Providing education from home can be a less-than-ideal situation. As many students are transitioning to an online learning environment, we’re here to help with some sound advice for how to set your child up for success. (Many thanks to Seesaw for the base of this information.)

Maintain a schedule

In the midst of this transition, students need consistency and routine.

• Keep normal meal and bed times, and start learning when school typically starts each day. 
• Write your child’s schedule where they can see it. (Tip: Put all family members’ schedules up together!)

Create a designated learning space

• Organize learning materials and designate a common area for learning. That space should have a strong wireless connection, can be blocked from noise, and should be located where family members can participate in the lesson. Young students often benefit from having a mouse to use instead of a trackpad.
• Distractions like smart phones, tablets, and other kids should be removed from the learning space during lessons. 
• Before a lesson with a teacher begins, make sure they have water and a snack within reach so they aren’t tempted to wander.
• Make sure your student can sit high enough in their chair to comfortably access the computer.
• Keep computers plugged in throughout the lesson to avoid unexpected shutdowns.
• Not only do headphones shut out unwanted noise, they allow students to work on projects with sound and to improve overall call audio clarity. If headphones are available, they should be used by students. 

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Getting started with Zoom

• Please read this blog for information about downloading and setting up Zoom Client for Meetings. 

• For every lesson, please be prepared to be physically present to support your child in the first few minutes of class. They will likely need your help to manage technical issues, to screen share, and to follow the prompts of the instructor. After your student is set up and class is running, please be “on call” in case they run into any hiccups.
• When your student is asked to share their screen, please select the option to share the entire screen.

Connect with their instructors

We no longer have the pleasure of crossing paths during drop off and pick up, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to hear from you! If you have questions or concerns about your student’s progress, please send an email or schedule a video call to discuss with their teacher. And don’t hesitate to call the instructor if there’s a technical issue you can’t solve during class! We are here to help.

Pay attention to their experience 

For your student, remote learning is likely a new experience and may feel isolating or disconnected. Let them know that technical issues are inevitable, and keep tabs on what your student needs. If they are enjoying the independence of learning remotely, encourage them. If they seem hesitant or unsure, they may need someone there to share the experience with them. You can help support their transition by sitting in for parts of their classes to keep them company. When they seem more settled, let them know you need to go get your own work done and you’ll be back to check in later on. 

If parents do want to sit in on class, we ask that they allow students to "steer". Our teachers are monitoring the progress of all students on the call and will make sure that your student is working productively on challenging material appropriate to their level.

Begin and end each day with a check-in

Taking the time to reflect on your child's experience will go a long way toward making sure they feel secure and supported as they settle in to virtual learning. In fact, there is a designated part of our classes at the end where students are asked to share their reflections on what they're learning with each other. Reflection within our classes helps us build community and is essential to giving students agency over their progress. You can continue this exercise by checking in with them after class, when they've had a chance to process what they've learned. Try asking: 

• What are you learning today? 
• What did you enjoy learning today? 
• What was challenging? 
• How did it feel? 
• Will you show me what you’ve been learning or making?

Schedule physical activity and social interaction

Physical and social activity are essential to your child’s wellbeing, and they need to be prioritized even more now that we are moving to remote learning. Scheduling time for movement, social interaction, and play helps your child have a positive experience at home and helps them focus when it’s time to sit down in front of the computer.
Ideas: 

• Create a family dance
• Act out a scene from a book
• Interview a family member
• Play your favorite game
• Cook or bake your family’s favorite recipe

Support your child’s emotional needs

In stressful times, children need supportive and stable relationships with trusted adults. Stay close with your child and provide age-appropriate information. For instance, here’s a kid-friendly comic about COVID-19.
As always, we’re here to help. For more resources, contact us.

Fall semester is an exciting time at The Coding Space. This year, with classes launching entirely online, our team is continuing to fine-tune our remote learning environment both through training and developing best practices. To that end, we’ve put together this brief guide to make sure that things go smoothly as families shift to online lessons.

Getting Started

If your child is a new student, our team will be in contact to schedule a technology Pre-Check. This brief virtual meeting is to check students’ hardware setup and catch any issues before their first class. It’s important for parents and students to attend to ensure the best quality performance and to use the computer the student will be using for class. Students who have already taken a TCS class on the same computer do not need to do a Pre-Check; only new students or students who are switching to a new computer.

In order for your child to participate in an online lesson, they’ll need to download Zoom. This is the platform we use for online work because it uses lower bandwidth which allows for smoother audio and video than other platforms. It also provides multi-screen sharing, the ability to break out into smaller groups, and an interactive whiteboard which makes for a highly engaging learning experience. Using the waiting room feature, our teachers are able to monitor who is accessing the call, providing a secure learning environment.

1. Download Zoom Client for Meetings (if you have trouble with this step, please don’t worry as the program will automatically download when you launch the first meeting). If you are using a Chromebook, you’ll need to follow slightly different instructions, which can be found here. 
2. Once you’ve downloaded the Zoom Client, test your audio and video by clicking on “New Meeting.”  Zoom’s default is to start all meetings with microphones muted and cameras turned off. You can activate each of these things by clicking on the buttons in the bottom left of your Zoom screen. When you click on the small up arrow next to the microphone, you’ll be given the option to test your microphone and speakers.  For a more detailed walk through of getting started you can read this article from Zoom (or this one for Chromebooks). 

