CoderDojo returns — add coding to your kid’s school curriculum

CoderDojo, the international movement of kids coding clubs for kids 5-17 years old, is returning to Cedar Rapids this Saturday, September 6th, just in time for the start of another academic year. The Cedar Rapids rendition began last Spring, when a rag-tag group of tech and developer dads got it off the ground and saw immediate positive feedback from like-minded parent and community members. After a summer off, the team (of which I am proud to be part of) is looking forward to getting things going again with new energy, focus, and coding challenges for the kids.

“Coding class starts this weekend. Awesome!” (Smile)

My then 5 year-old coding with Lightbot.
My then 5 year-old coding with Lightbot.

I told my 6 year-old, who I wrote about in reference to some of our early meetings, that “coding class” was going to be this Saturday. He smiled and right away was excited. Even the youngsters attending CoderDojo, who grant it have a shorter attention span, enjoy the basic logic and coding games we present them like Hour of Code or LightBot. From there we expand to more advanced, yet paired down coding tools like Scratch or Code Avengers. For more experienced students, we can expand out to more advanced HTML/CSS web coding, Javascript, Minecraft mods, game development, and more. Plus, I have not even mentioned yet our offline games (like “Program a Parent”) or programmable robotic gizmos we teach with (like Sphero and Lego Robots).  What kid would not attend say say “everything is awesome!”

Bring your kid, beg your parents, be a mentor — just get there!

Starting Saturday, September 6th we plan to meet at the new Geonetric Entrehub’s Catalyst Cafe (415 12th Ave SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401) from 1-3PM. The plan is to meet every two weeks with various mentors and program tracks for students. Parents/student can register on Eventbrite and/or see the CoderDojo Cedar Rapids website for update/info.
[button_2 color=”blue” align=”center” href=”http://www.eventbrite.com/o/coderdojo-cedar-rapids-6231335133?s=24092305″]Register your kiddo now[/button_2]

We are also still in need of mentors (developers/techies/etc.) who are interested in helping kids & the next generation of their craft. You are not required to be there every session and your expertise can vary, but please consider helping out. Contact @tominsky, @mcnary, or @ericengelmann to express interest.
[button_2 color=”light-green” align=”center” href=”/contact/”]Contact me to be a mentor[/button_2]

See you at a CoderDojo Cedar Rapids soon to get those kiddos coding!

 

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