Is Coding Right

For My Child?
Why every child should learn to code and
how it raises academic and career success.
 Content

The BUZZ Is Everywhere ................................................................................................... 3

Coding Improves Student Performance In All Subjects ............................................. 4

Coding Helps Kids See the Bigger Picture and Its Parts .......................................... 6

Coding Is a Safer Way to Take Risks .............................................................................. 7

Coding Is Art .......................................................................................................................... 8

8 Reasons CodeWizardsHQ Is the Best Way to Teach Coding ................................. 9

Coding Is a Team Sport ...................................................................................................... 10

Coding Is the Future ........................................................................................................... 11

(The World Needs Finishers) Coding Teaches

Work Ethic and Perseverance .......................................................................................... 12

From Consumers to Creators ........................................................................................... 12

Coding Builds a Global Perspective ............................................................................... 13

Assessment ........................................................................................................................... 14

2
 The BUZZ Is Everywhere

From celebrities and educators, people from every walk of life are touting the benefits of learning to code.
Coding boot camps are popping up all over the place, offering adults the promise of a career transition into a
lucrative field. A growing number of online code academies are offering self-guided courses.

Khan Academy is promoting its “Hour of Code,” and programs like Scratch are introducing the basic concepts
of coding to primary kids. What’s up with all the hype? Is it just about filling millions of jobs that economists fear
will go unfilled at some point in the future? What if my child doesn’t want to be a software engineer? Should she
still learn to code?

Learning to code is about more than filling jobs. Coding can be a lucrative career path, but it certainly isn’t a
career path that everyone should choose. Many children are passionate about other things, and every job in the
future isn’t going to feature side-by-side monitors displaying lines of JavaScript.

Like Steve Jobs said, coding teaches kids how to think. Learning to code teaches kids how to take a big-picture
problem, break it into smaller chunks, form a plan, execute the plan, learn from your mistakes, fix them, complete
the task, and have something to show for it. Problem solving and project management play a part in everyone’s
job and in everyone’s life in general!

Children’s brains are literally growing. They are rapidly developing new cells, new pathways, and new abilities
as children approach adulthood. Learning to code helps children’s brains develop pathways and neurons that
will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

Everybody in this country should learn how to program

computer, because it teaches you how to think.
― Steve Jobs

CodeWizardsHQ Guide 3
 Coding Improves Student
Performance in All Subjects

The principles and practices of coding help kids in Creating works of art, whether they be paintings,
every academic area. Some connections, for instance songs, or novels, still requires thought. The artist
math, are more obvious, but coding skills touch on takes on a project intent on creating something great.
every academic arena. Let’s start with the one most Greatness usually isn’t an accident. It takes planning,
people think of math. Math involves precise logic. If research, practice, and problem solving. The paint can’t
I add this number to this number, and then I divide be layered in any random order and produce the same
the sum by this number, I get this other number. result. Changes in the tempo of a song have an impact
Many aspects of coding are logic in its purest form. on the listener, and must be carefully considered.

The coder is telling the computer, “If I do this, I want Art is a project, and projects need processes that
you to do this and this. If the user clicks this button make them successful. Learning to code teaches kids
before filling in these boxes, then show him an error to learn the process and work the process to produce
message. If the user scrolls down on this page, shrink an outcome. What if you could produce a better looking
the navigation menu while keeping it pinned to the website with less code. Wouldn’t that be a thing
top as they scroll.” In some cases, coding involves of beauty?
actual math, but in most cases, coding is really just
Have you ever seen a coach’s whiteboard covered in
a series of “if-then” scenarios tied to certain actions
X’s and O’s? They mark the location of players.
and conditions.
Sports is another great example of logic. If the
Many of us remember PEMDAS, one of the most opponent does this, you do this. If you’re dribbling
popular ways to remember the order in which to solve the ball, and your player sets a pick for you, you should
a multi-step equation. Coding often behaves the same dribble in the direction of the pick, staying as close
way, prioritizing certain actions ahead of others, and to your own player as possible in order to break free
making sure that the correct order is maintained. of the defender.

So, coding obviously connects to math class, but what It’s logic a series of conditional if-then statements.
could it have to do with painting? Or athletics? Please When quarterbacks go to the NFL, they take an IQ test
don’t tell me that coding has something to do with called the Wonderlic. The test is designed to predict
football? Well… actually it does. Let’s start with art. how quickly and correctly quarterbacks will be able
Art is a creative endeavor, and we often think of artists to assess the different scenarios presented by the
as whimsical idealists, driven by emotion and an innate defense and make logical decisions accordingly.
sense of beauty and meaning. While these qualities are So yes teaching your little quarterback to code will
often present, art is more than putting a brush to paper. help him win games.

