Coding & Comedy

As the STEM Advisor to Caltech Children's Center, people often comment to me that our program must be intense, because it is Caltech. Yes, we are home to more than 32 Nobel laureates including 18 alumni and 18 professors. Founder of Intel, Gordon Moore is an alumnus of our college, so you figure we are pretty good at coding & programming! However, we had to work with our teachers to become more comfortable with coding & programming. We used comedy with fun activities that produced lots of laughter and appreciation for understanding the basic principals of coding & programming.  When we started introducing coding and programming to our students, we designed lessons so children socialize, not sit in front of digital devices all day and provide a well-balanced technology program. Using small group, play-oriented learning in our classrooms, the curriculum is oriented to build 21st century skill and thinkers. When our students move on to elementary school, they are ready for more exposure to apps, robotics with VEX and LEGO, 3D modeling & animation, and Scratch. We have discovered that even three year old children like designing and programming robots. We encourage teachers and students as they gain confidence in computer science and engineering.