Introduction to Computer Science - Launch in January 2014

The start of 2014 saw the launch of a 5 week course entitled "Introduction to Computer Science". This was a fantastic opportunity for children who love computers and gaming to extend their knowledge beyond 'playing passively' to 'learning creatively' in the medium. I'm sure that many parents out there will bemoan the former and will appreciate the latter, especially if their children are being productive with their time on the computers and learning new skill-sets along the way.

Given the overwhelming response, instead of having one Sunday afternoon session, was quickly expanded to one Saturday afternoon session and two Sunday sessions. Here is more information in addition to the details already on the poster:

• The course is run primarily in English. French and German speaking children are most welcome. There are some children in current sessions who speak Luxembourgish and German - technology is used to be able to communicate effectively :)
• There is a maximum of 8 children in each session 
• Each activity has different levels of difficulty based on the grasping power which is not always defined by age
• The children work individually and in groups
• The sessions constitute different activities including paper based ones
• You can get an idea of some activities below

Session 1 :

We saw inspiring videos by personalities such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckereberg on computer coding, talked about what computer science is, what a computer scientist does and learnt the 20/20/20 rule. Then we donned hats of a computer scientist and did a binary encoding activity followed by drag and drop programming online.

The children enjoyed the first session and did not want to stop! Here are some comments received via email from parents :


"xxxx and yyyy really enjoyed the class yesterday. We are not a technology-focused family, so everything you discussed amazed them.

They liked how you taught... by letting the kids explore rather than talking on and on. They look forward to next week."

"My son xxx came home after his session last Sunday full of enthusiasm and very eager to return the following weekend... you must be doing something right as he can get distracted very easily!"

"xxxx really enjoyed the session on Sunday . I gather he was very enthusiastic ! "

"my son xxxx liked it a lot. can he come back next sat?"

Looking forward to the next weekend!