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 Coding Needs Teachers

Parents who choose to introduce their kids to coding Of the kids who begin online code academies, a large
have many options to choose from. number leave as soon as they encounter challenges
that they can’t overcome, and parents often don’t have
There are many self-guided code academies online,
the time or expertise to lend a hand. CodeWizardsHQ
leaving parents with a choice to make. Which platform
offers a teacherguided model in which pacing and
will offer my child the best experience and the highest
support are provided by real human coding instructors.
chance of success learning to code?
When your child encounters challenges, a real teacher
Self-guided online code academies offer a difficult is providing support and encouragement. Pacing is
environment for kids to succeed. Many kids begin the provided by a carefully planned curriculum designed
process, but few stick to it long enough to become for kids and administered by instructors.
proficient at coding. On-site coding camps are often
The CodeWizardsHQ model has proven successful with
focused on games and lack the differentiated focus
kids. CodeWizardsHQ students stick with the program
required for kids to really learn to code. Furthermore,
and have real websites to show for their time and effort.
they offer yet another location to cart kids to and from.
While online learning has dramatically increased access
CodeWizardsHQ was created to fill a void in the code
to content, the teacher-guided school model is still the
academy space. CodeWizardsHQ provides a teacher-
gold standard for educating children and teens.
led model where student can learn from the safety
and convenience of their own home or any location Children and teens are still developing their executive
they have access to a computer and internet. Coding function and problem solving skills, and having a
instructors work online with groups of kids to help them CodeWizardHQ teacher helping them stay on track
overcome difficulties and provide encouragement. make all the difference.

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 Coding Helps Kids See the
Bigger Picture and Its Parts

Learning to code teaches kids to work the details with

the big picture in mind. There’s an old saying that goes:
“He missed the forest for the trees.” The saying means
that we often get so focused on the details that we lose
site of the big idea or overall mission. People are often
divided into “big picture” people and “details oriented”
people, but assigning such traits to people can make
them think they’re fated to be one and not the other.
Highly successful people must be both.

As kids learn to code, they are developing the ability

"to see the big picture while focusing on the details.
The overall project is the “big picture” while the “details” Coding Myth Busters
are the small parts that must be executed "with precision
to make the vision a reality. It is critical that all children When it comes to coding, there are several
learn to see the big picture, because the big picture myths that even the most wellinformed people
gives the smaller tasks a purpose. Being able to form a believe is true. Here are the top 6 stereotypes,
high level vision empowers children to be mission driven that just aren't true.
and pursue the things that really matter to them. Myth 1: Coding is for Math People.
Mission driven people are happier, more successful, “Math and programming have a somewhat
and stand to make a lasting impact on the world and the misunderstood relationship. Many people think
people around them. Coding teaches kids to start with that you have to be good at math or make
a big-picture goal and align their tasks to complete that good grades in math class before you can
goal and produce something great that they can share even begin to learn programming. But how
with others. much math does a person need to know in
order to program? Not that much actually.”
But don’t forget about the details. Every big project is
made up of small parts. It’s okay to be enamoured by Myth 2: Coding is for Geniuses.
the forest, but kids still need to watch their step and “I’ve met a lot of people who believe that
navigate with a purpose. Learning to code teaches "kids “programming” is an abstract, scary piece
to work in the details to realize the goal. They must of dark magic some kind of inaccessible
complete small tasks in a linear fashion, and as they do, ability. I’m a firm believer and actual proof
the big picture takes form. The big picture offers vision that you don’t have to be a child genius or
and purpose, while the details enable "kids to execute mathematical wizard to learn how to code.”
on that purpose.

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 Coding Is a Safer Way To Take Risks
Taking risks is a tricky endeavor. On one side of the
coin, kids must take risks in order to learn, progress,
and accomplish goals. On the other side of the coin,
taking careless risks in dangerous environments can
quickly turn catastrophic. Running for student council is
a good risk. Sitting on the railing of a 4th floor balcony
not so much.

