Category Archives: Education

Coding Education, Education

Why Many Schools Are Not Making Investments in Coding

Investing in coding would seem like common sense at this point. However, schools in all parts of the world who have the ability to make that investment are refusing to do so. Consider a recent article for Computer Weekly titled “One-third of schools admit to making no investment in coding training for teachers.”

Claire McDonald of Computer Weekly writes, “One-third of schools admit they have not invested any money in training teachers to deliver the new computing curriculum, according to research. Freedom of information (FOI) requests by enterprise software company MapR have revealed that the support teachers are receiving is inconsistent across the country, with some schools investing nothing in training and others investing more than £3,000. Paul Tarantino, director at MapR Technologies, said: ‘Last year the government pledged £3.5m on new curriculum training. But this information shows that it’s simply not being filtered down so that every young person has a trained teacher. It’s shocking to see such a huge discrepancy in what was said in the run-up to the election compared to what these promises have translated to on the ground.’ Of those asked, 22% were investing over £3,000 on training teachers to deliver the computer science curriculum, 33% spent between £500 and £1,000, while 11% spent between £100 and £500.”

To understand why making an investment in coding is so important, consider a recent article for Forbes titled “How The Coding Explosion Has Changed The Programmer Job Market.” Harsh Patel of Forbes writes, “In the past two decades, the landscape for computer science has changed. Part of this comes from a general increase in education availability: from traditional CS degrees to online learning and coding bootcamps like ours, nearly everyone has access to learn programming if they want to. The other part stems from the technology itself. In the 1990s, coding was based around singular purposes — enterprise applications, self-contained games and custom databases for corporations. In the 2000s, the rapid growth of always-on Internet connections and the emergence of smartphones added new layers of security, small phone-based apps, cloud-based interfaces and databases, and increasingly complex web environments. Now, software systems power everything from tablets to car systems to home appliances. As a result, the United States job market is undergoing a dramatic shift, such that by 2020 nearly one million coding jobs will be unfulfilled based on projections from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. With the field of computer science rapidly expanding, key traits for smart hiring in the field have changed from even just a few years ago.”

To prepare your child for this job climate where coders are in high demand, you need personalized coding education. At CodeRev Kids, we customize all of our lessons to fit your child’s expertise.

Our lessons emphasize computational thinking, which encompasses a wide range of programming concepts and languages. Students can choose from a variety of different tracks, including robotics, app making, and website development.

Although we are the most educational camp out there, we also keep the focus on having fun. As a result, your child is both engaged and receiving a top flight education at the same time.

If you’re looking to take your child’s coding skills to the next level, check out our afterschool programs and fall classes!

Coding Education, Education

Wired Argues You Should Be Coding in Your Physics Class

CodingAccording to Wired Magazine, if coding isn’t part of your Physics course, something is wrong. Rhett Allain of Wired explores this in a recent article titled “You Should Be Coding in Your Physics Course.”

Allain writes, “IT’S NEAR THE start of a new semester of physics. Many faculty are working on their plans for introductory physics courses. How many tests should there be? What about homework? Do I want to cover fluids? What about numerical calculations? Let’s talk about the numerical calculations. Sadly, I think the majority of physics faculty don’t even consider to include numerical calculations in their physics courses. Of course, by numerical calculations I mean the process of breaking a complicated problem into many smaller (and easier) problems. Since this makes many problems to solve, the simplest strategy is to use some type of computer. Thus some people might call this computational physics or even physics coding. Call it what you like, but I think it’s an important topic to cover in introductory classes. What are some of the reasons faculty don’t include numerical calculations? Here are some common concerns for faculty along with my reply. ‘This is not a computer science class.’ Well, that’s true. This is a physics courses. However, this is also not an English class. Does that mean that there should be no writing or reading? It’s not a math class, but students should still use math. It’s not an art class, but students should still be able to draw force diagrams. Physics is not ONE THING in isolation from all other things. Really, there are no classes that could just stand by themselves. Could you imagine any course that didn’t use words and instead only had pictures? No, that would be difficult. Physics has to use many different fields to study the nature of the universe. That’s what makes it so awesome. Of course it’s not just faculty that say ‘this isn’t a computer class’—students think this too. Here is my response to them.”

If you’re looking to give your child a foundation in coding that could lead to a prosperous career, your best bet is CodeRev Kids. At CodeRev Kids, we customize your child’s coding education, making lessons both highly informative and fun.

