The June summer holidays are almost upon us! Do you need some ideas as to where you can use those SingaporeDiscovers vouchers (expiring in June)? Why not take a learning journey as a family? Or have your kids pick up a new skill this holiday? May you have a great month!

Earth Alive at Science Centre

Have you seen the Science Centre’s newest exhibition that opened in January this year? Earth Alive walks your children through the geographic processes that move and shake our world. We all know that the Earth is ever-changing, but do your children know why volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis happen? Through compelling visual displays and interactive elements like an Augmented Reality sandbox, your children can ‘shape’ and visualise their impact on the environment. Perfect for an educational weekend trip!

Details:
Location: Science Centre, Hall B
Recommended duration: 1 hour
Price: From $2
*Can use SingaporeDiscovers vouchers
To find out more, click here.

You can also check out The Secret Chem Lab Science Show, which exclusively showcases the Science Centre’s top-secret chemistry lab. Bring the family to catch science experiments and chemical reactions, all happening at the Science Centre, for $5! This exclusive show will go on until 23 May 2021, so grab your tickets here.


The Sea Show by Eyeyah

Commissioned by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, The Sea Show is designed by Eyeyah, an artsy educational platform. The multi-media exhibition provides a treat for the eyes and our mind – mummies and daddies included! Celebrate the wonders of the sea and learn about its threats with the work of artists from 13 countries, including our very own Pathlight School. Appreciate the aesthetics? Complete the activity book and you can take a piece of the illustrated exhibition home in the form of an Eyeyah magazine (worth $10). That’s another way to keep the kiddos occupied.

Details:
Date: Till 13 July 2021
Price: Free
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sundays from 9am-6pm
Location: Singapore Maritime Gallery
To find out more, click here.

Not sure what to expect? Get an idea of how artsy and creative Eyeyah can be when you visit their interactive website here.


Summer Holiday Coding Camps

Our yearly Summer Holiday Coding Camps return with 40 exciting courses to choose from for ages 4 to 18! Are you looking to pick up a new skill this summer? Fret not, we have you covered!

Explore our offerings, from coding adventures with screen-free toys (ages 4-6) to learning drag-and-drop programming (ages 7-9), app creation (ages 10-12) to solidifying your Python foundation (ages 10-12, 13-18). Enhance your child’s problem-solving and critical thinking skills with coding this summer holiday! With classes led by experienced and passionate tutors, your child might just be the next future leader in technology.

2021 - June Summer Holiday Coding Camps Banner

Details:
Date: 31 May to Mid August
Location: Online, Parkway Parade, Bukit Timah (KAP Mall)
Price: From $375.25
To find out more, click here.

If you haven’t seen our previous techtivity recommendations, check out our April #TechtivitiesOfTheMonth, which includes more cool tech-related attractions that you can visit (plus an exclusive 10% OFF for a #MadeInSG STEM comic activity book from Piqolo Kids)!


Best-in-class Curriculum for Coding

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My journey at Coding Lab first began about 3 years ago, back in 2018. Fast forward to today, where I’m now teaching the Scratch, App Inventor and Python curricula and occasionally writing blogs in between. I was also given the opportunity to be the Head of Marketing for Tiny Thinkers, Coding Lab’s social initiative for children aged 4-7, where we reached out to thousands of children regardless of their socioeconomic status.

Lakshmi - Nurturing Future Leaders in Technology
Nurturing Future Leaders in Technology

I was just a Year One Business student at the National University of Singapore (NUS), with an interest in technology and community service, when I chanced on the opportunity to teach for the summer holidays. I’m now a proud summer intern of 2018 who returned in 2019, then again in 2020 as part of my NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) Programme internship.

With my background at NUS Business School, I was offered a dual-track programme at Coding Lab where my job scope involved both marketing and teaching. The variety in my job scope allowed me to challenge myself and hone my creativity while making a difference.

With each internship, I learned new lessons every time. Here are the 3 main lessons that I learnt:

1. There is strength in vulnerability

When I first scored my internship at Coding Lab, I wanted to grasp the opportunity to learn as much as possible! I started off with my tutor training – first with the founder, Yong Ning, then with the Lead Educator Lynn Kiew – where I learned some of the curriculum and tips to teach effectively.

