We at Codecademy think everyone should be exposed to programming and computer science—especially kids. This back-to-school season, Codecademy wants to help every school to start an after-school programming club—an easy way for kids to start learning the programming skills that formal education doesn't yet provide. Programming is a fun and rewarding way to learn about the technology that surrounds us, and anyone can learn it. Programming will change the way kids think, fostering solid algorithmic thinking skills that will help them in a myriad of pursuits going forward.
Millions of students will go back to school this year to institutions that don't have computer science programs. Great organizations like the Computer Science Teachers Association are working hard to make CS a part of high school and middle school curricula. Since launching Codecademy, we've seen teachers take things into their own hands, with hundreds of them using Codecademy in their classroom and starting clubs after school to expose their students to programming. Based on their feedback, we put together a simple kit for teachers (or students!) who want to start an after-school programming club at their school.
We wanted to make it as easy as possible for anyone to get started so we've included everything you need. No installing, no downloading, and no background in programming necessary (the kit comes with curriculum). Best of all, it's completely free.
We worked with teachers across the world to put together a whole year of learning, starting students at the beginning and showing them the magic of programming through real projects in real programming languages. Kids love creating and customizing their code through our interactive interface. And when they're done, they with web pages and projects that they have built themselves.
Exposing students to programming is one of the most important things we can do—and we can't do it without teachers. That's why we're also launching the "teachers' lounge" for teachers to share stories, ideas, and support among themselves. We're excited to learn even more from the great teachers who are using Codecademy!
Read more and get started at After-School Programming. If you sign up and give us your address, we'll mail you a kit with flyers, the curriculum book, letters to parents, and more. If you'd prefer to get them online, it's all there as well.
Have a wonderful start to the school year!