Block-based for the youngest, then Python. The language matters far less than whether the child will read an error message instead of panicking.

Screen time all week?

No. Roughly half the week is off-screen: planning on paper, tracing logic by hand, testing on each other.

Is it too late to start at 13?

No. Thirteen-year-olds move faster than anyone; what they need is a reason, not an earlier start.

Coding Summer Camp in Tempe, AZ

Parents in Tempe, AZ book summer in February and regret it in July. Tempe has a population of about 168,228. What separates a week worth repeating is whether the child was ever genuinely stuck and then unstuck.

Ages 7-14 · For families · Arizona · West

Coding Summer Camp — Ellis Abel Learns STEM summer camp materials used in Tempe, AZ

What the week actually is

Most coding camps teach syntax and lose the child by Wednesday. This one teaches the loop — write, run, it breaks, read the error, fix it — because that loop is what a programmer actually does and it is learnable at seven.

Day by day

Logic on paper before a keyboard
First program, first error message
Read the error, fix the error
Build something with a user who is not you
Showcase: hand it to someone and watch

Tempe, AZ — what applies locally

Tempe has a population of about 168,228.
State: Arizona · Region: West

Questions we get from Tempe, AZ

Which language?: Block-based for the youngest, then Python. The language matters far less than whether the child will read an error message instead of panicking.
Screen time all week?: No. Roughly half the week is off-screen: planning on paper, tracing logic by hand, testing on each other.
Is it too late to start at 13?: No. Thirteen-year-olds move faster than anyone; what they need is a reason, not an earlier start.

Other camp themes in Tempe

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Coding Camp elsewhere in Arizona

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