One of the conundrums of parenting is determining

which risks to allow and which to prevent. How can
parents teach their children to continue taking good
risks even when they don’t result in success? One
solution is to give them opportunities to try again. Coding Myth Busters
Coding is a safe, fun way to take risks. Coding is an Cont'd..
environment where kids can take chances, fail, correct,
and try again, without catastrophic consequences. Myth 3: Coding is for Engineers.
Empowering kids to take chances and work through You can’t avoid it, you may not be doing this
mistakes trains them for life. As a child learns to code, for a living, as a professional programmer, but
he also learns that an error isn’t the end. It can be this knowledge and this training of how to
corrected. The website can be unpublished, redone, explore on your own, makes you resourceful—
or improved. It’s okay to start with the wrong color that’s a skill you will need in any field.
scheme. It’s okay to embed a link that doesn’t work, as
long as you fix it. Myth 4: Coding is for Left Brained People.
Coding also teaches children to understand the value “Our brain hemispheres are inextricably
of getting it right the first time. As kids take chances connected. Both sides are co-dependent and
in this safe environment, they develop a sense of the each takes a part in most thought processes.”
effort and frustration of doing it over and over and over
to get it right. They naturally begin to realize that if Myth 5: Coding is a Lonely Job.
they’re careful and get details right the first time, they “I think it’s the reverse. There’s an enormous
can progress toward their ultimate vision faster and amount of negotiation required in software
with less frustration. engineering. If you don’t like working with
people, you are going to hate programming.”
While coding teaches that it’s okay to make mistakes,
it also teaches that it’s really frustrating and time- Myth 6: Coding is for Nerdy Boys.
consuming to keep making the same mistake. These
“I love art, I love coding, and now I get to make
two lessons can be applied to nearly every aspect of
movies,” said Feinberg, who earned her B.A. in
life, from careers to relationships.
computer science at Harvard.

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 Coding Is Art

Coding is a creative pursuit. The coder must consider Coding also teaches kids to solve problems creatively.
how they want their work to look, feel, and behave. It’s In the world of code, there’s more than one way to
not just about what it does. It’s also about how it’s done. accomplish a task. If it’s not working one way, try
Consider a website for a florist. If the website is simply another. Coding teaches kids to select the best tool for
a white page with black text that tells what the florist the job when there might not be a “right” tool. There
offers, where she’s located, and what hours she works, could be five different ways to do the exact same thing.
it probably won’t generate much business. The same Coders consider their personal preferences, their
site could carry the visitor through a visual experience strengths, and how everything fits together.
that tells the story of the problem that the florist solves.
Sometimes the way they choose to perform a task
When websites and applications are being designed, makes a future task more challenging. In that instance,
designers actually use the word “story” to help guide they must again think creatively about how to address
development. They work hard to consider what the the problem. “Should I change my code from yesterday
visitor’s ideal experience would be on a site, and they to make today’s work easier, or accept the difficulty of
carefully plan the site to create that experience. In a today’s work so that I can leave yesterday’s as it is?”
world where there are millions of websites, only the Coders are constantly asking themselves that question.
exceptional ones stand out. Coding isn’t a robotic task where there’s a right and
wrong way to do something.
Humans are natural storytellers, and coding helps them
tell stories and carry people through them. Dancers Coders are frequently choosing the best choice in
often tell stories with their movement. Writers tell the absence of a right choice. Part of the beauty of
stories as they morph words into images in the minds coding is that a brush stroke can always be deleted
of readers. Painters tell stories by selecting colors, or altered. The canvas can always evolve. The
brush strokes, settings, and subjects to convey emotion. product improves and the coder improves. They
Coders tell stories using visuals, words, and movement. make each other better.

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 8 Reasons CodeWizardsHQ Is
the Best Way to Teach Coding

1 Real Teachers: Our weekly classes are

5 Developmental Curriculum:
led by friendly and knowledgeable instructors. The cornerstone of our program is a developmental
Our teachers interact with students to help them curriculum. Students don’t just play games, they master
overcome challenges that would otherwise cause real skills taught by trained instructors. With input from
them to get frustrated and give up. Lack of teacher- educators and practitioners, we have designed our
support is the #1 reason online selfpaced courses program to be engaging to kids, while also allowing
have very low completion rates. Our teachers ensure them to learn programming concepts and coding skills
that students are working on new challenges every directly. Check out our full curriculum here.
week. Without teachers providing the right pacing,
kids spend a lot of time on the same level of difficulty,
which leads to boredom and quitting.
6 No Driving Required:

2
We didn’t want coding classes to be another
after school activity for you to taxi your kids to. Our
Consistent Schedule: CodeWizardsHQ
classes don’t require transportation as your child
classes occur at the same time each week, providing
will login from the safety and convenience of your
students with a consistent routine for learning to code.
own home. Your child can attend the class from
One of the biggest reasons students don’t stick with
your home or from anywhere they have access to a
self-guided coding websites is because they don’t
computer and internet.
have a schedule. When there is no scheduled time for
learning coding, families have to remember to make

7
time but quickly lose track due to busy schedules.

