The CodeSpeak Blog

Thank you to all of our amazing Kickstarter backers who helped turn CodeSpeak Books into a reality! Platinum Sponsors Sok, Johnny, and Josephine Jiang: Josephine, we hope this book inspires you to find your passion. Love, Mom and Dad Ad Shelton, Kickr Design Nicole Araneta and Rob Boyle The...

I feel so fortunate that our first CodeSpeak Books Kickstarter has gone so well that I want to share with others how we did it, in that hopes that it gets even more people piloting innovative education products! I'll link to the detailed review of all of the steps I took to launch CodeSpeak...

Micro-internships are an approach that CodeSpeak Labs created to take the best parts of an internship -- real world experience, collaboration with mentors, professional deliverables -- put into a manageable, week-long experience for busy students and corporate partners. We work with students in...

We started with a dream to make coding more accessible to kids – to not just let them consume technology, but also learn how to create it. We thought a picture book for kids ages 2-6 would be the medium to get kids hooked – a non-tech way to get kids thinking about tech. So, we started a...

We want to send a big THANK YOU for all of our incredible school partners from this school year. We've worked with students from ages 4 to 18, from New York to California, from total beginners to advanced super coders!   We're looking forward to another incredible year of growth, with new...

CodeSpeak Labs was just featured in the LA Times! Special thank you to the amazing students of Circle View Elementary and Principal Hickman!

We call it “The Usual Suspects”.   When you lose something, like your phone, for example, you look in likely places first - your pocket, your bag, by your keys- before you turn your room upside down. The same common sense approach applies to code. The vast majority of bugs (mistakes in code)...

Code.org and Scratch are the 2 most popular platforms for young coders learning to code for the first time. They both focus on logic and computational thinking and are free to use.  Kids tend to prefer Scratch, teachers tend to prefer Code.org. We love both, and we’ll explain why here.  Both...

Happiness guru Gretchen Rubin created this framework to help people make better habits for themselves, but it's also a helpful lens to think about motivating students. In her book, Better Than Before, she explains there are four "tendencies":Upholders respond readily to outer and inner...

I LOVED Secret Coders by Gene Luen Yang. It’s a comic book that has a gripping story, family drama, relatable kid/teen issues, a sketchy villain, a plot twist…. AND introduces coding concepts. It’s a must-get if your child likes comics. Extra bonus points that the teenage protagonist - angsty...