Join Us photo - Adjunct Educators
Students from my very first Python class

My Data Analytics background gave me a strong technical grounding, but I had some doubts about my ability to teach in class. Coding Lab’s comprehensive training, which included small group sessions, learning assessments and role-playing, gave me first-hand experience on how it felt like to be a student too! My mentor, Lynn, also reached out to me to shadow classes and coached me on classroom management so I easily got the hang of it. Whilst I enjoy challenging the faster students, I always make it a point to approach a shy student who seems to be struggling so that I am able to extend a helping hand!

Nevertheless, every week is a new experience with different students. I learnt the most while I was on the job, when I had to think on my feet to adapt and to embrace new ways of teaching. Whenever I was stumped, I would turn to my mentors and fellow interns for advice. I’m so glad that they were always there to listen to me and offer their advice. I slowly learnt that vulnerability is not a sign of weakness, and there is nothing wrong with saying that I need help!

2. Communication is key

As a full-time intern by day and a student by night, it was essential that I kept the team in the loop on my timetable and deadlines. It was not easy to juggle my commitments, but I’m glad that I pulled through it and I’m thankful that everyone at Coding Lab helped me to work around it! This was only possible with effective communication.

Interns Lakshmi and Kelvin
A taste-testing session with Kelvin, another intern! (Note: this picture was taken as snacks were being eaten, masks were worn otherwise)

I also learnt the hard way that it is better to clarify my doubts than to let it snowball over time. As an intern involved in both teaching and marketing, I was in constant communication with different mentors. Be it teaching my first App Inventor class or tackling the next blog, I made it a point to ask for feedback from my mentors beforehand, which helped me be fully prepared before class started and also to keep track of my progress.

Building and nurturing relationships with my mentors and fellow colleagues are extremely vital. It allowed me to experience the company culture and made my internship more enjoyable. Moreover, it is fun to get to know my colleagues beyond meetings and projects. I would personally like to thank Yong Ning, Candice, Lynn, Cheryl and the Coding Lab team for helping me through the finals season and my internship!

3. Be yourself!

In my opinion, every experience has a purpose whenever we look back on them. It may not be obvious right now, but remember to not compare your internship with that of your friends. You were chosen for your internship for a reason! Bring your own unique style to your work, and put your best foot forward.

After much trial and error, I now like to personalise my teaching style to fit what my students love (most recently, that has been the game Among Us). It’s especially rewarding and I love it when my students from the entry-level courses pop up in my advanced courses, excitedly greeting me in the first class!

Lakshmi in KAP Room 4 (Van Rossum) with a Thank You card from her student
A Thank You card from my students!

I’ve also learnt that edutech (education technology) is a sector that greatly interests me. Given the recent shift to a digitised economy and the potential impact we can make in the future, I hope to be more involved in this sector as an entrepreneur in the future.

I greatly enjoyed my internships with the team at Coding Lab – and you’ll still see me around in some Saturday classes. I truly love coming back during the holidays to make my impact on and to nurture future leaders in technology from different walks of life. Here’s to more meaningful learning experiences both in and out of the classroom! 🙂

Interested to join the Coding Lab team? Click here to find out more!

(Written by Lakshmi Suresh)


Best-in-class Curriculum for Coding

We are honoured to be the winner of multiple awards.
Thank You for your support.

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Ages 5-6 | Ages 7-9 | Ages 10-12 | Ages 13-18

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Little Steps Asia Feature: Mompreneurs Who Rock Singapore – Influencers In The City

Parenting can be hectic, especially when you have to juggle work too. But can you imagine running your own business on top of that? Our very own Director, Candice Wang, was featured in Mompreneurs Who Rock Singapore – Influencers In The City, an article by Little Steps Asia. It is a parenting blog with a readership of over 1 million parents across Asia!

Want to know how Candice stays on top of her busy schedule? Or how she keeps her children engaged with STEM? Head over to the article to find out about Candice and perhaps get some tips too!

“We saw the importance of automation and applying coding to make processes efficient and decided that we needed to take the step to help our kids and other kids benefit.”

– Candice Wang, Director, Coding Lab

Screenshot of Little Steps Asia 2021 - Mompreneurs Who Rock Singapore Feature
A snippet of the Little Steps Asia article “Mompreneurs Who Rock Singapore Feature”

Read the full article here!


