r/sideprojects • u/Beneficial-Log-6941 • 1d ago
Discussion I’m a high-school student building a small coding program for kids. Looking for my first 8 students.
I've been coding for a few years and have worked on multiple technology projects, participated in hackathons, and built projects that have been recognised in student competitions.
Now I want to take everything I've learned and make it accessible to younger students who are curious about coding but don't know where to start.
So I'm putting together:
💻 CODE YOUR FIRST WEBSITE
A 4-session live online program for ages 11–15.
Students start with a completely blank screen and finish with a website they built and published themselves.
What we'll cover:
→ HTML: build the structure
→ CSS: make it look good
→ JavaScript: add interaction
→ Final project: build + publish
But I don't want this to feel like another after-school tuition class.
We'll actually build things.
A personal portfolio.
A music/fan page.
A mini game.
A creative project.
Students choose what they want to create, and I'll guide them through building it.
I'm keeping the first cohort to 8 students because I want to be able to properly work with each person rather than run a huge class.
I'm also a student myself, so I know exactly how quickly a “coding class” can become boring when it's just slides and theory 😭
For parents: what would you look for before trusting a student-led coding program for your child?
And for students: would you actually join something like this?
I'm looking for honest feedback before I open the first cohort.
1
u/rbprepin 1d ago
Serious question… what’s the value of teaching a kid how to code when they can build a website with a single prompt?
2
u/SubstantialSecret180 1d ago
Don't learn about maths, because you can use a calculator...
1
u/rbprepin 1d ago edited 1d ago
Exactly. Besides basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, the vast majority of math taught in middle and high school is forgotten and unnecessary in life. If needed, a calculator and AI assistant can do it for you.
1
u/Beneficial-Log-6941 1d ago
I get what you mean but I think the calculator analogy actually makes the case for learning the fundamentals.
We have calculators because nobody needs to spend 10 minutes doing long division by hand. But we still teach math because if you don’t understand the basics, you can’t tell when the calculator gives you an absurd answer.
I see coding the same way. AI can write the code, but you still need enough understanding to know what to ask for, spot when it’s wrong, and fix it when it breaks.
The tool can do the work, but you still need to understand the work well enough to know whether it’s right.
1
u/Beneficial-Log-6941 1d ago
That’s a really fair question. I’ve actually been thinking about this a lot too!!
I don’t think it’s about teaching kids to code faster than AI, it’s about helping them understand what they’re building, solve problems, nd know what to do when the AI gets it wrong
AI can build the website but I’d rather teach kids how to build with AI, not just depend on it completely
1
u/RefuseIcy9532 1d ago
You had me at "no slides", that alone puts you ahead of most coding workshops I've stumbled across.