Some Benefits of Going to a Microsoft Computer Camp

Our 4th week of summer unschooling was busy shuttling back and fort to a mall where the local Microsoft store hosted a free summer camp for kids on computer coding.

We enjoyed listening to our book on CD while driving and exploring a "new" mall.  We did some shopping and Ian went to three different stores checking prices and all of his choices before deciding what to buy.

They made many new friends at camp and it was great to see Alec, in particular, interacting with kids much younger than himself.  Many of the kids at camp had younger siblings hanging around and though Alec usually does not want to play with younger kids I saw him talking and playing with a few of them throughout the week.

Their main focus this week was on computer coding and learning all the ins and outs of the various programs they were encouraged to use.


These Microsoft camps are amazing.  We highly recommend them to any young kids interested in the very basics of coding.
  • They're Free
  • They allow kids to get hands on experience with various computer programs
  • They are fun and engaging
  • They allow kids to connect with one another over a common interest
  • They show kids all the new technology available
  • They incorporate reading, writing, and math through computers
  • Most of the activities are open ended and allow for a lot of creativity
  • The teachers are positive and encouraging                 

Hard at work coding.  He was so intense and serious.  
Checking out the birch tree forest.  We loved
looking up at the "leaves" and trying to
figure out how they made the trees.  
While the camp up most of our week we did other things too.

The younger two boys spent some time at the forge making a new hook & learning how to keep themselves safe from burns and accidents.

They all did some reading too; Ian finished up Catching Fire and told me he couldn't wait for computer camp to end so he could start the third book.  Yep, that's right; he wanted computer camp to end so he could READ!  I never thought I'd hear those words come out of his mouth.

Comments

  1. Dawn RebekahJune 27, 2015 at 7:40 AM

    A free coding camp! What a awesome opportunity.
    Blessings, Dawn

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mother of 3June 27, 2015 at 7:52 AM

    I was so surprised to discover that most of the Microsoft stores offer free summer camps all summer long; 2 hours a day for 4 days. The kids got a t-shirt and a certificate and everything! They also offer free field trips. Our homeschool group set up a field trip for us and that's where we learned about their summer camps.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mother of 3June 27, 2015 at 7:52 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

Making Gift Card and Money Holders Using Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Supples

Image
I don't tend to keep a lot of crafting supplies on hand so when I saw this month's de-stash challenge I wasn't sure what I was going to make.  I finally realized that with so many of my Christmas gifts being cash and gift cards this year that I needed to make up some fun paper crafting/ creative ways to gift them.   I still want my nieces and nephews to have something to open so I pulled out my papers and stamps and made up some cute little money/gift card holders. They were much easier to make than I thought.  The first one I worked on was to hold some oversized Nintendo gift cards.  I made a standard sized card and folded down one corner of the card front.  Then I ran my double sided tape along the bottom an 1/2 way up the side creating a cute little pocket.  Finally I added some cute embellishments and ribbons.   Voila! A simple and easy gift card holder for those larger sized gift cards.  The bulk of the tweens and teens on my list j...
Read more

Making a Sugar Cookie "Gingerbread" House

Image
 Alec really wanted to try making his own gingerbread house this year without using a premade kit.  We talked about how we never really eat the house since they don't taste very good.  Years ago we gave up on the frosting that comes in the kit and began making our own so we thought perhaps we should try making our our house too. Only problem is that no one in the house likes gingerbread.  We talked about trying to make the house using a sugar cookie recipe.  Alec was so excited at that idea since he just LOVES sugar cookies.   He found a recipe online for a simple sugar cookie recipe and mixed up the dough.  He rolled it out an cut it to the size of our cookie sheets-- we had read that it's easiest to cut the house pieces out after the dough has been baked and is still warm and soft because then you don't have to worry about any of the pieces losing their shape while baking. I had picked out a simple cookie cutter set on Amazon and as soon as the ...
Read more

Dollar Store Candy Cane Wreath

Image
Today I am linking up with some fellow bloggers for a Dollar Store craft challenge.  I don't often participate in these challenges since I try to stay away from our local Dollar Stores; I find they can be quite dangerous for me!  I knew this was the perfect time to find some inexpensive holiday decorations though and I just LOVE how my wreath turned out!  I hope you stop by and see what the other hosts are sharing. Meet this month's co-hosts! Across the Blvd | Purple Hues & Me This Autoimmune Life | Our Unschooling Journey Domestic Deadline | Sew Crafty Crochet Stone Cottage Adventures | Sum of Their Stories | Two Chicks & a Mom I bought the candy cane wreath base and a few rolls of mesh (not knowing how many I'd need I bought waaay to many; I only ended up using one white roll and one red roll. Using some chenille stems I already had on hand I attached the mesh to the wreath base trying to alternate the whit...
Read more