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Students and parents team up March 12 for Family Code Night

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Outside of the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Staff/EdNC

The following is a press release from North Carolina Public Schools

Elementary school students and their parents will team up to learn computer coding Tuesday evening at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation during an event to kick off North Carolina Family Code Nights, a program available to all elementary schools statewide to host their own “code night” this spring.

To date, more than 90 schools in the state have signed up for the free activity, which is aimed at introducing students and their parents to computer coding. The event on Tuesday will recognize the schools participating so far as well as partners supporting the initiative, funded with a grant from Infosys Foundation USA. Parents of K-5 students across the state will be encouraged to visit the www.NCNights.org program website to support or attend a Family Code Night at their own school.

During Family Code Nights, which have been held at schools across the country, elementary-age students as young as kindergarten and their parents work in pairs to do their first hour of coding together, laying a foundation for understanding computer science. Students and parents are introduced to six big ideas, such as “what is a program?” that are illustrated by fun, easy-to-complete puzzles from Code.org.

While students and parents at Tuesday’s event will be led by a facilitator, Family Code Nights at individual schools this spring will be guided by school staff and volunteers using a free “event kit” and webinar provided by the Family Code Night organization.

“We want to emphasize that this is learning through play,” said John Pearce, executive director of the Family Code Nights program. “We want to inspire children and parents that they can start to learn and master coding and computer science, to show parents and educators what a Family Code Night is like, and how easy it is for any school to host this event.”

More information and the free Event Kit are available at www.NCNights.org, along with a Code@Home Family Pack of coding games at home.