Our lessons emphasize computational thinking, which encompasses a wide range of programming concepts and languages. These lessons build upon one another and we adjust starting points to each student’s level of expertise.

Even though we are the most educational tech camp out there, we also keep the focus on having fun. By doing this, our students stay engaged while learning to blend creativity with technology.

Contact us to enroll in or simply learn more about our different afterschool programs.

Coding Curriculum, Education, Skills

Birthday Party Ideas for STEM-minded Kids

mathmaticsDoes your kid love science and math? Are they proud to be interested in the latest technology? Are you looking to throw them a birthday party they won’t forget? Then consider these cool ideas for unique birthday celebrations.

To start off with you’ll need to get your decorations in order. Of course you’ll begin with your typical party supplies like cups, plates, plastic utensils, napkins, and decorations. You’ll also want to pick up some cool science equipment. You may buy or borrow what you need. Some ideas include beakers, flasks, test tubes, safety goggles, magnifying glasses, a copy of the periodic table of the elements, lab coats, microscopes, clipboards, or rocks like pyrite, magnetite, agate, and quartz.

Next you’ll create invitations. If you’re short on time, just pick up a pack from your local party supply store. However, if you’ve got the time, there are tons of ways you can make your own! Perhaps cut a piece of paper into the shape of the flask, then glue green glitter all over it. You might glue the invitation to a container of touchable bubbles. Perhaps you could purchase a dozen mini clipboards and write the party info on an index card you attach it. You might even print out small copies of the periodic table of elements and write the details on the back of it.

Decorations and food are half the fun of the party! Past science projects make great decorations and conversation pieces, you could grow rock crystals and display them at the part, you could cut out squares of construction paper with each of the elements on them and tape them around the room, you might take a table and label it “weird science” and then put putty or odd toys on it.

For unique foods, try molecular fruit: take a melon baller, scoop up fruit like honeydew or watermelon, and then put them together with toothpicks to mimic the molecule chains. You can create elemental sandwiches by cutting sandwiches into fourths and then writing an element’s abbreviation on each one. Or you could get everyone involved and create a dish together! Teach the kids that cooking is science too by creating a pizza bar and watching the dough rise as it cooks.

Your birthday boy or girl probably has some ideas of cool party activities they’d like to do, but them started by suggesting creating a volcano with baking soda and vinegar, buy a fingerprint lifting kit, mix together Mentos and Diet Coke, or print off free safety badges and have each kid customize them.

Of course the perfect gift for a science minded young one is a code camp with CodeREV! Not only will your kid love the experience but they’ll learn potentially life-changing skills.

Coding Curriculum, Coding Education, Education

Making STEM Learning Accessible to Young Children as a Teacher

teacherdeskTeachers in elementary schools these days are starting to hear more and more about the need for early adoption of STEM education. For some elementary school classes, this has proven to be more of a problem than many anticipated. In some cases, teachers have experienced significant pressure to completely re-work their curriculum. As might be expected, some teachers have also struggled to adapt their teaching styles to meet STEM related goals, while also meeting unnecessary goals for standardized testing. This article will discuss some strategies and thoughts for encouraging STEM learning in the classroom while also meeting other learning goals.

The most fundamental aspect of reorienting classrooms activities and mindsets around STEM learning is to change the viewpoint. This may sound like an oversimplification, but really, many lessons can be reoriented towards fundamental STEM concepts. Students can learn to first hypothesize, followed by designing, modelling, experimenting, and repeating with modification in many contexts. Doing this also helps to encourage students to make connections between multiple disciplines. This fosters the ability to synthesize information to find creative solutions, which is one of the most important skills STEM education fosters.

Some institutions have tried to simply add technology to the classroom in an effort to increase STEM education. However, it should be noted that technology is only the ‘T’ in STEM, Adding tech isn’t the only thing, kids need to learn to use tech to make solving STEM problems easier, and they need guidance to do this.

CodeRev Kids is a Santa Monica, California organization which specializes in teaching children to love computers, science and programming through fun and interactive camps and afterschool programs. In addition to offering these programs at their location, CodeRev often coordinates with educators to help bring coding education to schools. If you wish to develop a program CodeRev is experienced and ready to help you create something new and innovative at your institution. They set themselves apart from other organizations with staff that is more knowledgeable and experienced than you find in other computer skills and programming courses for children, who are often also working tech professionals and veteran educators. Check them out today.

