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:
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).
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