Fun Techtivities in August!

To get you geared up for the wonderful list of techtivities (tech + activities!) we’ve got for you this month, here’s an interesting tech fact about the month of August!

Did you know that on August 10, 1966, the first NASA robotic spacecraft to circle the moon was launched?

Aptly named, “Lunar Orbiter I”, it had the mission to take possible landing sites for future Apollo missions (NASA’s human and robotic missions to the Moon)!

An artist’s concept of NASA’s Lunar Orbiter spacecraft at the Moon. Credit: NASA

Now that we’re all warmed up, keep scrolling to discover exciting techtivities that you and your family can indulge in this month! 😉

Upgrade yourself with SkillsFuture Month

Themed “Open new possibilities when you upskill”, the SkillsFuture Month 2021 organised by SkillsFuture Singapore has an exciting line-up of interactive learning events such as webinars, virtual workshops, forums and roadshows. Topics covered include Graphic Design to Data Science, Fintech and even writing basics – all from the experts. No matter what stage you’re at in life right now, you can choose to upskill and expand your career opportunities!

Running from 8 July to 22 August, SkillFuture is the perfect opportunity for you to get a head start on your lifelong journey. It’s truly amazing to see how technology can grant us access to a wealth of knowledge and help us to upskill and better ourselves!

Details:
Dates: 8 July – 22 August 2021
Location: Online and selected physical locations for roadshows
Price: Free
To find out more, click here.

Smart Nation x Coding Lab Coding Workshops for Ages 4-18 (Free!)

Coding Lab is excited to be working with Smart Nation Singapore as part of the #SmartNationTogether2021 series to bring FREE ONLINE coding workshops just for you!

We’ve got a lineup of fun, 2-hour introductory workshops (for ages 4 to 12) where students get to program a National Day fireworks animation, design a game in Augmented Reality (AR) or even dabble in Machine Learning as we train our computers to recognise if we have our masks on.

Isn’t it awesome that we can easily learn a new skill all thanks to technology? 😎

Details:
Available dates: 7 & 8 August, 18 September 2021
Location: Online
Price: Free
To find out more, click here.

Watch Coding Bytes – Karate Chop

Coding Lab’s latest video series Coding Bytes is the best way to learn even more programming if you’re looking for something easy and quick to digest! Follow our step-by-step tutorial videos with your little ones by your side and be introduced to the wonderful world of Scratch.

Join Tutor Swetha in the second video of the series – Karate Chop as she teaches us how we can create an exciting game using Augmented Reality! 👩‍💻We’ve got more exciting videos coming right up, so keep your eyes peeled for them and subscribe to our channel for more! We truly hope that you and your child will enjoy creating awesome projects together. 🤗

Details:
Includes: Engaging, fun and quick tutorials on Scratch programming
Watch the series here.

Learning Beautiful’s DIY Home Activities Webinar

Learning Beautiful understands the growing need to prepare young children for a future filled with technology. Hence, they’ve prepared a series of wonderful webinars that you can watch to broaden your understanding of computer science!

They’ve touched on topics like Montessori at Home, Binary and Why it’s Important as well as All About Pixels! The next one that’s coming up is with Kimberly Smith, the Founder of Learning Beautiful on DIY Home Activities! Do join their Facebook live webinar to find out more, and you can even send in your questions and have them answered in real-time!

Details:
DIY Home Activities takes place on Saturday, 7 August 2021 at 10am (Click on ‘Going!’ if you can make it 😉)
Location: Facebook Live
Price: Free
Includes: Hour-long webinars (recorded)
Watch them here.

Join our Spectacular September Coding Camps!

Our September Holiday Camps are just a month away and they are open for registration! 🤩

We’ve got something for kids of all ages – from enriching classes for our little Junior Coders (ages 4-6), to starting off with the colourful drag-and-drop Scratch programming (ages 7-9) or App Inventor (ages 10-12), and to getting your basics right with Python Meets Math courses (ages 10-12 and ages 13-18)!

We’ll be sure to deliver our very best so that your child can get the most out of our lessons, be it online or physical. ✨

Details:
Date: 6 to 10 September 2021
Location: Online, Parkway Parade, King Albert Park
Price: From $375.25
To find out more, click here.

If you haven’t seen our previous techtivity recommendations, check out our July #TechtivitiesOfTheMonth, which includes more cool tech-related activities you can do with friends and family!

(Written by Zulaikha)

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Coding Lab Student Feature: Tan Jake Ian, 13, NUS High School of Math and Science

Meet 13-year-old Tan Jake Ian, who has always been passionate about technology. Like most boys his age, Jake loves playing computer games – but also creating them!

