It may be difficult to teach old dogs new tricks but parents can help expand the horizons of their excitable and interested young pups because Apple is offering computer programming classes on Dec. 10 for kids six years of age and up in its retail stores in cities all over the world. The best part is that it's free!
Apple partnered with Code.org on the "Hour of Code" project to teach young kids all about the basics of computer programming in one hour, which means the lesson will not be too advanced for them but it might be a little too basic for kids who already know a thing or two about programming.
Each retail store will have its own time slot for the lessons so you can choose the best time for you to bring your kids to the store and participate.
"Hour of Code" is only one of the activities Apple prepared in celebration of Computer Science Education Week, which is observed from Dec. 7-13. It has also organized a series of discussions led by developers and organizations that support computer education and have developed software and application for child learning.
In New York's SoHo Apple store, Hadi Partook, Chief Executive Officer of Code.org, will talk about the importance of computer science education. Grant Hosford of codeSpark will get both parents and children involved in the creation and coding of their own games in the San Francisco Apple Store. Lightbot's Danny Yaroslavski will give an introduction of the fundamentals of coding at the Lincoln Park Apple Store in Chicago. There are also other seminars held in Apple stores in Brussels, Sydney and Tokyo.
All you have to do to participate is register in the Apple website and keep note of the store and timeslot you choose.
At this time and age when kids are so exposed to digital media and computer programs, one of the best way to prevent their minds from getting dull is, really, expose them to the educational aspect of what they enjoy.