Coding Curriculum, Coding Education, Education, Skills

More and More Schools are Recognizing the Importance of Coding

Coding KeyboardIt’s no secret. Coding is becoming more of a necessary skill to have as every week goes by. In order to compete in a global economy, it is becoming essential. In some cases it’s the difference between getting an opportunity and not getting it. Schools are recognizing this and some are taking steps to address the lack of coding education in their institutions. Phys.org takes a look at this in a recent article titled “An education for the 21st century means teaching coding in schools.”

Leon Sterling of Phys.org writes, “There is merit in school students learning coding. We live in a digital world where computer programs underlie everything from business, marketing, aviation, science and medicine, to name several disciplines. During a recent presentation at a radio station, one of our hosts said that IT would have been better background for his career in radio than journalism. There is also a strong case to be made that Australia’s future prosperity will depend on delivering advanced services and digital technology, and that programming will be essential to this end. Computer programs and software are known to be a strong driver of productivity improvements in many fields. Being introduced to coding gives students an appreciation of what can be built with technology. We are surrounded by devices controlled by computers. Understanding how they work, and imagining new devices and services, are enhanced by understanding coding.”

The Huffington Post explores trying to implement coding in the classroom in a recent article titled “How to Implement a Coded Curriculum in Your School.” Peter Hutton of the Huffington Post writes, “So how have we done this? Two years ago we decided to teach students to write code as a problem solving tool in geometry. Geometry is a course where logic, spatial reasoning and problem-solving are the big skills we’re trying to build, and all of those skills can be built through coding. It seemed like a great place to start; the plan was to eventually expand this approach into various other classes in order to fully integrate coding into our curriculum. Surprise! Within two months, teachers in every department in every grade were finding ways coding could expand possibilities for work in their disciplines. English students used code to digitally act out scenes from Macbeth and analyze poetry; art students created drawings like this one; modern language students used code to make vocabulary flashcards; 7th grade history students coded historical statistics. At the end of the year, we discovered that every student in the school had had at least one meaningful experience with writing code.”

While coding in the classroom will go a long way towards advancing the prospects of students throughout the country, customized coding education programs are what will take them to the next level.

CodeREV’s STEM focused courses and tech camps provide the basis for a much deeper education in technology than what students receive at their schools. Our instructors are all industry tested STEM and coding professionals. All of our Tech/Coding classes and camps are project-based, meaning students are applying computational thinking to each coding skill they learn. Also, they are using the highest level processing skills as identified by the Common Core for true comprehension of the material they are learning to use and apply.

If you’re looking for the best coding education for your child, your best bet is CodeREV. Contact us so your child can become a CodeREV Kid!

Coding Curriculum, Coding Education, Education

How Modern Schooling Needs to Change

SportsThere are many problems these days in modern schools. Costs are being cut everywhere in municipal budgets across the country. In many places

Teachers often bear the brunt of less and less funding. Often when one teacher is fired to account for a smaller budget, two other teachers who still work for the school are forced to take on a larger student load. This means that every student receives less attention than previously, which has a direct effect on how well any child learns. Art and music programs in some schools across the country are being cut out of the curriculum outright, and what programs that do exist in public schools are often underfunded. This also has a detrimental effect on the creative growth of students

Science and Math programs in our modern schools in the United States are not up to par.  Essentially, in this area, we are behind the times. As further evidence computer science and coding programs are nearly non-existent in public school in the country. As parents we have to make sure that we do our best to help our kids learn about STEM topics of all kinds, even if school isn’t going to help very much. CodeRev Kids is a great California organization which runs both after school and summer camp programs which are aimed at teaching children real computer skills that they will be able to use later in life. With the way technology is progressing, even if your child doesn’t end up becoming a full-time programmer, it is highly likely that she will need to know it as a part of her professional life as an adult.

It’s crazy that these days, even some sports programs are getting cut. No one takes auto shop, wood shop or any other trade class in high school anymore because those programs don’t exist in many schools where they once did. This means that more and more kids that don’t go to college don’t have anywhere to go when they graduate from high school. College shouldn’t be the only place you can go after high school, we should be doing better to help every child find what they need in their lives.