As one of Coding Lab’s first students back in 2016 who was personally mentored by our founder, Yong Ning Foo, we are proud to see the bubbly student grow into a teenager and achieve a place in his dream school. Hear what the confident and intelligent coder has to say about his DSA experience and coding journey (so far).

Photo of Jake, 13 years old, at his birthday celebration cutting his cake — *Jake celebrates his 13th birthday!*

Hi Jake, tell us a bit about yourself!

I am Jake, and I am 13 this year. I currently study at NUS High School of Math and Science, and I first came to Coding Lab when I was 8 years old.

“Be prepared that coding will challenge some of your puzzle-solving skills.”

How did your coding journey begin?

I initially started coding because my father thought it was an important and useful skill. After I started, I found that I agreed with him. And not only that, I began to really enjoy coding and wanted to continue! At first, I have to admit I thought that coding was easy. I even thought that developers of games such as Minecraft only had to join a few blocks together to make their game, just like I did in Scratch. Of course, I realised that this was not the case later on, but I still had a lot of fun doing the debugging challenges and questions in class!

Read and Watch Lianhe Zaobao Feature: Our Student, Jake, 9 Years Old shows his chops in <<A Little Somebody>> feature

It sounds like you have been coding for a while! What’s your favourite program so far?

It would likely be the Tower of Hanoi solver. It is a solver where you have to move disks of different sizes from one tower to another with restrictions. I like the clever usage of it, and how I can modify my program to have different amusing outputs.

(Press play below to run Jake’s Tower of Hanoi solver!)

“Coding should be fun, and even homework can be enjoyable too!”

Congratulations on entering your dream school! How do you feel about getting into NUS High School of Math and Science?

I feel really happy that I got into my top choice! I’m very excited for their science and tech programmes, since they are unique and different from that of other schools. I’m also looking forward to making new friends and having a great time!

What was your Direct School Admissions (DSA) experience like? Do you have any advice for others? I’m sure many other hopeful students are keen to know about it!

DSA was a whole new experience for me, especially the interview portion! I had never done an interview for admission into a school before, so I was very nervous – but excited to fulfil my dream! My teachers really helped by giving me some advice on what to prepare for, and my ability to code enabled me to stand out from others. I personally recommend watching some interview guide videos for those taking DSA, such as how to answer commonly asked questions such as “Tell me about yourself” or “What are your weaknesses?”

Jake when he was 8 years old, talking about his love for coding

Since you’ve been coding for some time now, what would you tell kids who are starting to code for the first time?

I would encourage them not to worry! Coding should be fun, and even homework can be enjoyable too! I like how my coding classes at Coding Lab are lighthearted and fun. The content is taught in a fun and engaging manner, but be prepared that coding will challenge some of your puzzle-solving skills.

What are your plans for the future?

I hope to be a doctor! While coding may not seem related to the medical profession at the moment, I think that there are plenty of opportunities for integrating programming into hospitals in the future. For example, Artificial Intelligence and robots could help to distribute medicine or diagnose patients with less serious symptoms, which would allow doctors to treat critical patients. I really hope to be a part of this Medtech (medical technology) industry someday!

Tan Jake Ian, 13, is a Year One student at NUS High School of Math and Science. He was one of Coding Lab’s first students when he was 8 years old, where he started with Scratch. He excelled and showed great potential, and has been in our Gifted Coders class ever since. We celebrate his achievements and look forward to what he will accomplish in future! We’ll be supporting you every step of the way, Jake!

(Written by Nicole Loo)

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.

A Peek Into Our Course: Advanced Computer Scientists (P21S) – Broad-Based Exposure to STEM Topics

Should my child DSA (Coding)? Coding Lab’s P300 Portfolio Preparation Programme for DSA

View Our Classes

Coding Lab Student Feature: Aarhan Salujah, 13, St Joseph’s Institution

Coding Lab Educator Feature: Ryan Wong

Fun Techtivities in August!

Congratulations to our 7 winners at the Hwa Chong Infocomm Challenge 2022!

All About NFTs, Simplified

Join our LIVE online classes!

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

Call us at +65 6977 9641
Email us at learntocode@codinglab.com.sg
Chat with us via WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger

A Peek Into Our Course: Young Computer Scientists (P11S) – Lifelong Learning and Applying It

Our Young Computer Scientists (YCS) students are always up for an adventure when they step into class. Every lesson is a chance to learn and discover something new and there’s certainly never a dull moment with our dedicated teachers!

Coding Lab’s YCS course (for ages 7 to 9) offers 12 unique research areas curated by our curriculum team. It exposes our students to the diverse fields of application for coding and broadens their understanding and the power of computational thinking. This ultimately serves as a platform for students to put on their thinking hats and be nurtured into lifelong learners.

