Original by BayCodingClub
Welcome to our Bay Coding Club’s program-“BCC Parent Talk”. The purpose of this program is to regularly communicate with the parents of our young students, listen to their valuable advice, and talk about their interesting parenting stories.
The guest who shared the story with us today is Eric’s dad！
Like other “programming professional” parents of our children at BCC, Eric’s dad is also a software engineer. First of all, based on their knowledge, they are more aware of the importance of learning to program: “Most industries will be inseparable from artificial intelligence in the future .” Secondly, they pay more attention to building their kid’s scientific and technological thinking, and their kids get more familiar with programming related skills in their family’s environment.
But why should these parents enroll in their kids in our classes while they are well versed in programming? Wouldn’t it be enough to teach their kids at home? Today, Eric’s dad will share his experience with us.
About Eric’s dad:
Silicon Valley software development related work; Living in the California Bay Area
Living in the California Bay Area
His son is 8 and a half years old, studying several courses at BCC
Eric is a lovely 8 and a half years old boy. At the beginning of our chat, his Dad asked him to sit next to him. Dad would ask Eric to answer question if we talked about kid’s feeling about the course, . Eric was modest and polite. When we have a long conversation with his father, he asked his father in a low voice: “Dad, can I leave?” After asking us and getting permission, he was happy to play on the other side.
Eric said that he has taken Minecraft, Python, and Scratch related courses and likes them very much. One of his favorites is “Game Design with Scratch” by teacher Olivia (Yixing). “Because I like Olivia and the way she said in class what is very funny!” Eric’s dad is quite conscientious and very approachable, and he gets along very well with his son. It can be seen that he attaches a great deal of value to children’s education, and he also tries his best to care and think about them.
“My son likes to play Minecraft games”
Eric’s dad said that Eric had been very fond of playing Minecraft games, and he liked to play with his classmates and friends.
“Minecraft games are very popular in kids’ circle, and many children will play together. During the pandemic, children have to stay at home, cannot go to school, and cannot socialize with friends face to face. But they can enjoy talking with each other in Minecraft chat room!”
“Eric and his friends have arranged to play Minecraft for a while every day. One of his friends is from UK, and team up with him with adjusting their time difference!” Minecraft is one of the most popular sandbox games around the world, where children can use their imagination to create their own world.
On the one hand, this game is very suitable for cultivating children’s creativity, helping them to open their minds, sharing ideas with their friends which will improve their cooperation skills. It is very suitable for teenagers and children; on the other hand, Eric’s dad is also worried about that the game will affect eyesight and interfere with his study because he likes this game too much and spends a lot of time on it. So he enrolled in our BCC Minecraft related courses where the teacher will guide the kids to play, give “programming direction” learning ideas, and “control” their time of playing games. It makes children learn while playing.
“Technology related courses for kids are very popular in Silicon Valley.”
Eric’s dad gave a completely different answer from Lynn, our previous Parent Talk interviewee, when we asked him why he chose our “Technology and Programming” class which is only a specific interest class —-“This kind of interest class is no longer a specific market niche in Silicon Valley!” They have already taken programming classes in other educational institutions. They turned to us because Eric did not like the teacher’s traditional teaching method.
Maybe because we live in the Bay Area, where is full of elites (many of whom are software engineers) from all over the world, a lot of children here know about programming. They are curious when their parents work with coding at home, and they would ask what it was. In addition, there is a great chance for so many engineers to start programming tutoring classes, since engineer parents support children to learn programming from an early age. So it is not a minority in Silicon Valley. “Many children of our friends and colleagues are studying programming.”
Our BCC was also founded in Silicon Valley. We understand the needs very well, and it is our motivation. Even in other places than Silicon Valley, it will be a trend in the near future.
“I have taught kids programming, but he doesn’t listen to me patiently.”
