What a busy beginning to 2020, it is shaping up to be an incredible decade!

The Breakout Mentors team started working with many new students, each with their own personalized learning experience. We don’t simply do the same thing with every kid. We take the time to understand their previous knowledge and goals, then craft the curriculum plan.

Let’s take a look at the wide range of new kid coders receiving one-on-one tutoring.

3rd Grade Boy Starting Drag-and-Drop Coding

The coronavirus has been all over the news recently – parts of the world are on lock-down with travel restrictions and airport closures. One family traveling from Hong Kong over the Chinese New Year school break is now extending their stay in SF and coding with a mentor.

We structured an offering similar to our private in-home summer camps: 15 hours spread out over 1-2 weeks. He is completely new to coding and is learning the Scratch drag-and-drop language.

A 12 Year-Old Girl in Berkeley

We love providing young girls a female role model. It is hard to quantify the power of spending time with someone who is passionate about STEM and exemplifies what is possible with consistent effort.

This particular student is learning Python on weekends. She previously did a little coding at home with the help of her father and coding book, but finds the personal connection with a mentor a much better learning experience!

An 8th Grader in Los Altos with After-School Coding Experience

There are more ways than ever to get started coding, which is excellent. Wherever that spark of interest comes from, take advantage of it. However not all of them are effective long-term – whether for learning or deepening interest.

Breakout Mentors recently started with an 8th grade boy who was learning Python in a semi-private after-school coding center. They were coaching him through a project that was way too advanced for his couple months of experience, and when he sat down with our mentor, we knew he needed to master the fundamentals first. Our Stanford University mentor travels in-home on weekdays.

16 Year-Old in AP Computer Science

Coding is just as much an art as a technical skill. However Computer Science is slightly different – it is a lot of specific technical knowledge. The AP CS course is a combination of many new concepts explored in the Java language.

The course is taught differently at various high schools. The good ones incorporate projects with the concepts, touching on the art of combining the technical knowledge to produce a result. This can be difficult, but really is the useful part and the knowledge the “sticks” beyond the test. Breakout Mentors started with a new student recently in Berkeley with this goal in mind.

Still a Few Open Spots

If your son or daughter is interested in a coding mentor, please schedule a call with Breakout Mentors Founder Brian Skinner. Since we are highly personalized for each student, it is the only way to sign up!