finding out more about this

[Chris Morgenstern]

My son's friend told him about CoderDojo.  He would like to come, but I was wondering how this event works.  Do we need to bring a computer?  What does it need on it?  Do we need to register?  Is there group instruction time or are they working on their own mostly?  Is there is an area I can be with my younger kids to keep them entertained since my son is not old enough to drop off?  Just give me the rundown on what to expect and what we need to be prepared to participate.  THanks!
chris

[Jon Nolen]

Hi Chris,

You do need to register, you can do so here: http://zen.coderdojo.com/dojo/38

It is probably best if you bring a laptop that your son can use at home, we have computers available to use, but then he won't have that environment at home to work on in between.

The event runs from 11 am to 1pm, we tend to start new dojo members off with an environment called Scratch, building the game Breakout. If your son already has some experience and we can see that he is too advanced for that we'll move him onto something else.  We generally split into two/three groups; a group focused on games, a group focused on web development and a group of newer kids who are still getting oriented.  

There is usually a led group activity that targets a middle experience level for each group and dojo mentors that are available to work one on one with kids that are not up to speed enough to participate in the group activities.  If your son has his own thing that he wants to work on, he's welcome to do that as well, we'll be available to answer questions and help where needed.

There isn't really a place for kids to play in the building for non-members but there are a number of playgrounds near by or the Central Library which is relatively close by as well.

-jon

On Sun, Sep 15, 2013 at 11:47 AM, Chris Morgenstern <morning...@gmail.com> wrote:

My son's friend told him about CoderDojo.  He would like to come, but I was wondering how this event works.  Do we need to bring a computer?  What does it need on it?  Do we need to register?  Is there group instruction time or are they working on their own mostly?  Is there is an area I can be with my younger kids to keep them entertained since my son is not old enough to drop off?  Just give me the rundown on what to expect and what we need to be prepared to participate.  THanks!
chris

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[Chris Morgenstern]

Thanks Jon.  I was going to let him use my laptop for this, but it's pretty old and I'm not sure it will be up to par for what you guys will be doing.  I guess we'll see!  I'll go register him and give it a try.  I can't really leave with my other kids though as he is not old enough to leave on his own, but I will try and find a corner or hallway where we can play cards or read books, etc. 
chris