Oct 23 / Academic Director

How Long Does it Take to Learn To Code?

At UCode, students in high school typically require 50 hours of instructional time to complete an introductory kids coding course and an additional 50 hours to complete an advanced kids coding course. Yes, there is some variability based on age and math levels.

But learning to code is like learning the piano, guitar, or learning how to ice skate - it takes practice and persistence as kids learn to code by coding. It is like a musical instrument or a sport where practice is at the core of developing competence. The more you practice, the better you become. Technique is important and in our vernacular technique equates to curriculum, but it takes time and practice and good curriculum. We talk more about the importance of curriculum below. 


The Music Analogy

When learning to play the guitar you learn to play the chords. The chords are the basic building blocks of learning to play the guitar. Coding also has basic building blocks – what we call the “Core CS Concepts”. CS stands for computer science. The concepts that an 8-year-old learns and the concepts that an 18-year-old learns are identical. If you look at our Scratch Course curriculum and our Python Course curriculum you will see the same Core CS Concepts in both. Now, we do not teach them in the same way, but fundamentals are fundamentals. The great guitarist is playing the same chords as the beginner, he is just more practiced. And once you learn one coding language, the others are easily picked up.

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