Code for Teens a Homeschool Crew Review

I’m really excited to share with you our latest review from Code for Teens and their Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1).

Back in April at the TPA convention in Wichita, KS my son who joined me at the convention so he could help out with some of his curriculum. During the convention he came to me and said, “MOM, you have to come and see this book!” He went on to inform me that they are really busy talking to other parents. He told me, “I really want this book it’s amazing and you should tell them about reviewing with the Crew because, it’s really good.” After all this I still had no idea what kind of book it was. All I knew was that he was really excited about it. For him to mention the Crew review it was strange indeed, my first thought was that it must be way out of our budget. He dragged me over there and I was excited to see him be so enthusiastic about whatever it was. I should have known it had something to do with coding. After looking at it and talking to Christine Moritz (just in case you’re wondering my son reminded me again about the Crew in a whisper!) The best part was that the book wasn’t expensive! I (my son was really excited) was delighted to know that they already had information on the Homeschool Review Crew. My son was happy that I he walked away with the book in hand.

The book is written by Jeremy Moritz and illustrated by his talented wife Christine Moritz. Jeremy Moritz is a software engineer, a homeschool dad, and has been teaching teens in throughout the years.

Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1) is for teens to learn how to code by themselves. They are learning Javascript in this first volume. As a parent you don’t need to know any coding at all. Thank goodness or all would be lost if it was up to me to teach him how to code. My son is familiar with coding already and has been doing it for a while. He is all for a refresher course as he was self-taught with many of the concepts. He knows some Javascript and felt that this would fill in the gaps and he would learn some previous concepts he didn’t know from a pro.

This is a softbound book with 219 pages and 10 chapters. The pages are glossy and on a heavy weight paper to last countless flipping back and forth. The book is fully illustrated and appropriate for the intended teen. The illustrations and the writing style are fun and humorous. I know my son liked that it didn’t feel so serious and yet at the same time is teaching a solid foundation in coding.

Chapter 1: Hello World!

Chapter 2: Time to Operate

Chapter 3: Comment on the String Section

Chapter 4: Have Some Functions

Chapter 5: Shall I Compare?

Chapter 6: Logically Operational

Chapter 7: Projects Galore

Chapter 8: Hip Hip Array!

Chapter 9: Loop a Round

Chapter 10: Make a Hangman Game

Also in the back is a Conclussion that talks about the next installment for Volume 2 which will cover HTML and CSS and he goes on to explain why he choose to do and untraditional approach of teaching Javascript first rather than HTML and CSS like most courses.

Then there is an Answer Key which breaks down each exercise, review, and quizzes. Honestly, it’s all a foreign language to me! I’ve heard my son use the terminology but, I just listen while not getting it at the same time look! This book encourages you to look at the Answer Key if you need help.

The last portion of the book is the Glossary. A nice addition to go back to if you forget what something is. My son read the glossary first!

You will need a computer with Google Chrome as a browser. A smartphone or tablet is not going to work with this. It is set up for learning code for both Windows and Mac. It tells you which keys to use on both operating systems throughout the book.

After I read the introduction and looked over the book I was satisfied that my son was going to learn a lot. It builds the concepts with each lesson. You get step by step instructions in layman’s terms but, at the same time you are learning all the technical terminology. Some of the words are in bold which means they are in the glossary as they are important words you need to know. In the first chapter there are several pictures showing you the console to make sure you start out without any problems.

Each chapter starts out explaining the concepts being taught. Next are the exercises that you will read and then apply the exercise with the coding. You get feedback from everything you are doing as it’s an interactive book. The reading portions are smaller and it alternates back and forth with several exercises.

The code portion is in a in a blue text with a grey highlight and it gives you all the coding formulas you need to complete your task. Some of it your adding your own information into it. Basically it tells you to hit ENTER, what you need to type in and where. It explains what you should expect to happen.

In Chapter 1 I learned why some of the text in blue, red, and black. That clarified some things for me when I look at the backside of my blog when I’m trying to figure something out! I took something away from just the first several pages. My son just grinned at me when I told him what I learned!

Each chapter teaches a new concept and builds upon itself in a steady pace. There are drills and Aggregate Reviews, lots of practice coding opportunities.   Each chapter concludes with a Do-it –Yourself exercise which my son created projects like: Average Age of Your Family, Four Square, Your Personal Bio, Town Lottery, and other projects.

My son liked that it used the computer coding language rather than sugar coat it with kid friendly terminology.  He also appreciated the Key Concepts at the end of the chapters. He said he made him double check everything to make sure he understood those Key Concepts before moving ahead to the next chapter. My son is really serious with coding and wants to possibly go into this line of work someday.

The author recommends that the student creates a Google Doc workbook to keep track of their work.

My son told me something that he liked in the first chapter. He liked how it had a section dedicated to making errors within the Javascript syntax.  He felt that’s a good way to let someone make an error while coding so you can see the messages so you’re not confused by it later. He said, “That this would have saved him a lot of time if he would have started off coding with this book.” The error messages use to frustrate him when he was teaching himself. He actually has a lot to say about this book and all of it has been good.

We have had unbearable heat here in Kansas and no one in my family wants to play outside. My son has been busy learning Javascript at his own pace and has completed several chapters already rather quickly. I hope to see Volume 2 soon and other books to follow. 

My son states, “I think this book is amazing and the authors personality is great.” I hope he’s at the convention again next year because, I want to meet him also and to shake his hand.”  It’s very easy to follow and I think even my mom could learn how to code if she’d just sit down long enough to work through it.” Yes, he really said that! He went on to say. “I learned a lot and by the end of the book I may go over it again if the next book isn’t out when I’m done.”

I would say that Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1) is a winner in my house. If I had one complaint I think this book would be better in a spiral format to lay out flat. My son disagrees with me as he likes how it is already.  

 Social Media:

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CodeForTeens/

Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew have had teens learning how to code with Code for Teens. Stop by and see what they think about Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1).