Cracking a New Code

Thanks to our friends Jill and Quinn, we have a new way to spend Saturday afternoons. They told us about Start:Code in Atlanta, and now Spencer will be spending the next seven Saturdays learning new and exciting things about computer programming.  He will be learning to program games using Scratch.

Spencer has been struggling mightily with his Java based Minecraft coding tutorial he has been working on since his birthday.  It is very demanding, and even the slightest error causes major problems.  Although he seems determined to progress with this tutorial, I do know that he has been very frustrated, as have I.

When I looked at Start:Code's website and saw all the beginner level courses, I asked Spencer if he would be interested.  A year ago, he said "No", but this summer he said, "Yes, That sounds good."  I think maybe he realizes that computer programming is a bit more complicated than he first thought, and that it might be nice to have a guide.

To his delight, his new teacher, Scott, is very knowledgeable and friendly.  The teacher's assistant at Start:Code is a young man named Emmanuel.  Spencer thought that his name was "a manual" and giggled to himself the whole time at the thought of having a human helper who was "a manual."

During his hour and a half class this afternoon, he never spoke to anyone other than the teacher and the assistant; and he never glanced at me.  I could not tell if he was having a good time or not.  After he packed up and we walked out, he said, "That was GREAT!  It was so much easier than coding in Java; and did you see the game I made?"  

I had seen his work, and it looked like a good start to a Pac-man style game.  He was very pleased with himself, and continued to work on his new program after we arrived home, taking a break only for dinner and swimming.

Good day with Pencie.