CodeMonkey has developed an exceptionally impressive educational system
3 min read
CodeMonkey has crafted an impressive educational system specifically tailored for children aged 5 to 13. While the animations may not feature the highest level of sophistication, the educational content is robust, providing an excellent platform for nurturing essential computational thinking skills. This tool effectively teaches coding to children from Kindergarten to Grade 8 in a fast, enjoyable, and easily comprehensible manner.
What is CodeMonkey ?
Founded in 2014, CodeMonkey is an online coding program designed to cater to the preferences and needs of younger students, ranging from Kindergarten to 8th grade. It imparts knowledge of real programming languages and principles through the use of interactive video games, puzzles, and project-focused courses.
CodeMonkey operates as a subscription-based service, offering various plans tailored for families.
Parent Plan
| Monthly | Quarterly | Yearly |
| $9.95 per month | $7.45 per month | $4.95 per month |
Homeschool Plan
| Quarterly | Yearly |
| $13.45 per month | $9.95 per month |
Does the investment in CodeMonkey warrant justification?
Honestly, there’s a shortage of coding courses designed to captivate younger learners. Usually, these courses focus on middle school students and above, given the complexity of the subject matter and the requirement for sustained attention.
CodeMonkey addresses this void by providing programming courses tailored explicitly for younger children, mainly targeting grades K-8. Some of these courses align with various educational standards. Subscribers receive a substantial amount of content for their investment, gaining access to multiple courses featuring hundreds of challenges.
These courses efficiently impart crucial computational thinking and cultivate problem-solving skills vital for STEM fields, particularly in computer science and programming. It’s important to mention that the courses are intentionally concise, addressing the shorter attention spans and diverse levels of interest in STEM coding among younger audiences.
Age categories for CodeMonkey
The company specifies that CodeMonkey is suitable for children aged 5-13, encompassing those from Kindergarten to approximately Grade 8.
In general, we concur with this age range assessment. CodeMonkey employs vibrant, visually engaging cartoon graphics that are likely to capture the attention of even very young learners. While the character animations may not be the most advanced, they hold appeal for younger audiences.
The provided instructions are straightforward and presented in a step-by-step manner, ensuring simplicity and clarity for students with no prior coding experience. Kindergarten students, who typically haven’t yet acquired reading and writing skills, can readily navigate the drag-and-drop block coding courses with some assistance from their parents.
How CodeMonkey imparts coding education to children
CodeMonkey teaches coding to children through a variety of engaging games, puzzles, and challenges. The courses are structured to accommodate beginners, requiring no prior coding knowledge.
The primary focus is on combining education with entertainment by involving children in colorful, cartoon-style games that capture their attention. These games seamlessly integrate coding and programming concepts. To progress, complete tasks, and solve puzzles, children must input specific types of code.
Take, for example, a challenge where the goal is to assist a monkey in crossing a river and gathering bananas. In this situation, the student must provide instructions to the monkey regarding the number of steps to take and the direction to move at each step. To accomplish this, they would be required to formulate and specify a sequence of functions, including:
- Proceed to the river
- Rotate towards the turtle
- Advance to the banana
