We adore neuro-diverse learners at First Class Coders.
We know from our own personal experiences and years of teaching that neuro-diverse kids have a unique way of viewing the world as well as a natural affinity to coding.
The majority of the neuro-diverse children we've worked with, they face challenges in communication and social interactions. Coding provides a structured environment that allows neuro-diverse children to express themselves creatively without the constraints of social norms. But sometimes staying focused and concentrating can sometimes be challenging.
Here are some ways that you can support your child to better engaged and participate in our classes during the initial classes (lessons 1-4).
ScratchJr has some fantastic sounds and visuals, which is one of the reasons why we love the interface. Children can modify characters in the paint editor, add their own voices and sound, even insert photos of themselves - the use the programming blocks to make their characters come to life. We introduce all of the fun features as they progress through our curriculum.
If your child is distracted easily you can:
Reduce the overall volume on the iPad - minimise the tapping sounds when you snap blocks together.
Turn off the microphone - we will start recording our own voices, sounds and narrating our own stories
Switch off the camera function - It's all fun! When you can take your picture and add yourself into your own computer programs. Making sure we are picture perfect can way lay the best of us.
Set up guided access on your iPad - Guided Access keeps the iPad in a single app and allows you to control which features are available.
Encourage children to take brain breaks or movement breaks. A brain break is a mental break that is used to help students refocus and pay attention. Brain breaks are short, but often involve physical activity.
Here is a short video demonstrating how to do everything above on your iPad.
We believe that every child has the potential to excel in coding and we are delighted to empower all children to learn digital skills for the future...... so much fun, right now!
Find out more about our classes and locations here:
Looking forward to seeing you #PlayCodeGrow with us soon!