To The Rock Homeschool: Free Online Coding with Hour of Code

Once again our amazing library introduced us to another free online homeschooling resource! We signed up for an Hour of Code: Minecraft at our local library. My kids loved it so I asked the librarian when they would have another, and she said it is a FREE ONLINE RESOURCE!

Hour of Code is a resource that public schools use primarily during a Computer Science Education Week, but it is available for use to anyone all year long. As a homeschooler, I am thankful that we can have access to such a great curriculum right in our homes.

Free Online Coding for Kids: Hour of CodeTM

SAFETY NOTES: Anytime you are allowing a child or student to go online, please take basic safety precautions.

Passwords on EVERYTHING. Our computer, along with all Internet-capable devices, is password protected, and can only be used while me or my husband is in the house AND have given permission. Use a strong password your kids would never guess.
Safe Search Filters. Make sure all your search engines are changed to safe search filter, especially your phone.This is good protection for your own heart, as well as your children. You can find these by going into Google Settings.
The best Parental Control is Parental Presence. Do not allow children alone with internet capable technology.

HOUR OF CODE:COMPUTER LANGUAGES
My first post about coding for kids was teaching kids how to use Scratch, and according to the librarian Scratch is an HTML computer language. Hour of Code uses many computer languages, including Blocks, Python, Tynker, Javascript and more. The type of computer language is on the description of each activities.

I am thankful that they get a variety of introductions to differing coding languages. My sons are comfortable with Scratch, but had to do several beginner level activities for Javascript.

TEACHER RESOURCES

Every activity has a Teacher Resource page, including tips for kids, worksheets, lesson plans, and recommended ages for game.

The TEACH page also gives great timelines for different ages, and suggestions for which activities to begin with. If you have several children and would like to track their progress, you can sign up for a teacher portal.

HOW-TO PAGE & TUTORIALS

You do not a need a sign in for Hour of Code, but most of the follow-on courses require account creation to save student progress.

My sons watched a short How-To video with the librarian, and they were off! The How-To page provided plenty of tutorial for all ages.

ACTIVITIES
No matter what your child's age or interest, there is an activity for them. The website also divides activities by a few factors:

Ages/Grade (starting at Pre-Reader to Grade 9+)
Beginner or Comfortable levels of coding

Like I said before, my sons didn't know Javascript, so even though they are in 7th grade, they did grade 3 activities to familiarize themselves with the coding language.