The CODING Level i Academy @HOME

The Coding Level I Academy @HOME is a comprehensive curriculum designed to teach students the fundamentals of coding. The program will give students the knowledge, guidance, and resources they need to understand the basic functions of code. Projects from the weekends will include various programming challenges that will get students acquainted with Python.

Write code.
Complete projects.
Learn to think like a software engineer.

Accessible Education. Harvard Quality.

Program Overview: Coding Level I

The goals of Coding Level I are to orient and introduce students to programming through Python. We seek to build higher order thinking as well as detail oriented thinking in order for students to construct and complete projects. Each day, we begin with a lesson in one aspect of coding, whether that be technical syntax or broader coding ideas. We then transition into hands-on coding activities to give students the chance to cooperate and execute a program. Our program guides students through the necessary ideas and tools to write code. We aim to equip students with a comprehensive education of programming fundamentals through valuable, interactive experience.

Our goal is to spark a passion in our students through newfound capabilities in coding and help them to realize the endless possibilities of programming. We believe that equipping students with the ability to code opens countless paths for our students to innovate and invent.  

Schedule: Coding Level I

Day 1

Introductions & Icebreakers

Week Overview & Skill Level Analysis

Fundamentals of Computer Science Lecture

Python Basics Lecture & Introduction to Strings

Problem Set: Faces

Creating Dynamic Programs Lecture & Introduction to Only/While Loops 

Problem Set: Fahrenheit, Conversion, Hours, Mad Libs

Day 2

Introduction to For Loops

Problem Set: Mario

Data Structures Lecture: Functions & Lists

Problem Set: Quidditch & Lister

Data Structure Lecture (cont'd): Indexing Strings

Problem Set: Initials


Day 3

Topic Review

Problem Set: Counting, Reverse, & Decreasing

Data Structures Lecture (cont'd): String Manipulations & Methods

Problem Set: Caesar


Day 4

Data Structures Lecture (cont'd): Sets, Dictionaries, & Nested Lists

Problem Set: Zip & Unzip

Game Time

Harvard Q&A

Day 5 (Summer)

Guest Speaker - usually a Harvard professor or graduate student; sometimes a leading expert in the field.

Follow-up Q&A 

Additional lectures on Python syntax, more sample code, & more interactive activities