Looking for ways to help your children stay motivated and succeed in school?  Check out these resources we’ve recently discovered:

Code.org.  It is no secret that knowing how to code will put children at a huge advantage when they reach the job market.  Jobs that require coding make up 58% of all projected new jobs in STEM fields, and currently only 8% of STEM graduates study Computer Science.  Women and people of color are woefully underrepresented in this field,  Few schools offer coding instruction, and those that do rarely offer it to children in the lower grades.

So how can we encourage our children to learn coding? With Code.org.  Code.org is a non profit dedicated to teaching students how to code, giving more students access to computer science in schools, and increasing the number of women and underrepresented minorities in computer science.  They offer online coding courses for children from pre-reading stage to age 13 free of charge.   If your children don’t have time to sit for an entire course, they can try an Hour of Code, one of the more than 200 one-hour  coding tutorials on their website. The Hour of Code is designed for all ages, so you can learn to code along with your son or daughter!  If your child wants to learn more than what is available online, just plug in your zip code here and code.org will let you know the nearest local computer science class.

Learning Heroes:  Readiness Check & Spring Ahead.

GCP is a huge fan of Learningheros.org, which is dedicated to inspiring and helping parents to take an active role in their children’s education and help spark their children’s love of learning. Learning Heroes are the creators of Readiness Check, a free interactive tool for you to use to take a quick check how well your children are grasping their grade level material.

Learning Heroes has recently launched a new initiative, Spring Ahead: A Clear Path for your Child’s Success.  Check out their helpful tips, and be sure to scroll down to the Learning Tools offered for both parents and students.   You should spend some time exploring this site—there are lots of good resources here.