Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
"Yes!" My son was empathic about his desire to try the Coding for Kids Annual Membership by Simply Coding when we were offered a chance to review it.
It Truly Is Simple to Set Up and Get Going With
As soon as I received an email with our Coding for Kids Annual Membership instructions in it, I quickly set up an account for my son, and - okay, I admit - did very little else with our membership.
Why?
Because I lean toward the technologically challenged and have also been ridiculously busy trying to balance homeschool, work, health situations, and more. Thus, since the program is so easy for my son to use on his own, I just left him to it.
And, let me tell you, that is something I appreciate about Simply Coding. It actually is simple!
It took very little time or thought for me to get things up and ready for my 14-year-old son to log on and has taken none of my time nor brain bandwith since for him to progress with it.
Since my son began his JavaScript Game Design course, he has had zero trouble navigating the platform and has been eagerly learning how to code games without any help from me.
Better still, when he's been visiting with friends, I have overheard him chatting about what he is learning and getting excited about the video game he is designing. I think I even heard him drafting an artistic friend to help him with artwork for his game ideas in the future. How awesome is that?!
My boy gets to work independently in a self-paced way at home gaining skills in an area he loves that I know little to nothing about, and he is so enthusiastic about his learning that he is sharing about it with his buds and planning forward for a self-directed communal project.
Independent learning. Communal excitement. No stress for Mom. Excitement for son. Simply Coding is a win here!
What My Son Has to Say about Simply Coding
Now, to be fair and honest with this review, I cannot possibly do all the writing.
For, as I already explained, I have done very little with our membership beyond set up my son's account, take a peak around the platform a couple times, and smile over my son's enthusiastic, self-paced learning.
So, I am going to hand this review over to him for a bit:
The second my mom told me about Simply Coding, I knew I wanted it. I have tried to finish other coding courses before, but one of the things that I always struggled with was the fact that they had you doing boring projects as lessons.
This is not the case with Simply Coding. There is no more making calculators or lists of names like I had to do with other courses. Simply Coding teaches you to coding in more interesting ways - modding, game creation, and web design. It can also teach you basic computer skill, digital videography and photography, and other technological skills.
The lessons are quick, easy-to-follow, and offer both text and video options. Most of the lesson sections that I have tried have consisted of three parts: the learning part, the testing, and the activity.
The learning part delivers straightforward simple text and images to give you bite-sized information that is easy to process. The testing builds upon your learning and allows you to play around a bit on the browser to test you're learning about. Then, the activity walks you through putting a new bit of code into your project.
During the activity, you know what the outcome should be, but you do not have the code shown to you. (You can open it, however, if you really need it.) This challenges you to remember the code and apply your learning.
I would highly recommend Simply Coding to anybody who wants to learn technological skills, since I have found it to be superior to other coding resources I have used so far.
Sometimes my mother has been frustrated because I say I want to learn more computer skills, she gets me books and online courses, but I don't continue with them after initial excitement wears off and the tedium of the exercises and projects begins. This hasn't happened with Simply Coding, and I do not think it will, because I can feel my progress with each section of lesson I complete and do not have to waste time on useless projects or long teaching videos. I can just get to it!
I plan to complete as much of the Java Game Design courses as I can before our membership ends and also want to try the GIMP course, webpage courses, and more.
The only problem I have had so far is that I have other coursework and commitments, so my mom has to restrict how long I spend on Simply Coding. I would honestly spend my entire lesson day on it if she would let me. Of course, then I might fail high school, but I would have insane coding skills!
What Makes Simply Coding Different
Obviously, both my son and I appreciate our Coding for Kids Annual Membership, and I think other families with students that have graduated beyond elementary-level coding sites that have you dragging and dropping codes and images until an expected result happens will be pleased, too.For Simply Coding is designed to offer both simplicity in self-paced learning for students age 11 and up who wish to learn real coding and rigor yet ease with doing so.
With Simply Coding, engaging activities, understandable explanations, useful video tutorials, and live instructors all work together to ensure that students have a positive experience learning to code.
And, yes, you have read correctly - I did say live instructors and mentors!
Simply Coding offers access to both video instructors that walk students through projects with pre-recorded instructions and live support at specific times of the day and week.
Live coding instructors and mentors are available to help students move past roadblocks that Mom or Dad might not be able - or just might not have the time - to help with.
To me, that is a huge boon that makes Simply Coding unique.
For not only is Simply Coding self-paced and available 24/7, like many online course options are these days, but it is not a product that leaves a student in a learning lurch. There is an option for live instruction and mentoring which can help fill in gaps in self-paced learning. That means students who get stuck when following pre-recorded video and text instruction don't stall out too long with coursework. Even if Mom or Dad are busy (or clueless about coding in my case!), help is available.
If Your Child Wants to Learn to Code, Try Simply Coding for Free
Now, I admit, I am not always thrilled with my son's sometimes overuse of screentime and am, therefore, not one to typically enthuse about him having yet more reasons to sit in front of a computer.
However, I do not mind when he does so with Simply Coding.
For, it's a fact: in today's world, coding is a valuable skill. My son happens to have a distinct interest in all things online. Simply Coding feeds his interest with well-designed, trustworthy coursework that delivers easy-to-succeed with independent learning and excitement about skills that my son will likely use far into his future.
Such online interactive curriculum that teaches my son how to code computer games, websites, and apps - all things I cannot do nor teach him about - pleases both my son and me.
If you have a child that wishes to learn to code and also have a PC computer or laptop with Windows or Mac that has 2 GD RAM and 10 GB Free Hard Drive Space (as opposed to an iPad, Tablet, Cell Phone, or Chrome Book), then I encourage you to try Simply Coding.
An annual membership (which is currently 33% off for a single student and 20% off for a family membership with up to three accounts) will give you unlimited access to a full pathway of homeschool computer coding courses at beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. And, you can try before you buy since Simply Coding offers a 10-day free trial.
Over 300 hours of simple-to-use homeschool coding curriculum await. Enjoy!
Learn More
Over 60 Homeschool Review Crew families tried different courses with Simply Coding. Click through to find links to all our video, blog, and social media reviews!
