Ken, owner of Carolina Kid Coders in North Carolina, began teaching himself to program when he was in high school in the early 1980s using a small computer called the Timex Sinclair 1000, one of the earliest home computers. But, beyond the manual that came with the computer, there were few resources available to Ken to help him advance his skills.
“I must have started and stopped programming many times and was never able to get beyond a few simple programs,” he said. “I soon lost interest in it, and I went to college and studied finance and later completed graduate school.”
He picked up coding again late in his 20’s. The internet was taking off, creating new opportunities to learn independently and test and play with programming.
When his son turned 13 and began expressing interest in coding, Ken knew he didn’t want his kid to lack the support that he lacked in school. He realized what could have changed everything for him when he was in high school-- a mentor.
Using his background in business, Ken formed Carolina Kid Coders, running workshops and camps for kids who want to know more about robotics and coding. Carolina Kid Coders makes mentorship and collaboration its first priority. Over the past three years, the camps and workshops have introduced more than 250 kids to coding using Let’s Start Coding kits.
“I LOOK FOR PRODUCTS THAT HAVE THEIR OWN CURRICULUM AND WILL PROVIDE HOURS OF ENGAGEMENT AND CHALLENGES. YOUR KITS MET ALL OUR NEEDS. “
“We will use them again this summer in our Digital Electronics camps for sure and that number [of students using LSC kits] should exceed 300 by year end,” Ken said.
Last summer, Ken’s company was hired by Telamon Corporation, an educational organization that helps people build better lives for themselves and their families. Telamon wanted Carolina Kid Coders to lead a camp for children of farmers in Sampson County, NC.
“We worked with 72 kids over 6 weeks from 4th grade through high school and each child received an Let’s Start Coding Ultimate Kit,” Ken said.
“FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE 72 KIDS IN THE PROGRAM, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST EXPOSURE TO CODING OR ELECTRONICS. THEY HAD A GREAT TIME!”
Ken said that the LED strip and speaker were “huge favorites.” In smaller groups, the campers worked independently. In larger groups, they paired up.
The first session, Ken and his son-- who has graduated from student to teacher!-- taught two days of creating games with Scratch and two days with the Let’s Start Coding Ultimate Kits. Those kids “unanimously” enjoyed working with the kits over creating games, so during all the next sessions they used just the kits for the whole 12-hour camp.
“Our goal is to wean kids off Scratch and have them coding in REAL WORLD languages so your kits fit right in and give us more value versus the competition,” Ken said.
“As a coding and robotics business for kids, I look for products that have their own curriculum and will provide hours of engagement and challenges,” Ken told Let’s Start Coding via email. “It makes our job easier. Your kits met all our needs. The ALL-IN-ONE-PAGE learning environment for each lesson/project is great!”
