Scratch Course in Alanya: A First Programme for Ages 7 to 10

A Scratch course in Alanya is a first software step for ages 7 to 10. Scratch is MIT’s block based environment: the child drags commands, a character moves, and conditions and repetition become visible. The aim is not to train a professional developer. It is to leave a child who can put an idea in order and try it out.

For a plain account of the idea, see what is Scratch?. This article explains how the same tool fits into choosing a course in Alanya.

Why is Scratch suitable at this age?

At ages 7 to 10, text code (curly brackets, typos) is for most children a wall that comes too early. Blocks remove that wall. The child still thinks like a real programmer: order, conditions, loops, mistakes and fixes.

At Zekaland, this level is the software education in Alanya programme. Next to Scratch, if the age is right, a small machine learning trial with Teachable Machine can be added. This is not an “AI certificate”. It is about seeing data being sorted according to an example.

What a parent should see at the end of the term

A good Scratch course leaves this trace:

• A game or animation that the child explains in their own words
• The sentence “it did not work, so I changed this”, which is debugging
• A lesson rhythm in which the screen is not the only activity

What you should not see: the same ready made file for everyone, constant screen homework that needs a parent standing guard, or promises of “software expertise” with no age given.

Screen time

Scratch uses a screen. That is why Scratch is not the first door for age 6. There, screen free coding is more right. At ages 7 to 10 there is a screen, but the whole lesson is not silent video watching. The child builds, tries and explains.

Roughly how does an hour of a lesson go?

A typical flow is this: a short question or game recalls the rule, the child picks a goal on their own stage and tries it with blocks, and when they get stuck the instructor does not paste in the answer but looks for the reason together. At the end of the lesson the child says in one sentence what changed. Homework is not a long list that makes a parent stand guard at the screen.

A Scratch account and sharing do not have to mean a public profile in the child’s name. At a young age, nothing is published publicly without parental consent.

The next step

After Scratch, the natural move at ages 11 to 14 is mobile apps: mobile app education in Alanya. For the broader frame: software course in Alanya.

Lessons take place face to face on the Şekerhane campus in Alanya. To check fit, you only need to write your child’s age in the application form. We do not ask for a name, school or date of birth.