Python for Kids

Working with faculty at Cornell University, UCode developed a curriculum to teach two related disciplines: 1) Computational Thinking and 2) Coding. Kids need to be able to do both to write good code.

 

This course teaches Python, a programming language that has become the standard in education. Python uses intuitive commands that follow the syntax of basic English composition and are easily recognizable by young learners. And Python is extensively used in the commercial world - Google and Facebook are built on Python, as well as most of the natural language processing libraries driving machine learning.

 

Computational Thinking consists of breaking down a complex problem into smaller, more manageable parts (known as decomposition); looking for similarities among and within problems (pattern recognition); focusing on the important information while ignoring irrelevant details (abstraction) and developing a step-by-step solution to the problem (algorithms). Computational Thinking enables kids to work out exactly what to tell the computer to do, while Coding instructs the computer how to do it.

 

To build these skills, kids solve real-world coding problems using a virtual robot. We call these problems "Challenges" - tasks that the virtual robot must complete. The initial Challenges are quite simple. For example, having a robot stop at a certain distance or travel a path that completes a square. However, the Challenges become increasingly difficult requiring development of more advanced Computational Thinking and Coding skills.

 

The curriculum is “student led”, meaning students work at their own pace supported by an instructor. Worksheets with additional exercises and a summary of each unit are made available at the completion of each unit.

 

Upon completion of Python For Kids, students are eligible to progress to Python Coding For Kids (2) where they begin to code using native Python.