Summer is the time when kids can wind down from school mode and play with friends. They need to get outdoors and run around. But kids today are accustomed to using devices and screens because, unlike their parents, they grow up in a world of dazzling digital technology.
Parents want their kids to have fun during the free and easy days of summer, but they also want them to learn the necessary skills to keep ahead in school and beyond. If you’re looking for ways to sharpen your child’s STEM skills, what you need is online coding camps.
Video Games at the Heart
The best classes teaching online coding for kids put video games at the heart of the program in a few ways. Children learn how to design and program their own video games, one that they can play with friends and family.
Such a fun and tangible accomplishment give them a rewarding sense of achievement. Leading programs also embed gamification concepts into the pedagogy, so the same dynamics that keep kids addicted to gaming work to keep them motivated to learn.
When programs revolve around video games, you don’t need to twist kids’ arms to get them to learn.
Professional Coding Languages
Don’t think that children are too young to learn the coding languages that professionals use to build the websites, apps, and video games millions of people use daily. Enormously influential platforms that make tens or hundreds of millions of dollars annually were programmed in languages like Python and Java.
The best summer programming camps teach kids how to use coding languages, such as:
- Python
- Java
- JavaScript
- C#
- C++
Kids will have a leg up on their peers when they encounter these languages later in school and the workforce. Even if they never become a professional video game coder, tons of jobs in a broad range of industries open up to applicants with advanced coding abilities and STEM skills.
Small Classes and Long Sessions
The best online summer coding camps have two things in common: the sessions are much longer, so students get to immerse themselves deeply in the material. Also, the ratio of students to teachers is low. The best programs have only four students per teacher, so every pupil gets attention without having to speak over classmates. Ideally, the program hires teachers who skew on the young side, so they also grew up playing video games and have recent, relevant coding experience in school and beyond.
The longer summer sessions make it possible to learn in a week or two what usually takes months or even longer. Children thrive when they’re in a supportive learning environment unconstrained by time.
Kids love summer because it’s time for them to play. Parents who want their children to have a blissful time while school pauses while also keeping their STEM skills sharp can get the best of both worlds by enrolling their children in online summer coding camps.