You might be thinking: What exactly is Lifelong Learning?

Photo of Evan and his students holding up the new Augmented Reality textbooks for P11S-AR — *Evan with his pumped Young Computer Scientist students*

Lifelong learning is integrating living and learning for people of all ages – from cradle to grave. This is done through learning opportunities to continuously improve the knowledge and skills needed for personal fulfilment and future employment. It is a key perspective not only for youths, but for everyone.

The six pillars on lifelong learning include technologies for learning and learning to learn. In recent years, and as most of us use technology to bridge gaps in the past year, we increasingly use the internet for information, communication and participation in learning activities. This goes hand-in-hand with independent, self-directed learning – all important elements that encourage the pursuit of 21st-century learning.

Today’s world is fast-changing and there is a growing need to be able to forecast futures and adapt. What does this mean for our little ones? It’s important for them to be confident in their tech skills so that positive attitudes and values about lifelong learning will be inculcated at a young age. This would shape them into empowered individuals who can seize opportunities and support independent efforts in a lifelong journey of learning and taking on the world.

How do our young ones benefit from Lifelong Learning?

Our Young Computer Scientists hone their knowledge and thinking skills through 12 research areas, which comprises 3 groups of classes: Hardware-Based Learning, Applied Learning, and Subject-Based Learning.

Through the course, students have fun and see the real-world applicability of coding, such as how they can instruct the mBots to move or light up in our Hardware-Based Learning classes. They get to further solidify what they learnt in school when they see it come to life with codes, such as applying the concept of physics and gravity (just like this platformer game!) in our Subject-Based Learning classes. They can also dive deeper into relevant and interesting concepts, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning in our Applied Learning classes.

The YCS course covers a good mix to give our students a holistic and hands-on experience. Our students get to explore various topics and learn coding through fun, which hones their curiosity. Inspired and intrigued by what they’ve learnt in class, many of our students take a step further and even improve their coding abilities on their own.

As they independently deepen their knowledge in computational thinking and solve more problems, they level up and gain confidence, improving their ability to tackle all sorts of tasks in the future, and increasing their overall success in lifelong learning.

Geo Plat by Wang Zi Heng in P11S YCS Young Computer Scientists

Did you know?
Research areas proceed based on a pre-selected schedule carefully curated by Coding Lab tutors, which exposes your child to all 3 groups by the time they complete at least a minimum of 6 research areas.

Gotta catch ’em all! Each research area has a corresponding badge that students can collect and advance their coding skills.

Read: Did You Know? Fun Facts about our Young Computer Scientists

“I feel happy learning how to code and I really like that I can learn a variety of topics in YCS. My favourite modules are the Mathematics (Measurement) and Physics – I love working with Mathematical formulas and was able to learn how to convert them from paper to operators on Scratch!”

– Issey, 9, Tao Nan Primary School

Covering 1 YCS research area typically takes 10 hours. In order to progress to the next level, students are required to complete at least 6 (minimum) to 8 (recommended) research areas, but some of our students love what they explore in the course so much that they sign up for more!

“YCS has made me more interested in coding. I have learnt how to figure out what is wrong with my code and to always persevere when debugging them. My favourite thing in YCS is coding the mBot to make it move, dance and follow the infinity line. My tutor always challenged me to add more blocks to my code if I managed to complete my assignment earlier.”

– Aaden Yeo, 8, St Stephen’s School

As students explore new themes, they are introduced to new principles each class, then tasked with the challenge of coding the solutions to it. Our dedicated and experienced tutors are there to nudge students in the right direction, encouraging them to find their own solutions through step-by-step processes. This ensures that they fully understand and can apply the concepts that they’ve learnt, gaining self-confidence and independence along the way – ultimately paving the way for a future of lifelong learning.

Rachel and two students tinkering with Makey Makey — *Educator Rachel and her students tinkering with Makey Makey in Young Computer Scientists*

“In YCS, I ensure that my students enjoy their learning and encourage them to explore independently. This challenges their critical thinking and develops creativity. There’s never a dull moment, especially when they get their codes to work. The best part is that coding doesn’t only happen in class – my students often embark on their own projects at home – which they then proudly show me!”

– Rachel Chong, Educator

Coding Lab believes in teaching coding in a fun and engaging manner that nurtures curiosity and exploration at a young age – a key motivator in cultivating lifelong learning. Our YCS classes impart fundamentals and the know-how tech skills for students to embark on independent, self-directed learning in the journey towards lifelong learning.

It’s like the Chinese proverb, “活到老, 学到老”, which means “live until you’re old, learn until you’re old”. When students own their learning, it sticks with them!

Become a Young Computer Scientist (ages 7-9) by clicking here!

(Written by Zulaikha)