The creative writing guide for the whole family recommended by MentorsCloud.com:
The Creative Year: 52 Workshops for Writers
by Elisabeth Sharp McKetta - a local Boise Writer
To Read more about it, go here. To Purchase this wonderful book for parents and students, go here.
To purchase this book, please go to: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0692527575
If you bought the book and want to work through the projects in the book, please download the following file Resources.zip. This will give your all the sprites, sounds, and other resources you need to work through the projects in the book.
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Animation for Kids with Scratch Programming Book
The old rules: Push programming concepts. Give kids techie terms and projects. Promote coding with girls but leave them bored. Lump coding with Math and Science so as to shut the door to the majority of kids who are not STEM inclined. The new rules: Simple is the new high tech. Lead with what kids know - art and story-telling. Let them discover their Aha moments. Give code wings to fly with creative art, games, and storytelling. In this simplified animation book, Danny Takeuchi guides K-12 students how to create animations with code one project at a time, without worrying about complicated concepts. By removing wordy explanations, kids can focus on the instructions to draw, animate, and code. The instant gratification gained in each project reinforces their confidence and love for learning. This book takes kids from simple animations and games, to digital art, animation techniques, and complete animated stories. Gone are the days when computer programming is only reserved for STEM kids. Wanted are the kids who love to laugh, love to draw, and love to imagine. |
Five Points of Interests for the book:
- The 1st animation and programming book for kids that mixes art and storytelling with coding.
- The book introduces a collection of animation techniques, drawing/painting techniques, and examples of using those techniques to create animated stories.
- Simplest book without wordy explanations to introduce animation and programming to kids.
- Project based learning with lots of examples.
- Learning content is grouped for hourly learning. Easy for classroom settings or self-learning.
Why should Kids Learn Programming Skills?
1. Programming is a basic literacy
We live in a society where everyone uses a cell phone or a computer, with most using both. Today’s kids live in a very different world than their parents did as children. It is one thing to know how to use these programs. It’s another, however, to understand how the logic behind them works. This is a challenge today’s kids will love as it deals with the digital world they inhabit. Knowing how to program helps kids understand and tinker with the world that they are living in. In the future, the amount of technology and our reliance on it will only increase. The students of today need to be able to not only consume this technology, but to understand and control it. 2. It’s a way to create change The younger generation is a population of change-makers. However, in order to bring innovation and change about they need to learn how to code. Up until a few decades ago, people spread ideas through the written word. If you had the ability to write, you had the ability to create change. Today, writing is not nearly as effective in changing behavior as manipulating (or leveraging) the digital medium. The point is, we want our kids to be able to make and change things, and to make things happen. They should be active participants in the global economy, not passive consumers. 3. “You have an idea for then next big tech innovation? Great. Can you bring it to life?” Everyone has ideas. Unfortunately, only a select few can make them happen. Without proper execution, an idea will never live up to its potential. What separates those who simply have an idea and those who make their ideas a reality is simple: the ability to code. Do you want your child to be a thinker and innovator who can turn his or her ideas into reality? If so, encourage them to learn how to program. |
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Whatever delights you can be made with code - art, games, music, movies, comics, fashion design, sports, and beyond.
Computer Programming is not just for geniuses. Every child in America should have an opportunity to explore the digital world where the sky is the limit. If kids can learn how to play a musical instrument, they can learn how to program. Just as music instruction starts with basic music notes, programming can be mastered by first using simple building blocks.
MentorsCloud teaches elementary school, middle school, and high school students how to program. Students will use simple building blocks first, without having to worry about the complex concepts of computer science. At the end of each learning session, students will be able to build animations, games, interactive stories, and art projects.
Initial courses will be based on MIT’s Scratch Programming platform. Future courses that will be provided include Python Programming for Kids, App Development for Kids, and Web Design with HTML and JavaScript. It is our goal to provide kids a technical growth path so that they could have fun while creating something they could share online or in an app store.
MentorsCloud enables students to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.
Help Kids Become Designers, Doers, and Creators
Computer Programming is not just for geniuses. Every child in America should have an opportunity to explore the digital world where the sky is the limit. If kids can learn how to play a musical instrument, they can learn how to program. Just as music instruction starts with basic music notes, programming can be mastered by first using simple building blocks.
MentorsCloud teaches elementary school, middle school, and high school students how to program. Students will use simple building blocks first, without having to worry about the complex concepts of computer science. At the end of each learning session, students will be able to build animations, games, interactive stories, and art projects.
Initial courses will be based on MIT’s Scratch Programming platform. Future courses that will be provided include Python Programming for Kids, App Development for Kids, and Web Design with HTML and JavaScript. It is our goal to provide kids a technical growth path so that they could have fun while creating something they could share online or in an app store.
MentorsCloud enables students to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.
Help Kids Become Designers, Doers, and Creators