Eric’s dad said that he tried to teach Eric programming at home before contacting educational institutions, but it was “not very successful.” The reasons he thought are as follows:
- A father is not a teacher who can provide more tutorial guidance. The kids may be accustomed to the role of a father rather than a teacher, so they have a low “sense of identities” in their parents’ teaching. “My kid resistant a little to my teaching. He thinks that why his dad teaches him like a teacher while his school teachers didn’t teach such things. He also thinks that it does not matter if he does not study well because dad may just teach him for fun.
- Dad didn’t know much about systematic teaching methods. The programming that adults do at work is quite complicated. I am not sure where to start my teaching. I think it is very simple, but he doesn’t seem to be very interested. “He loves to play Minecraft but I don’t familiar with it. However, the teachers know kids’ interests very well.”
- Dad is busy with work and has less time. Dad is usually very busy at work and does not have time to think systematically about how to teach his child step by step; the child is prone to impatience after listening for a while and wants to play something else.
- Like to study with other children of the same age. Children usually like to do things with other children of the same age since it is lonely if no one is around. If parents teach their children at home without any learning partner, the child is hardly absorbed; However, together with some partners, they can chat, compete, and learn from each other, then they will learn more vigorously.
Eric’s dad emphasized that a teacher with professional knowledge is necessary. Parents can not pass their profession or work on to their kids directly. They know how to program, but it does not mean that they have the ability to “teach children how to understand programming preliminarily”; To some extent, the kids are “easily convinced by teachers, haha!”
“Children like to take Chinese and programming lessons during the pandemic”
Eric’s dad also signed for the closure of many interest-oriented classes and tutoring classes which can only provide on-site form, due to the pandemic.
In the past few months, Eric has been willing to insist on Chinese and programming classes. First of all, in Chinese class, he can listen to some traditional Chinese stories, such as Journey to the West which is very interested in. Like many parents of ABC (Chinese children born in the United States) children, Eric’s dad attaches great importance to children’s learning of traditional Chinese culture. “Children should not abandon Chinese. They can take the essence of traditional culture from studying the language, and we will try our best to encourage them to keep learning it.”
Children likes programming lessons all the time. They can not only play Minecraft but also learn how to design programs. These courses are originally taught online, so they are not affected during the pandemic. “Eric’s current Scratch class is in level 4, the highest level.” Although he is at a young age, he can make continuous progress which gives him a sense of achievement.
“Children like young and energetic teachers and they like the way of teaching.”
Eric’s dad mentioned earlier that Eric had also taken programming courses in other tutoring institutions, but their teacher was teaching in the same way as he did. The teachers may be professional in software engineering but not very good at interacting with kids. The courses are a bit boring for them.
But Eric likes our teacher Olivia very much. Olivia (Yixing Shu) is a young female teacher from our team, and many children enjoy her programming lessons. ” Olivia is dedicated and energetic, and she has a lot of common languages with her students. She is also very patient. Instead of routine demonstrating the steps, she let the children get involved in the exploration of new facts first. The children love the way of getting along like friends. Her personal charm attracts children to look forward to ‘playing programming’ with her every week!”
Benefit from our teacher team repeatedly polished and pondered over our curriculum design, BCC knows that our goal is not asking kids to make “beyond age” and “mature” works, but attracting their attention at the beginning and make sure they love programming from their hearts. Teachers will help them to explore imagination, and then make it true. How a bunch of boring codes attract kids when it can not even be liked by adults. Therefore, it is very important to use games, cartoons, and stories in teaching. By these methods, teachers share their experience when they were in the same age with students.
Eric’s dad is right. A software engineer or a graduate student from Computer Science may not become an excellent “programming teacher”. As we know, teachers in universities also have different styles as “fun” or “sleepy when listening”. Teachers’ teaching ways and teaching philosophy are very important, especially for children and youths. BCC believes that we can better “unite” with kids and let them open their hearts to us only by understanding them well. We will continuously encourage them to explore and always be their guide when they need.
We know that not every child wants to be a software engineer when they grow up. We “play programming” with kids! We will help them to explore their endless imagination and to improve logical thinking. Kids will love programming and know how to solve problems cooperatively, rather than only “can write codes”. The courses for the new semester are open, let your kids join in!