There are many options for kids learning to code, Breakout Mentors is the most personalized and designed for long-term growth. Discover how your son or daughter will advance through consistent challenges from an impressive college instructor.
Each student is carefully matched with an exciting mentor who will customize the project-based learning. Our curriculum, constantly improved since 2011, is the perfect blend of structure and open-ended projects for independence and grit.
Hold a 90 minute session with the same mentor each week, fit conveniently into your schedule. Students keep advancing year-round at the perfect pace and are proud of the fun games and projects they create.
Hear From a Student
Python For Kids Learning to Code
Many of our students use Python to learn programming fundamentals. Breakout Mentors is currently working with 58 kids in Python! It is an excellent language for learning to problem-solve like a computer scientist and to become comfortable with concepts like loops, conditionals, and functions. Kids love to make their own versions of games, including the classic Atari game Breakout. Mentors encourage the students to add their own creative features, like after hitting the ball five times the paddle shrinks.
As students progress, mentors are able to introduce more advanced concepts and encourage increasingly complex projects. Kids who work with Breakout Mentors over months and years will eventually move to Java, advanced apps and projects, USACO Competition Programming Academy, or Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Academy.
What parents say…
Breakout Mentors was exactly what we were looking for when our 11 year old son asked to learn programming. He connected quickly with his mentor, who has taught him things beyond our knowledge. After his last session, he tried to explain to me some aspect of the programming he just learned and then said ‘I feel so proud of myself.’ We are proud of him too and thankful for Breakout Mentors.
Father of 6th grade boy in Palo Alto
Breakout Mentors was exactly what I was looking for. We started 2 years ago when my daughter was 11 and now she is an expert Scratch coder which translated easily into learning Python! Her mentors don’t tell her what to do, they help her figure it out. They push her to make her projects better and more complex. They treat her like a peer and do things like white boarding sessions and have passionate discussions about programming logic during her sessions. Both of her mentors have been women, which has been amazing. And an added benefit is she loves going to the CAL engineering library every week, wants to be an engineer and attend MIT! It’s ignited her passion about STEM subjects and she is so driven now. This program is truly amazing. I can’t say enough good things about it.
The mentor focuses on teaching my son to think, not just follow. Software conventions, and reasons behind them, are developed with an understanding of their purpose, not just ‘do it this way because I said so’ mentality. In addition, the mentor encourages my son to check documentation for answers and find solutions that make sense for the project. My son feels proud of the work he completes and is motivated to work on his projects independently between sessions!
What students say…