Coding Education, Education, Skills

Hot Activities for Your Kids This Summer

Youth CampIs your child bored of doing the same thing every summer? It happens. Sometimes the old Boy Scout or Church camp, no offense to those fine institutions, just stops being fun for your kid. What are you supposed to do when the old summer activities don’t work anymore? We have put together a few options for you below. Hopefully these options are varied enough that you will find something for whatever kind of child you have.

Coding camps are a great option for your kids that can’t pull their heads out of the tablets. CodeRev Kids is one of the foremost summer camps in this area. For younger kids, you can get them started in fun activities like Minecraft level building, which help to teach the basics of programming and using the computer. They can move on, or older children can participate in a variety of programs which appeal to plenty of tastes from robotics, to web design, to more complicated coding. Coding camps are an amazing way for your kids to learn great skills which can help them immeasurably later in life.

There are a number of great outdoor camps your children can attend over the summer. We won’t talk about the basics like football, baseball, or any of the other sports you might be familiar with. Instead we’ll mention some outdoor activities which you may not have thought of. Circus camp is a great option for children with a bunch of energy, and it teaches skills which instill poise, grace, and a good party tricks too boot! Rock climbing and ultimate frisbee are two more great options for outdoor sporting camps, depending on whether you child prefers individual or team sports.

Space camp is the old standby and a personal favorite of this reviewer. What better way to teach physics and encourage a love of science than with rockets! These days, space camps will also teach your kids about biology, nutrition, health, and chemistry, so there are many topics to pique your child’s interests.

Education

The Next Generation of Learning

Kids Learning CodeThese days, you might be trying to find more avenues for your child to learn and grow (and develop that college application). You might need to look outside your kid’s school to find programs which can foster their particular interest.

Coding camps and after school programs are a great way to move your child from Angry Birds to productive play with the computer. CodeRev Kids is a great organization which offers a variety of programs aimed at teaching your children computer programming skills. Your child can learn game design or website design with the help of hands-on instruction. If your child is interested in robotics, there is a wonderful intensive program which incorporates Legos and technology used in the industry today to teach the construction and programming of an automated arm or other projects.

If your child would like to move forward in various subjects related to her academic studies, Saturday school programs can be a great source of further learning. Often your kid can learn about advanced topics that he would never get a chance to investigate in depth, like microbiology or inorganic chemistry, before he would in high school or even college.

Like Saturday school programs, many community colleges offer vocational and skills training classes on the weekends which are designed for grade school children. These programs vary from place to place, but sometimes, your child can learn to work on a car before they have a driver’s license!

Art classes are also often available through your local community college, but there are many other programs which seek to encourage the arts of all types in youth. Sometimes, school art programs are basic and there is little in the way of variety of materials or mediums. Outside programs can help your child gain access to things like jewelry making, pottery, or advance music studies. Art is an underrated aspect of your child’s academic growth, and a creative understanding is known to be beneficial to the development of what other people consider “left-brained” thinking skills.

Education, Skills

Skills To Get Your Kids Into College

Kid Learning Cello

Here are some things your kids can do after school that will help them get into college. Remember to always search for activities that your child enjoys.

  1. Sports – Participating in team or individual sports can be an essential component of your child’s development. Team sports teach cooperation and individual sports teach perseverance and body confidence. Most sports or athletic activities will contribute to the physical well-being of your child, but make sure not to over-train or allow your child to become involved in activities which may be damaging. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t let your child play hockey or football if she wants to, but be aware of the possible health consequences in any sport.
  2. Code academies – After school coding schools are growing in popularity, as they are great ways to develop your child’s brain without them knowing. CodeRev Kids is a California-based company that is a great example of businesses like which are popping up all over the country. Your kid won’t realize she is learning complicated analytical skills which will greatly help them later in life as she works on programing a Lego robot arm to pick up a ball, or the next level of a computer game. Even better, your child can use her programming skills later in life to find a career, not only in tech, but in other fields as well.
  3. Music – Music is great. We all know this. Sign your kid up for some classes and see what sticks. Try to find an instrument that your child likes enough stick to. This will usually be a guitar, but every child is different!
  4. Community service – Through a church, Scouts, or other organization, community service projects are a great way to endear good values in your child, while also making sure that she learns life skills imperative to her future.
  5. Art classes – Learning other artistic crafts, from sculpture, to jewelry making, to metalworking, to painting and drawing, can be instrumental in your child’s brain development. These activities will enhance your child’s problem solving skills, as well as abstract reasoning and three dimensional understanding.