A Dad's Honest Review After One Year of Coding Education for His Child
I've been sending my fourth-grade child to a coding academy since last year. To get straight to the point, I'm 'half satisfied, half regretful.'
First, the good parts.
- They've developed the habit of breaking problems down step by step. They even write out the process when solving math problems.
- They've become less afraid to try again after failing. With block coding, errors are visible.
- They enjoy making games with friends. There's definitely a sense of accomplishment.
What was disappointing is that the academy's curriculum is closer to 'how to use tools' than 'coding,' more than I expected. There were many days when they only learned how to move blocks around and didn't cover the principles. On those days, my child complains that it's not fun.
So now I've reduced the academy to once a week, and on weekends we go through one chapter of a Python basics book together at home. The pace is slow, but my child asks a lot more questions.
In short, the academy is for motivation, and the actual learning happens at home. This has been the best combination so far. How is everyone else doing it?
4 answers
I totally agree that hagwons are just for motivation. My kid also only had fun while attending the hagwon and wouldn't even look at it at home, which worried me, but once dad sat with them, their attitude changed completely.
I also did something similar for about a year and a half, but I see it a bit differently when you say the academy curriculum is close to just teaching tool usage. It’s not that block coding doesn’t cover the principles—explaining sequence, repetition, and conditionals in words to a 4th grader is itself showing them through blocks. At that age, hands-on manipulation comes before abstract explanation, so that’s often more of a stage issue than a curriculum miss. And the fact that your child said it wasn’t fun that day probably just means that day’s class wasn’t great. I’m curious which academy it is, and what the basis is for judging that it 'doesn’t cover the principles.'
Well, I think a Python basics book is a bit early for a 4th grader. The problem isn’t a slow pace—it’s losing interest that’s scarier lol. I set the goal of completing one game from start to finish in Scratch, and that was much more effective.