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Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Teaching coding skills to kids has been increasing over the years with our world becoming more and more high tech. We’ve always included coding in our homeschool, so our kids have an understanding of it. So when Simply Coding came up for review, I wanted to try their Coding for Kids Annual Membership. It was a hit with my son.

What is Simply Coding?

Simply Coding in an online coding curriculum for kids 11-18 years of age. With the three main courses in:

1. Web Design
2. Javascript
3. Game Design

If your child is new to coding or has some skill, it doesn’t matter. The curriculum has courses for beginners to advanced. The program can grow with your child as their skills increase.

How Simply Coding Works

Pathways

When kids log in, they choose a course pathway. For example, my son chose the Java Script Game Design course. It depends on your child’s interest and skill level.

Once your child chooses a pathway, they work through each lesson. The lessons have step-by-step instructions and video lessons. My son preferred reading through the material while I liked the video lessons. It’s nice it has this option for different learning styles.

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Kids must work through each lesson in order to advance. There are little quizzes as knowledge checks along the way. Kids aren’t just being told the code to put in to create something; they learn what each part of the code means. 

Support

If your child gets stuck, Simply Coding has people to help. During their business hours, kids can type questions in the live chat box. Someone will be on shortly to walk them through their problems. 

Outside of their business hours, kids can email for help. Someone will answer your child’s questions in a timely manner.

My son, who is 11, used both live chat and email. He is a little impulsive and doesn’t always pay attention to detail, so he ran into some difficulty. He is only 11. I cannot say enough about the wonderful support they gave my son!

Whenever my son asked for help, they were very good about helping him. They walked him through the steps and continued working with him until he got it. I was impressed at how encouraging the mentors were to him. 

If you are worried about live chat, don’t be. When your child finishes a live chat, you receive a transcript of the conversation, so you know what was discussed. 

Using Simply Coding’s Online Coding Classes for Kids

As mentioned above, my eleven year old chose to work on the Java Script Game Design course. The course taught him the basics of Java script. To reinforce and make it meaningful, he learned how to code his own Pong game. 

Since this coding course for kids teaches what each part of a code does, kids can customize their games. My son decided to use a pizza as his “ball”.

He did fairly well working on this independently. However, he did run into some difficulty from time to time. Being young, he sometimes has trouble paying attention to details, which happens to be very important for coding. The beginning level courses were just right for him. He did try to jump into the Minecraft Mod class but wasn’t ready for it yet.

Even though my son used the program several days a week, he worked at a slow pace and didn’t quite finish his game. He needs to add a little more to his main menu, and he will be done. Here is what it looks like right now.

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Overall, my son learned a lot. He can tell you what each part of a code does and alter it to add personal touches. To me, that is success. When my child can take something and change it, it shows he truly understands what he is doing.

Overall Thoughts on Simply Coding

Honestly, I like this coding curriculum for kids. I like Simply Coding for many reasons.

• They give easy step-by-step directions with hints and video lessons.
• The mentors will help kids when they need assistance. Because let’s face it, not all of us are good at coding.
• It teaches what coding is all about. The program doesn’t just give you steps to complete a fun project. They make sure you understand it.
• Your kids have fun and meaningful coding lessons. Kids learn to MAKE a game (or website, Minecraft mod, etc.) not just play it. 
• Simple Coding has courses for kids at different ability levels.
• The program builds kids’ confidence in their coding skills.

If you are looking to help build your child’s coding skills, take a look at Simply Coding. It may be just what your homeschool needs. 

Other Review Crew members tried out Simply Coding. Click the banner below to find out what their thoughts are and how they used it in their homeschool.

Happy Homeschooling!