My Black Girls Code!!

We hired a Mandarin speaking tutor to teach our girls code. Today was their first day and it was an incredible experience. The girls were giggling, engaged and really enjoyed the curriculum offered by code.org. The tutor also seemed to really enjoy the girls’ enthusiasm. She even stayed over her time to help my little one with her final project.

Some people ask – “What’s code?”

Last month I posted about the youngest person ever to develop code. Reading about young Zora Ball re-energized me around the importance of STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Math) activities for my children. In my push to encourage more Black families to aggressively pursue a STEM filled summer I became aware of several obstacles for my family – cost, expense and price. I found a robotics class and IDTech Camps that started at $839/week. Even when I thought that maybe I could justify the expense I had to remember that I have two children. Plus there was the added concern of paying so much for them to learn robotics or programming one week during the summer without any follow up until I tried it again next summer. That seemed absurd.

I went on line and remained committed on finding the RIGHT STEM program for my girls. There are a ton of resources out there with after school, weekend and summer programs. The bulk of the programs are geared towards middle and high school students. Some programs provide free or low-cost services to low-income families and some week long summer programs cost approximately $850/week. I decided that I definitely needed to think outside the box.

Stepping out of the box I first noticed that while there are very few classes and workshops for kids as young as my daughters there are a lot of great software programs out there designed to get kids as young as 5 years old interested in code. With everything on my plate right now I know that teaching my kids code is NOT a task that I am up for. So I decided to hire a tutor. Then it just seemed to make sense that I search for a Mandarin speaking tutor. My children have never learned code so if they start in Mandarin their ability to code will progress right along with their Mandarin language learning.

I decided that this might be a great opportunity to link with a Mandarin tutor. I searched Instaedu.org for a tutor and found eight possible matches for Mandarin speaking tutors majoring in computer science. I selected a Mandarin speaking tutor that is pre-med because the beginning software available on code.org is so simple it practically runs itself and she was just more engaged and excited about spending time with my children than the other available tutors.

This morning they had their first lesson.

My youngest daughter is less likely to maintain a non-school-led conversation in Chinese. But after watching her sister she seemed to understand right away – code is a Mandarin activity. She laughed and coded in Mandarin while making “explosion” sounds when her bird hit the dynamite. Even I had to giggle watching her (as I folded four loads of laundry).

I was surprised how much they enjoyed it! Our instructor will meet the girls at our home Sunday mornings before church (giving me time to clean up around the house and prepare to get out the door). It’s a great way to spread the cost of $850 over an extended period of time so that my girls are actually able to enjoy and process what they are learning. This is a very exciting adventure for us!