DISCLAIMER: I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS PRODUCT THROUGH THE HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW IN EXCHANGE FOR MY HONEST REVIEW. I WAS NOT REQUIRED TO WRITE A POSITIVE REVIEW NOR WAS I COMPENSATED IN ANY OTHER WAY.
Are you looking for a homeschool computer science curriculum? I need to tell you about Simply Coding’s Coding for Kids Annual Membership. What a fantastic program that my son has been digging into for the past five weeks.
What I am Reviewing
Coding for Kids Annual Membership is a coding program designed for students 11-18 years of age. Put together by the team at Simply Coding, they use live demos, videos and slides to help students actively engage in coding lessons. Students will learn to create websites, build games, and design apps.
Annual Membership Pricing (Through Oct 1st):
Normally $149 Currently $99 – Single Student (33% OFF) + 10 Day Free Trial
Normally $229 Currently $179 – Family Membership (20% OFF + THREE student accounts) + 10 Day Free Trial
How is Simply Coding Set Up?
Once you login as parent it is easy to set up student accounts. You do each need your own email.
When students login they are greeted with an overview page. This shows them which courses they can do. Some courses require prerequisites so you won’t be able to do them until you have completed the necessary courses.
On this student overview page you will see your victories and any uploads you have done. Victories are completed lessons.
Once you select your course you will be lead to your work area. On the left side of the screen will be the course outline.
The main part of the screen will be for the lesson. The lessons aren’t all presented the same.
For instance with the Digital photography course I was presented with a series of videos.
With the Intro to Websites, there were a series of slides to go through with video that pulled up on the side.
My son has been working through JavaScript Game Design. He tells me that it’s presentation is the same as the intro to websites course.
The My Progress button on the overview page gives you a quick snapshot of where you are in the different programs. For instance, you can see that I have made 8% progress in the Digital Photography course.
Live Teacher Sessions actually shows how to create small games. The teachers will demonstrate what you need to do to recreate the game. Currently they have 20 demo videos available with a promise of more to come. What a great way to learn practical application of skills eh?
How Did We Use Simply Coding?
The trial of these online coding classes that we received gave us access to all the classes Simply Coding provides. It was marvellous to have so many options available to us.
We could choose from four categories
- Coding
- Media
- Tech Essentials
- Tech4Kids
My son was immediately drawn to the JavaScript Game Design course. He is planning to work his way through the entire selection of coding. Since I didn’t use this course I’ll be letting him tell you what he thinks of it.
My lad says:
“Logging on was very easy, and the lessons are well arranged and easy to access. The quizzes are simple to use and access. You are able to take the quizzes again, and you are graded immediately. I think that the program could be better if rather than using a code library it took the time to teach you how to code the various functions yourself.”
What about me?
As for myself, I’ve been dabbling.
I started with Intro to Websites, but then moved on to Digital Photography 1 as my focus for the website course just wasn’t there. This video-based course is rather interesting and makes me realize the shortcomings of the camera that I actually have! 🙂
I love the immediate feedback on quizzes.
They have a course on learning to use GIMP!! I’ve been wanting to understand GIMP a bit better so I’m going to work on that course. I’ve done some work with GIMP in the past but I’m still a novice. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to truly create my own images instead of having to rely on programs such a picmonkey or Canva?
In starting the GIMP program I’ve discovered a small issue. The demonstration model is a different version than what I downloaded. So finding where everything is a bit more of a challenge. BUT HEY! I created my first GIMP image!
I’m not the fastest learner with some of this stuff so I’m hoping between their program and my stick-to-it-itiveness I can master GIMP! Wouldn’t that be a good thing? 🙂
Should you Get Simply Coding?
If you want to improve your skill and knowledge in creating media or computer programs, this program will suit you very nicely. Spending 3-5 hours each week should get you through the bulk of the materials within a year. The variety of options available means you can find just the right course for your students.
My lad says:
“I have used other coding programs that go more in-depth that I prefer. I like how easy it is to use Simply Coding but I wish that it taught more in-depth coding. Not sure that I would recommend it at this point. Perhaps as I get further into the lessons it will teach harder things.”
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Read the Reviews
Can you believe that 65 members of the Crew reviewed Simply Coding? We all got to choose our own courses to try out. So you have GOT to read the reviews to get a really good feel for this online computer science program.
Click on the image below to go do some reading.
Good to read more about what the lad thought in relation to other programs. We struggled with getting into this but then, Miss J is on the lower end of the age range and isn’t excitedly into computers, so it was a bit of a question to begin with. I had no idea what Gimp was so now you have me interested!
I was admittedly surprised, but when he explained what his concern was, it made a lot of sense. I’m hoping he can extrapolate from what he’s learning to create more.