Learn JavaScript with Code for Teens {A Review}

When we were offered an opportunity to review Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1), my 12-year old son said, "I plan to use it to help me learn code so that I can make games and stuff."  

He was excited for Code for Teens to come in.

Unfortunately, my son's excitement waned once he began using Code for Teens, not so much because the book is not engaging nor well-written (It is!), but more because my son wants the mansion before its foundation is built - the glitz before the grunt work.  Learning JavaScript step-by-step with Code for Teens just has not provided enough dopamine for my neuro-diverse son, I guess, but, truly, I think this is more of personal issue, than a reflection on the book.  For honestly, Code for Teens is a wonderful resource!

What is Code for Teens?

Written by a homeschool couple that gets how many teens learn, Code for Teens provides an approachable and effective way for teens to dive into coding.  It is written in an informal style that does not condescend, but rather entertains and encourages.  

The 221-page, full-color paperback offers tools, tricks, and a friendly-format to help you self-pace through learning the foundation knowledge needed to understand JavaScript.  

Basic operations and functions, creating loops, and even creating a game become possible as Code for Teens takes you step by step - with humor, plenty of visual examples, and expert guidance - to help you develop coding skills. 

Quizzes, drills, review questions, and simple do-it-yourself projects test your developing knowledge and skills and help you retain what you're learning.  Better still, all this comes at a slow enough pace you to absorb what you are learning instead of buzzing through it and becoming overwhelmed.

A note to parents, an end-of-book glossary, and answers at the back of the book work to make Code for Teens even more user-friendly.  You simply open the book, read along and learn, practice what you are learning using Google Chrome, and then check your learning. Color coding on the edge of chapters and color coding within the book itself also make the book easy to use.  (Throughout the book, blue text in gray highlights is what the student enters and red text in gray highlights is what the computer responds with.)

My Son's Thoughts So Far

As a tween who has long said he dreams of working as a coder for a gaming company, I thought my son would devour Code for Teens and love making inroads towards the future he claims he seeks.  Instead, when the book came in, he was thrilled and dove in quickly.

However, then, he lost motivation and began complaining by chapter three that the material was pointless and that, "even though the guy (the author) is funny, he does not teach me important things (how to make visual games)."

Ugh!

Like I said at the beginning of this review, my son is simply at a build the castle in the clouds and forget its foundation stage of life.

That said, since, like all my reviews, this one is an honest one, I will share my son's thoughts - which are NOT necessarily what many teens would think.  (Trust me on this and click on over to the many glowing recommendations for Code for Teens that other Homeschool Review Crew families are sharing!) 

My son said:

I wanted Code for Teens, because I want to make video games and learn how to code. I was expecting the book to teach me how to make multiple games. Instead, it only teaches one game which is not that exciting. It is hangman.

The first chapter taught me how to find out averages using code. Of course, I could use a calculator for that, but now I can do it with code as long as I check things in the book. There are many details.

The second chapter helped me code a team picking thing. There was lots of math in it.  The author had humor in it.

The third chapter drove me nuts. It taught me how to write comments in code in case I want to change something later or trick the computer.  I don't see the point of that, because I could just write things down, and writing comments in the code won't affect the end product.  As I completed this chapter, I got tired of doing it. It was just doing the same things in different ways. I found it boring, except for one joke in the chapter.

Future chapters keep helping me learn to use Javascript, but they only excite me a little. I really want to use Java, not Javascript and I am not that interested in the projects in the book.

Despite this, I am glad I got this book, because it helped me a little.

At the end of the book, the author says he started with this book because he had a new approach to teaching Javascript and wanted to teach it even though it is harder than HTML and CSS.  I wish he had started with those, because they can create pictures and games are not fun without pictures. 

With my son's thoughts in mind, I would say if you have a "get to the good stuff fast" sort of kids, too, Code for Teens might not be the best fit for your child.  However, if you are a beginner coder who seeks a fun, approachable, and expertly crafted way to to build a foundation before reaching higher with other languages, then get this book!  It can help you go from "I know nothing about coding," to look at me learning the real, professional coding painlessly" in no time.

Then, with the hard stuff of the foundation made easy by Code for Teens, Volume 1, you can move onto later volumes that teach HTML and CSS.


Learn More

If you'd like to see if Code for Teens would be a good fit for you or your teen, check out a FREE sample!

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