Coding Classes

[C0nfused23]

Hi All,
My 7 year old seems to be enjoying his coding (Scratch) lessons at school and would like to explore into this area. I am not an IT professional, hence unable to decide which course would be best for him. Please could you suggest a good coding class which could review his strengths and guide him through the right direction? Thank you for your time in advance.

Scratch is good, you could continue with that at home.
Bear in mind that in the future AI will take over all coding jobs so I wouldn’t spend too much time on it.

https://coderdojo.com/en would be worth looking at.

At this age, it's about learning a particular way of thinking - and having fun so that he wants to do more. As he gets a bit older, encourage him to come up with things he wants to build: programming is all about creative problem solving, and the fastest way to learn is to explore different ideas (because the idea you've come up with is tricky to solve!). Creating your own stuff is also what's satisfying and fun about programming.

Scratch is good to start with but eventually he'll find it restrictive and want to write in a text-based programming language, and it doesn't really matter which. I'm more dubious (perhaps unfairly) of those courses which provide a graphical platform to drag and drop blocks simply to make new game levels. I don't see how it encourages the problem-solving and creativity which is at the core of programming.

When it comes to AI replacing all programmers, that's obviously discussed lots and people have different opinions. Personally, I think AI will be an incredible productivity tool and change the specifics of what we do, but it won't replace us. He might not be writing thousands of lines of java code in 20 years time, but the logical and creative problem solving will still be there.

IT is always changing. It's very different now from when I started. But we tend to make more and more complex stuff, which still needs people to understand the complexity. This cartoon is spot on: https://images.app.goo.gl/Uw985Rv5nin8SA3v7

And even if he doesn't end up working in IT, coding is fun to learn!

Thanks a lot for your responses @ThursdayTomorrow, @Dacadactyl and @ChristmasLightsAndSparkles for your responses. That was really helpful.

I am not sure whether any online course would be good for his age, as I might struggle to keep him focused for a longer time.
Could anyone suggest a coding class where my son could attend the lesson in an institute or centre somewhere near Wanstead or in Redbridge?

Thanks a lot for your time in advance.

I think they have Coder Dojos at the library in Wanstead and Redbridge.
My son previously went to one at his local centre. It was volunteer run and free.
He now goes to Code Ninjas, which is a paid-for club, which he started after his Coder Dojo stopped running,