Coding for Kids in NYC

[65mustang]

My son has ADHD and we are looking for a coding class on the upper west side of NYC.

We would like to find an in-person class or someone to come to our apartment to work with my son.

He loves computer games, what a surprise! If he will be on the computer, I would at least like it to be productive, so if there are any other ideas someone could recommend I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

[Peerandparent]

You don't necessarily need a class... If he's keen on games, get him started on "Scratch" (scratch.mit.edu/) it's a free programming language developed by MIT designed specifically for younger folks.

My son is 7 and loves it, and I'm 47 and I love it 😁

There are a myriad of tutorials through the official site and a billion more on the net in general. I personally made a simple dodge and catch game in one sitting while having a migraine and not being on my ADHD meds at the time.

It can be used for very basic things, and it can handle some more advanced coding as well.

Another option, depending on his age and what games he likes, see if there's an editor or something. When I was young there weren't many games that allowed you to make your own content, but I was all-in on the games that did.

Especially games like Skyrim and fallout 4 have a powerful set of tools for creating content, and they have a huge community for mod making as well. Having people to bounce ideas off of is important.

Finally, encourage him to start with small projects or modules and build on them. I don't know if it's just me and my son, but we both tend to draw ourselves into projects that become impossibly big for one person. If he insists on a big project, help him break things down into small objectives that can be achieved in a short time. Also make sure he creates some sense of accountability for those small steps while keeping his eye on the larger goals.

As Confucius says, it's easier to build on small successes than recover from colossal failures.

[Peerandparent]

Also consider board games or pen and paper role playing games as a way for your son to branch out and stretch his brain a bit. There are tonnes of board games I'm sure you've never heard of... Look at a site like boardgamegeek to see what I mean... I'm sure there's something that would capture his attention, and it would be more social to boot.