It’s the start of another New Year, a time when people traditionally make promises or resolutions to improve in some fundamental way. Many resolve to better their health by dieting or going to a gym. Some resolutions are more philosophical, as when people commit to being a better friend to those in their inner circle.
Kids don’t usually make such serious New Year’s resolutions since they face less pressure, as their life mostly revolves around fun, with a healthy dose of adulthood preparation thrown in. Learning how to code online delivers both things at once!
Please read on to see why enrolling in online coding classes is an excellent way for your child to start the New Year off with some new skills.
Teachers usually try to make education more engaging because, to put it lightly, the classroom material isn’t always something kids naturally gravitate to. This story changes when the course revolves around teaching kids how to design and program their own video games, ones they can play with their friends and family!
Even the youngest students at RP4K’s weekly online coding classes learn to build their own video games using programming languages employers expect those they hire to know. Some other schools use drag-and-drop programs, like Scratch, to demonstrate what coding is like. However, Scratch isn’t a coding language; it’s more of a tool to give students a sense of what coding is like.
RP4K classes also harness gamification dynamics, so students get just as addicted and engaged to learning as playing games. As kids progress through the coding languages, they get to build more sophisticated games, but video games are always at the heart of what we do at RP4K.
Looking down the road, the video game industry is enormous and growing, and many parents love knowing their child has the skills necessary to get a job in this exciting, lucrative industry. Even putting future professional matters aside, kids will have fun today learning how to code video games, which really matters most at RP4K.
In over two decades, we’ve found that the best coding instructors to teach kids to design and program video games also grew up playing them. When students and teachers share the childhood video game experience, that passion can’t trickle down any other way.
Practically speaking, kids and teenagers wondering where coding can take them after school will have the perfect people to probe when they get weekly face time with undergrads in computer science and computer engineering.
Students of any age struggle to learn in a busy and hectic environment. RP4K limits the number of total students to four to ensure there’s always a small class setting. This way, students don’t need to fight with each other to be heard or struggle to get their teacher’s attention.
Likewise, teachers can spend their energy on teaching instead of classroom management issues that arise when classrooms are too busy. We’re also proud to have no mandatory minimum, so parents know the class will run as scheduled, even if their child is the only student.
From the outside, it may seem like there’s one thing called “computer programming” that people either know or don’t know. However, each computer coding language is unique, and some are more in demand than others. RP4K is proud to teach the most vital coding languages, the very same ones used to drive the most popular video games, like Minecraft, or streaming platforms, like Netflix.
Here’s a list of the coding languages RP4K teaches:
When introducing coding to your children, we start with a real coding language at a fun, accessible level. As they advance, we expand and refine their skills within that language before moving to the next one. Throughout the process, kids become better at turning their imagination into a game they can play and show off to friends and family.
It doesn’t matter how much experience they bring to coding. Total beginners and experts alike get to learn fun, in-demand coding languages that keep them stimulated while obtaining new skill sets.
You may not get a surprising answer if you ask a child, “What would you rather do, play video games or learn math?” The fact is video games wouldn’t exist without math, and several crucial math concepts are embedded in our programming lessons.
When kids learn to code, they learn fundamental math concepts like integers, 3D vectors, and even trigonometry. Our “Math and Physics for Video Game Programmers” course for elite-level programmers is a truly advanced class written by our founder, Elliott Bay, a proud mathematician holding an M.Sc. (mathematics) degree.
At the entry level, every student beginning with Python also learns math concepts that provide a foundation to build on in later grades in school and as they progress in coding.
Finally, people may not categorize Python or JavaScript as a language the way they do Spanish or French, but they’re languages in their own right! Each coding language has its own rules and syntax, and when you learn a coding language, you’re exercising the same underlying muscle used to speak and write in conventional languages.
Learning coding also requires the same mental habits associated with engineering, like problem-solving and lateral thinking. Kids learn to be methodical while testing and evaluating potential solutions. Indirectly, children learn not to beat themselves up over mistakes or lose self-esteem. Instead, errors are an essential part of discovering the correct answer.
Between the language skills, engineering approach, and improved self-esteem, kids taking up programming learn much more than how to write lines of code.
To give your child all these new skills in 2024, don’t hesitate to contact RP4K. We’ll advise you about the most suitable class, and you can test the waters with a free trial lesson. In the meantime, we hope you have an excellent start to the New Year!
