Apple Store session. Just go to code.org to start your own session with your kids anytime.
