DS in tears over school coding club what do you think?

[Mrskeepforgettingmywords]

Signed DS up to after school coding club he has begged me for months and I changed my hours at work so he could go. He left school Thursday in tears he said the teacher sat on her laptop the whole time and handed the kids iPads. He said it was really difficult and when he asked for help she said I don’t have enough time now.

When I picked him up he bursted in to tears right away he has been waiting to go for months so it is that instant disappointment.

Would you expect a coding club to teach kids? Or is it just a get together.

Agree. Especially if teachers have been 'told' they must run an after-school club as part of their normal duties. I fouled up a job interview once by saying I might and getting back that it was mandatory - to which I replied that my DH might have something to say about that (he would have - considering it to be unpaid overtime!) The 1265 hours includes an addition of duties expected by the HT, but forcing teachers to run after-school clubs is going to produce some pretty boring clubs and is verging on non-contractual.
I'd give this club a couple more goes, and maybe talk to the teacher running it? Bear in mind DS has started half-way through, as well.

Coding at 7!!! It's too young for that. I'd really question the value of it at such a young age. Try to find him something more active to do, I guess he's at primary school so he's probably playing with scratch or twinkle languages. It's unlikely that a primary school teacher has the knowledge to teach this in any real depth, and these intro-languages are not representative of real-world coding languages in any way - they are designed to be easily picked up with minimal guidance. IMO he would be better off learning core subjects and picking up a musical instrument, then try coding again in secondary school and support his learning then with a cheap little 'Raspberry Pi' micro computer.

Of course 7 isn't too young.
Coding is a language. We learn language from the day we are born.
Where does OP say her son isn't active? She didn't say 'my son only ever does coding'.
I'm pretty sure he is learning core subjects, and I don't see why an interest in music is preferable to one in coding.
Scratch and Twinkl aren't meant to be representative of real-world coding (in the same way Biff and Chip are a long way off adult reading material).

Well you made a whole bunch of inferences there, didn't you... Never said the OPs child wasn't active. But I think primary schools are not the best place to introduce IT fundamentals. Playing games on an iPad is not the same as learning core concepts of IT, and there are better uses of time for the teacher and the children - especially when resources and time is stretched.

It's amazing for children to build up the skills behind coding and to start to grasp and explore the concepts; there are good games and activities for younger children too, the horror!

You know what, you're right and I'm wrong. The more time young children spend on tablets the better, it can only serve to enhance their language comprehension, reading, writing, eyesight, socialisation, and emotional development, as recent evidence shows. Doom scrolling never harmed anyone.

Sorry OP, I don't want hijack your thread, I'm sorry for your child's disappointment, I know it's difficult to see, but there's a world of better stuff to do at 7yrs old than being on a tablet. I hope you find it, I really do...

We're talking about an after school club - 45 mins tops I should imagine.
OP's son has shown an interest, which OP is supportive of. This has led to some disappointment from the child due to difference of expectations.
Could have been coding, could have been cricket - kids learn how to mange these things through experience.

I don't think after school coding club is the gateway to doom scrolling and the end of the child's development in other areas.

Whether this particular club is effective is a different issue.

I thought that too, but then read it back thinking I must have got it wrong. I'm AuDHD and I can be a bit too literal at times 😂

I assumed it was a catty spelling/grammar comment as well! Relieved to see it wasn’t.

You say that, but it's pretty clear that the majority of kids who come from primary haven't. I know for a fact that the local schools have computers, but their kids arrive for CAT4 tests in Year 7 and cannot type their login details in or use a mouse, let alone type something and manage to save it with an appropriate filename. And they all use caps lock instead of shift.

The very rare exception has a parent who has made sure they've learned out of school.

Primary IT skills are practically non-existent. And there's no point trying to teach coding if Ctrl-S is beyond their ken.

Yes it's very sad.
IT systems in primary schools are shocking. We'd be lucky to get a laptop between 3 in a class.

presumably he's joined part way through - are they already working on projects. Have a conversation with the school or organiser about what is planned/expected. I'd give it two/three weeks, or maybe til the end of term to see how it goes.

Don't worry, I too initially thought she actually sat on a laptop!! I took it further and thought she sat on the student's laptop!! I thought 'what a horrible teacher!!' 😂

My children are aged 39+ now and I remember that very simple programming was being taught in class at their primary school, but by a parent volunteer then.

Many primary schools do use online resources so they ought to be teaching at least some necessary IT skills already, with all children being taught the simple things such as logging on and using a mouse and keyboard as part of their normal day. Surely they should be able to find time to do the basics before they get to secondary school, and any interested children could take it further in clubs - but obviously this depends on the skill-set of the teachers in the school. I taught simple IT to adult beginners in the 1990's and don't see this as an insurmountable load.
I do appreciate that teachers don't always want to stay on to take a club, particularly if they have a long journey home. Most schools try to spread the load and in our school some classes are taken by adults who don't teach in the school.

Speak to their teacher. If they are still being rubbish ask if he can sit with another child who can help them.