Resources, Community & Enrichment:

3 Structured Program: CodeWizardsHQ is a

comprehensive program that teaches kids how to
Our instructors add content, activities and contests
to complement regular classes. We have a thriving
online private community where students learn by
actually code. It’s not a one time camp or an isolated interacting with each other. Students can use these
online course. Our program starts with the basics and enrichment opportunities to explore topics beyond
progresses towards building complex websites, apps class content. We understand that kids learn by
and games. By the end of our program, students will doing. That is why we bring plenty of ideas and
have mastered a broad range of coding skills to bring inspiration on a regular basis for kids to apply what
their ideas to life. they have learned.

4 Real Coding: Right from day 1, your child

8 Resume-Building Projects:
will start with a real code editor. We designed the CodeWizardsHQ students are completing
code editor to have the power of the tools that projects with code that can be showcased when
professionals use while still making it accessible to applying for scholarships, grants, jobs, internships,
kids. Students will start with a basic website structure and schools. Having a portfolio of work has become
and add features and interactivity as they progress a real differentiator and makes a great impression
through the program. It’s not just a drag-and-drop in college applications. Please see our student
program to teach simple concepts. It’s real coding! showcase.

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 Coding Is a Team Sport

When you picture someone coding, you may envision a Coding teaches strong communication skills. As
person sitting in front of side-by-side monitors, alone in children learn to code, they must communicate their
a dark room at 3:30am. While there are certainly people needs to others in an effective way. They must also
out there who work in that environment, good coding communicate how they can help others to complete
takes collaboration. As stated before, coding is creative. tasks. In a collaborative environment, the best
There are many ways to accomplish a task and each one outcome is often created by the team that learned
can make things easier or more difficult in the future. to communicate most effectively, so that they could
leverage their strengths to produce something great.
Teams of coders rely on one another to avoid mistakes,
learn best practices, acquire new skills, and help each Coding teaches kids to ask for help. Asking for help is
other overcome barriers. Just like different types of one of the most important skills in life. In our culture,
people excel in different areas of business, different the act of asking for help is sometimes viewed as weak
types of people excel in different areas of coding. or even shameful. Independence can be overvalued,
Visual artists could be brilliant designers, but may fall making kids believe that if they can’t do it on their own,
short when it comes to connecting the website to the they shouldn’t even try. Coding teaches the opposite.
database where the information is stored. Database Coding teaches that if you can’t do it on your own, seek
architects might be able to write conditional statements help. When a child cannot figure out how to make the
in their sleep, but the user-experience of their website website behave the way she wants, she can master the
could be a disaster. problem by finding people and resources that empower
her to solve the problem.
As children learn to write code, they learn to specialize
and collaborate in order to produce the most Living a happy and successful life requires help, and
outstanding product possible. They become aware of the willingness to ask for it. The highest performing
the fact that the whole can be greater than the sum of students are often the ones who seek the most
its parts, and they learn to value their contribution to guidance from their teachers and collaborate the most
the whole. There are few things in school and in life with other students. Success is rarely earned solo, and
that don’t require interpersonal skills and teamwork. coding is a great way to learn that lesson.

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 Coding Is the Future
Coding empowers musicians to build platforms to share
their music. Coding empowers graphic designers to
display their works to the world. It enables therapists to
work with clients in other countries. It enables farmers to
do their own taxes while their tractor harvests their crops.

You may be thinking, “But don’t software engineers

build all of the things that do that?” That’s only partially
true. As the saying goes, “necessity is the mother
of invention.” The people best equipped to invent
something that solves a problem are usually the people
experiencing the problem. Learning to code empowers
kids to create solutions to their own problems
regardless of what field they are in.
In the future, coding skills won’t just apply to engineers,
and even today, coding skills empower every
occupation. At its core, coding is teaching a machine to
obey a human. What a fantastic thought! Do machines
help coffee shops keep track of their inventory? Do
machines help accountants spot losses? Do machines
help nurses administer medicine? Do machines help
shirt makers produce thousands of copies of the same
design? Imagine if a shirt company had to recreate
a shirt design for every shirt they printed. That shirt
company wouldn’t last long.

Computers are simply digital machines that can perform

more than one function. Code tells them what to do.
Even if your child will never write code that solves
You may have heard the old saying, “but we’ll always
problems, learning to code will allow them to
need garbage men!” sometimes proclaimed as a way
understand the automated world they live in. There is
to justify the false notion that every child doesn’t need
value to understanding your environment, even if you
a quality education.
didn’t create it. Understanding your environment allows
News flash! We won’t always need garbage men. Do you to interact with it in a confident way, and helps you
we still need oxen to pull plows? Do we still need to to adjust to changes that you encounter.
blast holes through mountains to carry people from
For people who know how coding works, the world of
east to west? Nope. We invented tractors. We invented
the future won’t be an intimidating place that no one
airplanes. And today… tractors are driving themselves
can understand. Instead, it will be an exciting place
using GPS, and commercial jets are flown by computers
where computers work for humans and free us to focus
except at landing and takeoff, and even that will soon
on the activities we value most.
be automated.

