“Is it a worthwhile use of my money, driving time and my child’s time?” is one criteria I used to evaluate activities for and with my children when they were younger. The EVComputing Trial Class answers this question and many others to help parents and child decide if the programming classes are suitable for the child and whether the child is ready for them.
The Trial Class has 1-3 students and their parents. After a brief introduction to gauge the students’ levels, we dive into programming and explore couple of small programs in Python or Java. Basic programming concepts like what is a program and what is a programming language are discussed. Additionally, we go over how the programs used variables, gathered input from the user and processed that input. At this point, believe it or not, the students are ready to continue adding more features to the programs independently. Meanwhile, parents observe the instruction and how their child responded to it.
While the students are extending their programs, the parents and I talk about the programming classes, the curriculum, the online portal, class choices, weekly homework, make-up for missed classes and the like. We also discuss what the parent and child are looking for in the long term and how the programming classes will complement the child’s school learning. For students in 8th grade or higher, I can optionally explain about the computer science courses offered in the child’s public or private school and about Advanced Placement (AP) courses related to computer science.
Towards the end of the Trial Class, I suggest to the child and parent which class or language and what level would be a good starting point for the child or whether it would be better to wait for a while. I encourage parent and child not to rush and decide about enrollment in the Trial Class itself. It works out better if they talk about it at home, check schedule conflicts, and see if they have follow-up questions that I can answer by email or phone.
I look forward to meeting your child and you, answering your questions and showing you all there is to explore in programming.
-Fatima Dash
Founder: EVComputing
