Computer Coding and Game Programming for Kids

Letting my children have a say in what they want to learn about and following their passion got me researching Computer Coding and Game Programming for Kids. I love seeing their desire to learn and their commitment to things that interest them.

Homeschooling ~ Computer Coding and Game Programming

When it comes to giving your child the best that you can give them, nothing is too good for them. This holds true especially when it comes to their education. Choosing the best curriculum for your child can be tough, especially if you plan to or have already decided to homeschool.

When it was time to decide where my children would go to school, it was pretty easy for me to make that decision. After talking it over for awhile we decided that homeschooling was the best option for our children (I should say I convinced my husband). One of the things I love most about homeschool is that I can customize the curriculum to fit the needs of my child, not customize my child to fit the curriculum. You can also add things that they love to your daily homeschooling. My middle boys have been interested in computers and really wanted to learn more about coding and game programming. That is what led us to Kidcoder.

When choosing to homeschool your children, you can say goodbye to the one size fits all idea and choose a curriculum that is best suited to your child’s individual needs. At first finding a curriculum was hard on us because it took some trial and error. There were so many different curriculum’s to choose from but we eventually found things that we loved and stuck with them. Timberdoodle is one of those great companies that our whole family loves.

It was only recently that we were given an opportunity to test drive a new online course called KidCoder Game Programming with Visual. Ideally suited for kids in grades 6-8, KidCoder is a two semester long course that centers around self-study computer programming. Written by experienced software engineers who are also homeschool parents, this course couldn’t be more perfect for a child who has interest in computer programming. The creative minds know how hectic life can be, especially when homeschooling, so the self-study designed program is perfect if you’re on the hunt for a course that requires little to no supervision. My 10 year old is loving this course and asks to do it daily.

In their first semester, your child will learn all about writing graphical Windows programs while utilizing the Visual Basic programming language. Included in this program is detailed information on how to work with numeric and text data as well as finding and fixing errors.

I will say that this is an actual course where they will learn a lot. My son was so excited at the beginning to get started he thought he would be learning how to create his own game the first day. I had to remind him, he has to take the steps to learn everything first. I’m happy to say he has really enjoyed learning all of the computer history and how computers came about. This gives them a lot of computer knowledge and they are having fun doing it.

During their second semester of KidCoder, your homeschooler will learn how to draw shapes, display and animate images and even play music and sound effects. They’ll even be able to write basic video games and create their own the further they progress in the course! My sons goal is that he can create his own game that people will want to buy and play all over the world. We have a long way to go… but he’s well on his way for success with Kidcoder.

You can find KidCoder at Timberdoodle. Purchase it separately or you can find it in the 7th grade curriculum kit.

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