Today's technology driven world, it's a good idea to introduce students to basic programming skills which is why I was happy to review Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1) from Code For Teens. The field of software engineering is growing very rapidly with almost every industry being touched by a need to have JavaScript personnel or sources. What I liked about this book was the ease in which a teen or an adult could follow along with real practical experience and not have to have a parent standing over them. I was eager to try out the book myself as programming has been an interest with me from my early data management days within the pharma world.
The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1) from Code For Teens starts is written to appeal to the student with simple straightforward lessons to learn at their own speed on how to program. My only complaint was the the book itself. For me, a spiral bound book that would have allowed me to turn the pages and it would keep it's place would have been ideal. When programming, one has to be exact and one simple character misstep could ruin the entire code. I needed space to be able to put something heavy down on it to my left so I could accurately copy what was written. Aside from that, I feel it's a great starter book to invoke an interest starting from the 6th grade onward without requiring any parental/teacher assistance.
The illustrations are geared towards the elementary or middle school student and provides a nice break with words within the pages. There are multiple drills, quiz questions, key points and review sections to ensure the student is retaining what they learn and understanding it. I think the drills are critical for retention as well as understanding the basics behind coding.
Here is a screenshot of creating a Hangman gave at the end of the book my sixth grader was working on:
Overall, I think this is an excellent book in teaching coding. It's easy to follow, allows students to work independently and is taught in a way that makes it fun and engaging. The drills ensure the students are retaining what they learned as if anyone knows coding, the importance of exactness is a requirement. Once they start to learn code, it's really a lot of fun seeing what it can do. The other benefit it aside from the book, all one needs is a computer since they can write code via the existing browser. All my children enjoy video games and this is a great book in introducing the concepts required in moving forward with code. I don't hear often my youngest having excitement towards lessons but in the case of Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1) from Code for Teens, she was more than ready!
