My oldest daughter is a computer person :) That sounds weird, but what I mean is that she has been really driven to learn about computer "stuff" -- she has learned to program in different languages, has participated in cybersecurity competitions, and more. Her drive has caused her to seek out and utilize different opportunities to teach herself. Now that she's graduated, my youngest is entering high school and would like to learn a little coding. This was the perfect time for this review product that we received, Code For Teens: The Awesome Beginner's Guide to Programming (Volume 1), which is written by Jeremy Moritz and illustrated by his wife, Christine Moritz, and produced by Code for Teens.
This book is an instructional book for teens to learn the popular language JavaScript. It is written in a conversational style that is actually fun for kids to read and follow along with. The beginning of the first chapter sets the students up with how to use the book, how to access the learning environment (in chrome), and explanations of how the code is shown in the book. They jump right in with the typical "Hello World!" activity --and it works! And sets them off on an adventure of learning.
As the book continues, students continue learning the syntax with wonderful explanations of each command and then lines of code to copy and implement.
My 13-year old daughter was the family member who used this book--and she really enjoyed it! She does not have a lot of background in coding, and she found the book very easy to use -- it even helped her with errors or helped her avoid some! (One neat thing in the book is they actually have the kids make particular errors so that they will know why/how to correct them. The way the book is written is that it explains what you're doing step by step so that the students understand the "why" of the syntax that they are using.
The conversational tone and the examples used are great for teens -- they're full of silly/funny content that really enhances the learning :)
The content that the book covers is JavaScript. It is very easy to follow--the coding is highlighted in gray and students can easily copy it. It is very interactive--my daughter found that it is easiest to read the book right at the computer so that she could type as she was reading :)
There are ten chapters, covering topics such as arrays, loops, strings, functions, comparisons, logic, and more, each one full of different projects and the final chapter helps students "combine concepts from every chapter to build a cool game."
At the end of each chapter there is a chapter quiz, a Key Concepts list to review, Drills (to practice typing code segments), and aggregate review--to ensure that you are retaining what you have learned from the beginning of the book through the chapter you are currently on. Answers are in the back of the book, so students are not left wondering if they are correct or not.
SO what did we think? We thought that this book was a wonderful tool to teach JavaScript! My daughter has only made it through the first few chapters, but she intends to finish the entire book (and hopes for more in the series!!) I think I actually might give it a try as well, as I'd like to learn a bit of JavaScript myself :) It is a great way for students to learn independently--as long as they are of a 6th grade reading level (suggested by the author) they ought to be able to move right through the book successfully!
If you have more questions about the book or would like to see a sample chapter, you can do so by visiting the Code for Teens website. It's an enjoyable book, written in a fun way (with awesome illustrations!) and yields success pretty easily. I do recommend this book!
If you'd like to read what others wrote after using this book, please click on the link below:
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