Coding Track — Self-Paced (Semester)

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Format

Self-paced online course with guided lessons and auto-checked quizzes

Learners

Grades 3-8

Level

Beginner — no coding experience needed

Length

One semester of content; 1 year of access

Weekly time

About 2-3 hours per week for a typical semester pace

Prerequisites: None. This course assumes zero coding experience. Your child should be able to read on-screen instructions independently and use a keyboard and mouse. Younger students may want a parent nearby for the first lesson or two.

Pay by card, or check out with program funds in a live state (Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina, and New Hampshire). Save your state guide with the order for its records.

What your child will learn

1. 01

   Unit 1: Thinking Like a Programmer

   What code actually is, and how to break a problem into steps a computer can follow. Your child makes their first Scratch project in the first lesson.

   • What Is a Program, Really?
   • Your First Scratch Project: Make the Cat Dance
   • Sequences and Steps
   • Finding and Fixing Your First Bug

   Builds: Animated Greeting Card — a short interactive animation your child designs and shares

2. 02

   Unit 2: Loops, Events, and Interaction

   The building blocks of every game: repeating actions, reacting to clicks and key presses, and keeping score.

   • Loops: Doing Things Again and Again
   • Events: When the Player Clicks
   • Variables and Keeping Score
   • Making Things Move

   Builds: Catch Game — a playable catch-the-falling-objects arcade game with a score counter

3. 03

   Unit 3: Building a Real Game in Scratch

   Your child plans and builds a bigger project from scratch, using everything so far: conditionals, multiple sprites, levels, and win/lose states.

   • If This, Then That: Conditionals
   • Designing a Game Before You Build It
   • Multiple Sprites and Levels
   • Win Screens, Lose Screens, and Polish

   Builds: Maze Adventure Game — a multi-level maze game with enemies, a timer, and a win condition

4. 04

   Unit 4: Hello, Python

   The jump from blocks to typed code. Your child learns that the ideas are the same — only the writing changes — using a browser-based Python editor, nothing to install.

   • From Blocks to Text: Your First Python Program
   • Printing, Input, and Talking to the User
   • Variables and Math in Python
   • Strings: Working with Words

   Builds: Mad Libs Generator — a Python program that asks for words and builds a silly story

5. 05

   Unit 5: Python Logic and Loops

   Conditionals and loops in Python, plus how to read error messages without panicking. Every exercise is checked automatically with instant feedback.

   • If Statements in Python
   • While Loops and Counting
   • Reading Error Messages Like a Detective
   • Putting Logic Together

   Builds: Number-Guessing Game — a complete guess-the-number game with hints and a turn counter

6. 06

   Unit 6: Capstone Project

   Your child chooses a final project — a quiz game, a text adventure, or a calculator — plans it, builds it in Python, and adds it to their portfolio.

   • Picking and Planning Your Capstone
   • Building It Step by Step
   • Testing and Fixing
   • Finishing Touches and Sharing Your Portfolio

   Builds: Capstone: your child's own quiz game, text adventure, or calculator, built start to finish in Python