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.
One of my very favorite classes in high school was computer programming. I spent a semester with Mr. Hardison in the fall of my freshman year learning how to write simple code in C++. I never imagined how useful that would be, but now, too many years later, I find myself using the logic and the structure of those basic lessons for all sorts of things. Although I don’t know of anything that C++ is actually used for today, other computer languages seem to use some of the same organization, and I’ve been able to tinker with tiny things on the back end of this blog because of those classes.
That’s why I’ve been so determined that my own children learn something about programming before they graduate – and it’s why I think that the Python for Beginners class from Homeschool Code Academy is worth checking out. While my kids weren’t able to use these classes during this review period, I’ve watched several of the classes and checked out the course structure. From a teacher who used to know a bit about coding, here are some thoughts:
I admit, I don’t know a lot about Python. Matt Bohn at Homeschool Code Academy walks you through the basics slowly and carefully, though. He advertises the class as suitable for beginners, and I think that could be true for programming-ready mid-elementary students and older.
The first few lessons are all about tech in general. He defines hardware, software, and programming. He gives instructions about how to download the software, set it up to look like his own, and then it’s finally time to get started.
Bohn teaches by immersion. He starts off by typing in a line of code, showing what it does, and then defining each part and explaining why it works. From there, he works backwards: he puts in bugs and then shows what happens with those mistakes in the code and how to fix them. As he works through this process, he’s teaching the language of both basic tech and Python. Before beginning, he asks the student to open their own Python window and mimic what he does. This gives the student the opportunity to learn the lessons well and it makes the lessons more interactive and fun.
I really liked this style of learning. It’s much more interesting than sitting idly, watching letters pop up on his screen – and if you decide to test out what you’re learning and type in a few extra lines of code, what would that hurt? While I enjoyed it, though, I do think it might be a bit more confusing for students who are very young or who have absolutely no experience with coding whatsoever. I would understand if they needed to rewatch certain parts to pick up everything.
The video lessons are short – most are only a few minutes in length – but students are advised to watch repeatedly or to replay parts that aren’t understood until they are able to code that lesson correctly. In the beginning, as well, an email address was provided so that you could send questions if necessary.
While the videos themselves are short, the lessons have multiple videos – one even has 25! That lesson is all about loops, and loops are tricky to write. Back in my own programming days, I wrote my final program with a loop that contained a bug but stumped my teacher – and so I got an ‘A!’ The detail written into this piece of the course assures me that this won’t happen here, though, and students will learn about many different types of loops and not just one.
Homeschool Code Academy‘s classes are self-paced, so you can go as slowly or as quickly as you want. They consist of pre-recorded videos with no live component, so you can work on them anytime. You can email the company if you get really stuck, so there is help available, but the videos are very detailed, so I think that must be rare. I think that Homeschool Code Academy is a great option for someone wanting to learn Python – but don’t take my word for it. Click on the image below to read other reviews from the Homeschool Review Crew.