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​Troubleshooting
To ensure the best experience, please login to Zoom five to ten minutes before class. You may be placed in a waiting room until class begins:

And the result? Eleven weeks of jokes, laughs, teamwork, friendship, creativity, problem solving, and of course, coding. Campers got to interact with a whole host of fun and interesting experiences, broadening their horizons and getting them moving. Here are just a few of the camper favorites. ​

Dear Coding Space Family,

First of all, we want to convey our gratitude for your continued trust and support. During these challenging months, we have not taken for granted how fortunate we are to continue to serve our community and see smiling faces and inquisitive young minds every week. We are amazed by the creativity, perseverance, and humor that we’ve seen in each of our students and inspired to show them a bright future ahead.

Taking into consideration the current public health projections, as well as the limitations of a socially distanced classroom, we've decided to keep our classes online this fall. While we'd prefer to hold class in person, we've found a silver lining in using the present circumstances to develop a more balanced and dynamic learning environment that allows our students to flourish in any format.

To this end, our focus this fall will be on integrating time spent coding on the computer with STEAM-based activities that invite students away from their screens. Exploring the worlds of science, the arts, and engineering, these exercises not only will stretch students’ minds in new ways, they'll encourage social interaction and collaboration in a time where they need it most. We’ve seen how well this works at virtual camp this summer and are excited to apply it to the fall.

We also understand that making plans right now can be difficult and stressful. We hope that by offering half-semester options and a flexible refund policy, you’ll feel comfortable making a commitment and confident that your children will be in careful and caring hands. 

We're looking forward to seeing everyone in person again. In the meantime, we are energized by all that we've learned from constructing our virtual classroom and all of the possible applications of this knowledge and experience. We will continue to tinker, develop, and grow along with our students and be humbled by and in awe of the journey.
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Be well, and we hope to see you online this fall.

Sincerely, 
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The Coding Space team

There’s no doubt that computer science is a quickly expanding industry. In fact, back in 2013, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted that, by 2020, there would be 1.4 million programming-related jobs available and only 400,000 graduates with the coding skills required to fill those roles. That means there is a huge demand and opportunity for young coders down the road to put their grit, determination, and problem-solving skills to work. 

​Far from the boring, lonely jobs one may imagine when they think of programmers, on the whole, careers in computer science require creativity and collaboration. These roles often balance teamwork with technical challenges such as identifying problems, designing solutions, and testing functionality. Rather than working alone, programming actually encourages a team-oriented approach with people working together across departments like design, marketing, and sales.

​But what kinds of careers can await kids with a passion for computer science? The opportunities are endless, encompassing everything from artificial intelligence and app development to cybersecurity and robotics. Here are a few ideas to get young programmers thinking about the future:

UI/UX Designer

UI/UX designers focus on user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) by designing the interface that a user interacts with in programs, like Spotify or Instagram. They have to consider how to make the design simple and intuitive and also unified with the company's branding. They use tools like Illustrator, Sketch, and Figma to create and collaborate on design mocks. It is incredibly helpful when a UI/UX designer understands how the interface would be implemented in code by a web developer, so they often have a good understanding of programming languages like HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

Data Scientist

Data scientists are charged with finding patterns and insights in business data to recognize trends, inform decision making, and predict future outcomes. Oftentimes, data science is linked to Machine Learning, which is used to model existing data and make predictions.
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Data science is relevant to many fields and industries. For example, Southwest Airlines has used sensor data to improve the daily operational safety of its aircrafts. The IRS recently uncovered $10 billion worth of tax fraud using advanced data analytics and detection algorithms. Many companies—like Target, Walmart, and even Etsy—use data scientists to better understand their customers.

Security Engineer

In today's world, we rely on the internet for everything from online shopping to playing games. With so much private information, like our credit card numbers and healthcare data, stored online, security engineers and security analysts are extremely important to protecting everyone's sensitive information. They protect computer networks and systems from security threats and attack. Thus, security engineers have many different responsibilities, such as installing preventative security protocols, monitoring for threats, and responding to potential attacks.

Software Engineer
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​In general, software engineers manage the design, development, maintenance, testing, and evaluation of software. They build software products, develop computer games, and run network control systems. Here is a sampling of the wide variety of work that happens in software development:

• At Microsoft, computer programmers built Seeing AI, an app to help people who are blind read printed text in their world from their smartphones.
• At Airbnb, developers built a knowledge graph to provide useful travel information about the cities users are visiting.
• At Instagram, engineers launched Type Mode, a way to post status updates to Instagram Stories with no photos or videos.

As you can imagine, all of these projects require collaboration with many people, many of whom may have a background in programming even if their titles are not software engineers. Some of these people may be in roles we've already mentioned, like UI/UX designers or data scientists. Building software is a complex team effort!

Help your child take the first step towards a rewarding and challenging computer science career with our coding classes. Fall registration is now open with virtual classes offered for every skill level. We can’t wait to see your child in class and help them on their coding journey.

A version of this article originally appeared on junilearning.com

Curious about our online summer camp experience? Now you can try out a bit of Camp Coding Space Online right here. While our camp ranges from three to six hours, this bite-sized video will provide a sense of the structure and range of activities our campers can look forward to in a complete session. In this special 30-minute demonstration, kids are invited to participate as we dive into a pixel art STEM activity, get coding with Scratch, and play a fun hands-on game with TCS teacher, Madison. Come code along and see what the buzz is about!