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 (The World Needs Finishers)
Coding Teaches Work Ethic
and Perseverance

Coding teaches kids to work hard to achieve a goal. complete these small tasks, there will be an outcome.
Learning to code presents challenges and struggles, Early in the process of learning to code, kids are
but it does so in a progressive fashion. Children start presented with smaller projects with fewer tasks and
out with simple tasks that are easy to comprehend and faster payoff. Completing these tasks helps them to
progress to more challenging tasks. As they acquire the develop perseverance in stages.
skills to produce great things, they are empowered to
As kids write code to conquer smaller challenges, they
set goals and envision things they want to create.
move on to larger and larger challenges. Without even
When kids set their mind on completing a project realizing it, your child develops into someone who can
that involves code, they are also taking on the series set a big goal and break it into smaller pieces, attacking
of small tasks and difficulties that will make up the the pieces in a logical order and putting them together,
project. Coding teaches them that if they work hard and eventually achieving his or her goal.

From Consumers to Creators

“Screen time” is a common phrase in many households. for other people to consume and interact with. As
Parents work to limit how much time their children consumers of digital content, kids are learning about
spend in front of a device. The majority of kids spend what others have created. They already have a strong
most of their screen time consuming. YouTube is eating knowledge-base in consumer content that will equip
up a massive piece of that consumption pie. While them to imagine the things they can create with code.
YouTube and other sites do offer valuable content and
Creating things with code offers a new appreciation for
learning, many of the best lessons are learned by doing.
the time and effort that goes into making all the content
Learning to code is an opportunity to create something they consume. They develop the ability to imagine the
during screen time. One of the aspects of coding that other side of that video or website, envisioning what the
excites kids is that with code, they can create things developer did to make the experience possible.

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 Coding Builds
a Global Perspective

Technology is connecting people from all parts of the Just as computers enable people all over the world to
world in new ways. This process isn’t new. In the past, interact, coding enables people to share their creations
ships connected continents. with the world. It would be extremely difficult and
expensive for your child to make 1000 paper books and
Later, telegraph machines enabled rapid communication
mail them to children on another continent. But what if
across long distances. What is new is the rate of
she published the book on her own website and posted
progress. Our connectivity is increasing at an alarming a link on worldwide social media platforms? That can
rate, but so is the democratization of access. literally be done for free!
When the “internet” was created, it was a way for With access to the world, kids also learn that they can
military computers to talk to each other across long solve global problems. Kids can create ways to inform
distances. Today, nearly anyone can have a face-to- others about issues they care about, build platforms that
face conversation with anyone else in the world at any help people, and facilitate a global sense of community.
moment.
Platforms enable people to connect with loved ones
Technology may not be universally available to across the world, send clean water where it’s most
everyone, but the idea that living in a connected world needed, and share ways to lower pollution and waste
is for the wealthy is nonsense. In fact, the United States in communities. Empowering kids to create things with
doesn’t even break into the top 10 in the world for code equips them to change the world before they even
smartphone market penetration. graduate from high school!

In fifteen years we’ll be teaching programming like reading

and writing… and wondering why we didn’t do it sooner.
Mark Zuckerberg

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 Assessment
Below is a quick an easy way for you to assess your child’s interest and readiness to learn to code. Record your
response for each item:

1. My child demonstrates interest in computers, apps, 6. My child would benefit from learning to think
and/or the internet. logically.

Yes No Yes No

2. My child is interested in the way things work. 7. My child enjoys sharing his or her work with others.

Yes No Yes No

3. My child likes to create new things. 8. My child is likely to pursue a career

that involves technology.
Yes No
Yes No

4. My child plans to attend a university

or other school of higher learning. 9. My child learns by doing.

Yes No Yes No

5. My child would benefit from improved project 10. My child needs to improve his or her ability to
management skills. complete tasks in an orderly fashion.

Yes No Yes No

If you answered “Yes” to 6 or more questions, then learning to code is likely a good fit for your child.
Click here for CodeWizardsHQ’s upcoming classes and schedule.

CodeWizardsHQ Guide 14
Prepare Your Child for Success
in the Digital World!

To learn more about our coding program,

visit www.codewizardshq.com