Best-in-class Curriculum for Coding

We are honoured to be the winner of multiple awards.
Thank You for your support.

Hop on board the Coding Lab train! Click here to get our monthly newsletters straight to your inbox.

Ages 5-6 | Ages 7-9 | Ages 10-12 | Ages 13-18

Call us at +65 6977 9641
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In this year’s prestigious 24th National Olympiad in Informatics (NOI), we’re proud to announce that our students have attained 2 Silver and 1 Bronze! We celebrate the achievements of our dear students as the NOI is one of Computing’s biggest annual competitions in Singapore. Well done to Vayun, Yu Shen and David!

Coding Lab Achievement Photo - 24th NOI Medals 2021

Presenting to you Coding Lab’s 24th NOI medallists:

Vayun Mathur, 16 Two-Time Silver Medallist
Goh Yu Shen, 16 Silver Medallist
David Walton, 16 Three-Time Bronze Medallist

NOI spots are reserved for every school’s top students to participate, so only few can represent their school, and only the best can attain medals in the Olympiad. The Coding Lab team is so proud of our young coders, Vayun and Yu Shen, for bagging 2 Silver Medals this year!

You might have heard of Vayun, one of our outstanding students, who was featured on Google and international news network CGTN before. He has performed well once again and we congratulate Vayun on clinching the Silver Medal yet again!

Read: Coding Lab CGTN feature

Congratulations to our outstanding students! We also thank Coach Guangxuan for his dedication, training and guidance of our students.

Whilst we celebrate our students’ success in this arena, we recognise that competitive programming is merely a subset of the full scope of programming. Many of our students have achieved success in wider aspects; whether it’s creating a Stock Rating Algorithm, a Real-Time Carpark Tracker, a prize-winning app or attaining an overseas scholarship to read Computer Science at University, we’re here to support our students every step of the way.

Interested to find out more? Check out the Python Programming and Elective courses we offer for Secondary school and Junior College students.

Read: National Olympiad in Informatics 2020

(Written by Cheryl Tang)


Best-in-class Curriculum for Coding

We are honoured to be the winner of multiple awards.
Thank You for your support.

Hop on board the Coding Lab train! Click here to get our monthly newsletters straight to your inbox.

Ages 5-6 | Ages 7-9 | Ages 10-12 | Ages 13-18

Call us at +65 6977 9641
Email us at [email protected]
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Identified as one of Singapore’s key industry leaders in technology and supporting the country’s efforts towards building an inclusive Smart Nation, Coding Lab is honoured to be a corporate partner of Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Smart Nation & U. Here are the highlights of the events:

Smart Nation & U Launch

In the recent Smart Nation & U launch on 11 March 2021, our founder was one of the 30 participants invited to the event. The launch speech by Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat, highlighted how Singaporeans can reclaim their lives with digital technologies and emerge stronger from COVID-19 challenges.

Smart Nation and U - Heng Swee Keat
Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat, delivering the launch speech

Singapore is a small nation. If we remain nimble and work together as one people and one economy, we can achieve our vision to be a Smart Nation. This will improve our lives, and build an enduring advantage that will enable us to emerge stronger from this crisis. 

– Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies and Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat

After DPM Heng Swee Keat’s speech, our founder got to tour the Smart Nation CityScape exhibition with the creator of the exhibition. It includes 7 major interactive exhibits and illustrates what it means to be a Smart Nation.

Our founder got to view the Smart Nation CityScape exhibition, and one of its main interactive exhibits “Empowering Communities”, which uses augmented reality to showcase how tech initiatives help the lives of Singaporeans
Our founder got to view the Smart Nation CityScape exhibition, and one of its main interactive exhibits “Empowering Communities”, which uses augmented reality to showcase how tech initiatives help the lives of Singaporeans

Amongst many things, these interesting things intrigued our founder:
1) Sending hugs to your favourite tree virtually (here)
2) The brilliant use of augmented reality (AR) technology to understand how the different initiatives have been implemented across different regions in Singapore
3) A game, where you could design your very own avatar, who would then partake in the plethora of activities fueled by Smart Nation initiatives!

The Smart Nation CityScape exhibition is now a permanent and physical exhibition at URA City Gallery, which you can visit for free. It is open from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm. Find out more here.

Read about Coding Lab at Smart Nation & U in 2019 here.

