Computer Science

One fun way that my kids have gotten involved into computer science has been using scratch. It is geared towards kids ages to 8-16 and grades 3rd grade to high school. It uses a visual programing language. If you think that learning  Chinese and Hebrew is hard then you will find it hard to start to learn computer languages. But the best way my kids have enjoyed computer science is by using this visual programing language. They also take Khan Academy's computer programing free classes. Javascript is a programing language that is used in one of their favorite video games-Minecraft. Khan Academy's Javascript lessons are fun. If you are child is able to be in dual enrolment at the college your student  can take computer science classes for free while in highschool.


Check out:

  • Scratch  (create an account)
  • Khan Academy (create an account):

 Computer Programming  My kids have taken this one.
Pixar in a Box My kids have taken this one too. 

  • Check out dual enrollment at the college for free courses during highschool. Student has to pass the PERT test to be able to be dual enrolled. Check out free PERT classes and practice tests here
  • W3schools  lessons  from left menu or click next. Follow lesson all the way through the end. Lots of practice here. This website is great as a resource and cheat list.
  • Code.org 
The following are online resources where you pay  a fee for computer science courses but you can do them at your own leisure and pace.  Jquery, HTML 5, ASP,  Cloud Computing, Python, C,  C++, Javascript,  PHP,  SQL, web and app development are all part of the world of computer science.
  • Coursera offers online computer science courses for a fee
  • Codecademy free to a certain extent. I  have tried this one myself and I really enjoy it. I have done some PHP, Javascript, and HTML classes with them (their free ones). I would pay gladly if the level requires it.  Not there yet.
Animation:

Blender It is as professional as what Pixar uses for their animations only difference it is free. This program uses python and you can tell by your favorite animations and movies that use visual effects that software like this  can really be an amazing tool. We have taken tutorials online. I figure with 50 tutorials you shoulg get the hang of it,