Scratch programming has a simple graphical user interface: it can be said that people are being introduced to programming in a way because they are entertained by the program at the same time. Scratch can come in handy whether you are a parent seeking to enroll your child in a football academy for the first time thereby having no practice prior to registering with the academy or if he or she has prior practice.
Who Built Scratch?
Scratch was developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab. The project was led by Mitch Resnick, a professor at MIT, along with his team. Scratch was designed to make programming more accessible to children, allowing them to learn the fundamentals of coding through an intuitive, visual interface.
How to Join Scratch for Free
Step 1: Visit the Scratch Website: Go to scratch.mit.edu.
Step 2: Create an Account: Click on “Join Scratch” in the top right corner.
Step 3: Fill in the Details: Provide a username, password, and email address. Follow the prompts to complete the sign-up process.
Step 4: Explore and Create: Once you’ve signed up, you can start creating projects, exploring others’ work, and sharing your own creations—all for free!
How to create your first project in Scratch?
Just visit the Scratch website at scratch.mit.edu. You can log in if you have an account; otherwise, sign up for free.
Click on “Create” at the top of the page to open the Scratch editor.
- Choose a Sprite: A character or object from the Scratch library can be selected in the editor.
- Add a Background: This will add more life to your project by choosing a backdrop from the backdrop library.
- Add Code: Just drag and drop some blocks from the coding palette on the left into the coding area. Start with some simple blocks like “move,” “say,” or “when [flag] clicked.”
- Run Your Project: Click on the green flag at the top of the editor to run your project.
- Save and Share: Once you are happy with your project, save it by hitting “File” > “Save now.” You can also share it with the Scratch community by hitting “Share.”
Codingal, based our of Dover, DE offers coding for kids and teens where they learn from basics up to intermediate and advanced levels.
For Beginners: The first course is to taken as the foundational course to all the other offered courses in the different levels. Students will create Scratch animation projects which will call for simple programs, block of commands and simple animations. For instance, they can start with a certain character crossing the screen, or have a small project from the topic, such as space. This works at this level to help them understand coding by doing although it is at the basic level.
For Intermediate Learners: They have to enhance their learning skills and develop learning to the higher level of difficulty to complete the academic tasks and to gain confidence. Still, if the program is Scratch based, Intermediate Scratch lesson might include creation of such games as a game similar to Mario, or dancing musical cat, in relationship with beats, for instance. Such projects introduces other aspects such as sound and interactivity into the projects and most importantly sharpen their coding skill set.
For Advanced Students: It goes even further than that in the areas of game design and programing skills at the advanced level. A new Snake game could be developed by students or a racing game which will acquaint them with game mechanics or input of the player. This stage builds from what they learned and provides them with the way of coming up with those kind of projects.
For Specialized Learners: The last level is named the most current trends, for instance, artificial intelligence. A student may program own ‘AI friend’ or use the techniques involved in a particular topic, and create a piece of digital art In this specialization phase of this, the student gets a peep into the more technical aspects of the learning arena of ICT and coding.
Benefits of Choosing Scratch Programming for your child:
Instant Gratification: Students make the output of the code they write instantly allowing them to be very curious to learn. This reinforcement just makes them feel good whether it is a character dancing or a new game that they have developed.
Creative Storytelling: Scratch encourage creativity because learners are able to spend time coming up with characters of their own and stories of their own. For such reasons, they are able to learn the art of story telling which is important in the many areas of life.
Conclusion
Introducing your child to Scratch programming is one decision that will create windows of opportunity for him or her. When you begin with Scratch, you’re not only making your child learn to code but endowing them with the necessary kit for the future. Instead of focusing on how our children should be prepared for a future to come, let us equip them to generate that future.