IMDA Partners’ Appreciation Event

We are also thrilled to be part of the IMDA Partners’ Appreciation Event graced by President Halimah Yacob and Minister for Communications and Information, Mr S Iswaran on 30 March 2021. In his speech, he emphasised the importance of digital inclusivity and how successful achievements have been made – thanks to community efforts.

Mr S Iswaran - IMDA Partners Appreciation Ceremony
Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Communications and Information, delivering his speech at the IMDA Partners Appreciation Ceremony

“We can and we will achieve more when we come together with strong partnerships between the people, private and public sectors. Let us all do our part to build a digitally inclusive future for all.”

– Speech by Mr S Iswaran, Minister of Communications and Information, at IMDA’s Partners’ Appreciation Event

Coding Lab's Machine Learning workshop - IMDA SG:Digital Wonderland Special Edition 2020 - Masked Warriors Galore
Our young participants had fun with Machine Learning from home

It is also the second year that we’re a part of IMDA’s SG:Digital Wonderland. We are honoured to be part of the virtual Emerging Tech workshop series, where we taught 30 young participants about Machine Learning. They got to train their models to recognise people with and without masks. We look forward to more future events with IMDA!

Read all about Coding Lab at Digital Wonderland 2019 here.

As a corporate partner of IMDA and Smart Nation & U, the Coding Lab team is excited to have been recognised for our community efforts to nurture future leaders in technology. Our meaningful partnerships will continue to support the nation’s goals towards achieving a Smart Nation, and we hope that you will join us on this journey!

(Written by Cheryl Tang)


Best-in-class Curriculum for Coding

We are honoured to be the winner of multiple awards.
Thank You for your support.

Hop on board the Coding Lab train! Click here to get our monthly newsletters straight to your inbox.

Ages 5-6 | Ages 7-9 | Ages 10-12 | Ages 13-18

Call us at +65 6977 9641
Email us at [email protected]
Chat with us via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger

Our 5-year-old student, Mitchell, was featured on The Straits Times on 15 March 2021, in an article about kids coding at younger ages. We’re thrilled to share this cover of the Life! section, as he played with our Junior Coders Programme materials from Learning Beautiful during break time.

Photo of Life! Front Cover feature of 5-year-old Mitchell playing with Learning Beautiful in our Junior Coders Programme (J11S)
5-year-old Mitchell playing with the Binary Tree from Learning Beautiful (Source: The Straits Times)

“I simply love the natural, wood-based, Montessori-inspired materials in this kit; this Binary Tree is a huge hit with him!”⁣

– Mitchell’s mother

Read The Straits Times article here.

This month, we are excited to finally introduce these natural and gorgeous wooden materials from Learning Beautiful into our preschool curriculum! Designed at MIT by computer scientists who also recognise the importance of nurturing future leaders in technology, it introduces fundamentals of computer science – without screens. It breaks down the complex concepts into bite-sized lessons and hands-on playing with an assortment of wooden materials. Ethically sourced and manufactured in USA, the materials have also been tried and tested in Montessori classrooms.

Sign up for our preschool coding classes to let your tiny tots get hands-on with these beautiful educational toys:

  • 17 April: Binary Trees and Counting in Binary
  • 24 April: Binary – Stacking Towers
  • 22 May: Binary – Making Decisions / This or That?
  • 29 Mary: Binary – Booleans and the Operators

… and more to come!

View all upcoming Junior Coders Programme classes here.

You can also own a set at home and learn alongside your children ages 3 to 9. The materials have been curated by the Learning Beautiful team into the Learning at Home Set ($315.65), which includes an array of the materials and easy-to-follow detailed curriculum. For the month of April, redeem a FREE 2-hour Junior Coders Programme class from us when you purchase the set!

Purchase a Learning at Home Set here.

(Written by Cheryl Tang)


Read our previous blog – The Straits Times Feature: Addressing the Gender Gap in the STEM Sector

Read our previous blog – We’re on The Straits Times!


Best-in-class Curriculum for Coding

We are honoured to be the winner of multiple awards.
Thank You for your support.

Hop on board the Coding Lab train! Click here to get our monthly newsletters straight to your inbox.

Ages 5-6 | Ages 7-9 | Ages 10-12 | Ages 13-18

Call us at +65 6977 9641
Email us at [email protected]
Chat with us via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger