HI,

 The video was outstanding. Where can we go to learn more about starting this at our District.

You can reach us at info@FamilyCodeNight.org, and visit our website to download the Event Kit for the program.  We will be updating the Spanish language resources soon! 

Mary, your response underscores exactly what launched this as a national effort in the first place: at our own child's elementary school, hosting that first evening Family Code Night, and seeing the unique, loving, and inspiring experience taking place in every parent-child pair in the room!

Good question about evaluation. We are seeking funding to do a study of the conditions under which Family Code Nights lead to changes in parent, teacher and child knowledge and interest in computer science, as well as to more opportunities for children and families to learn to code. What we have observed from the 3 Spanish Nights was that it did increase interest and confidence, and led parents to ask for more events. 

Hi William, and thank you for your comments and question.  Probably the most significant Family Code Night evaluation result came from our very first "Night":  First, children and parents expressed their interest "with their feet," with 140 turning out with two weeks notice in our 300 student elementary school--and having a wonderful evening.  And second, when we surveyed attendees, literally 100% of respondents asked for follow-up programs.  This response -- delight and fresh demand for learning coding and computer science -- is what got us focused on helping schools across the country host this event, to build demand and understanding from the grass-roots of each school community.  Re: promotion and tracking, we've built a new model for statewide promotion and proliferation of Family Code Nights in North Carolina, and recruit and recognize participating schools via an community-engaging program map, all at www.NCNights.org. Happy to hear added input or inquiries at www.FamilyCodeNight.org.  -jp

What a great turnout!!! I am curious to know what types of advertising strategies did you use to get parents there.

Thanks Jeannie.  We suggest direct invitations to all school families via multiple media:  that is, send a few emails, send home a flyer, use school robo-call or texting systems, include in the school enewsletter -- you know, the usual suspects for family communication!  Our Event Kit has easily customizable flyers, posters and emails you can use.  You can get the Event Kit at www.FamilyCodeNight.org.

Jeannie--at the Spanish Family Code Nights we asked parents how they heard about the event. Most (48%) said that they heard about it through a flyer in their child's school folder, although school email and text were also common. But I agree with what John said--advertising in multiple ways and having teachers, school staff and administrators spread the word was also key. One of our schools used their morning Principal Coffee ("Cafecitos") to give parents who don't have computers at home a brief intro to the Hour of Code.

This is awesome work! Does your stated outcome of "increase interest and confidence" apply to both the children and their parents? How did you evaluate this? I would love to learn more so that we can apply some of your methodology and techniques to our work on the East Coast (45%+ of our students speak Spanish at home)!

Wow: Michael, I love your video and your program!  We work with schools nationwide, and would love to work with you.  Very strong agreement on the value of near-peer engagement -- for us, this is a precise fit when older students serve as Code Coaches or even Presenters at elementary school Family Code Nights, which would nicely feed your middle school programs.  Our support for Spanish language Family Code Nights is growing, as our video w/ ETR indicates.  Please get in touch if you'd like to chat about possible collaboration, info@FamilyCodeNight.org.

Jill and John, thanks for your responses about evaluation. I think it's really important when you have a program like this that is working well you are able to understand more about why it works, this is really helpful to others in the field trying to do something similar. I am really happy that you are pursuing this kind of evaluation strategy!

Hi Sara, really enjoyed your video as well, and we'd welcome collaborating on multicultural Family Code Nights in NYC.  Get in touch via www.FamilyCodeNight.org, or 415 388 0184.  -jp

Thank you, John! The setting would be a community room or the patio in one of the elementary schools. The communities I work with are pretty small (~800 - 1300 members) but the elementary school seems to be the place where children and parents can get involved in the coding activity. I know they are eager to find ways to use those laptops, particularly since they have extremely limited internet services. I'd love to hear more about your ideas on this. 

Hi John,

The school has minimal internet services, not always reliable, intermittent at the most, but varies across communities. We work with one community that has decent wifi services in the middle-school, and I think that would work. I had the pleasure to meet Jill and to visit the ETR offices when I was a grad student at UCSC, and  I look forward to exploring the possibility of expanding 'family code night' to our Maya children (my email is lualcala@fullerton.edu, in case you are interested in a possible collaboration). Again, congratulations on your fantastic video and research projects! 

Hi Margaret, we definitely want to spread Spanish Family Code Nights nationwide, and are seeking funding to do so.  We will work with interested districts or funders in any geography in the country to make this happen, and would welcome contacts to explore this further.  We also have Spanish language resources already available, so please get in touch for more info.  You can reach us at info@FamilyCodeNight.org.

Also, Margaret, are you NC-based?  If so, please be sure to get in touch as we indeed have programs in place there we should talk about!

Hi John,

While I am not in NC, I do have network connections in the state and am happy to reach out to them and connect them to your programs.

Thanks Margaret, let's get in touch!  Could you give me a call or email?  415 388 0184 or info@familycodenight.org.  -jp

We've done Family Code Nights at middle schools, and they work very well, though of course by those grades parents have a little less magic and impact upon belief-formation for the child, with kids more inclined towards 'aww mom' and eye-rolls as we know!  K-5 is the sweet spot for Family Code Night.  That said, there is a terrific opportunity here for older students:  give middle and high school students, especially those with some coding experience or classes, the leadership and mentoring opportunity of acting as Code Coaches or even Presenters at a K-5 Family Code Night.  A great community service and college resume credit, and older students are rock stars to K-5 children.  Few can inspire younger children's aspirations and self-belief like an older student from their own community and background as a role model!  A real win/win for all involved.

Thanks for watching our video! As you know, the English toolkit already exists. We are working on the Spanish one, complete with planning and recruitment strategies, as well as the script for the one-hour event.

Thanks Diley! The presentation script was adapted to include references to culturally relevant topics (like the tamale-making comment in the video), and we encourage families to work together on the computer, rather than assuming it will be one parent and one child. We also replaced the English video that is shown at the beginning of the English Family Code Night with this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGgdCryC8Uo&feature=youtu.be  Can you suggest some culturally authentic approaches you have used that might be appropriate for this -hour event?

Thanks Carol! I would love to hear what the teachers in Texas think about the video and the Spanish language tools.

Thanks Barbara! I agree that the presenter is fantastic. We were so fortunate to have a teacher and teacher-leader that knows how to integrate computational concepts and cultural references.

Thank you for watching our video! By opening these evenings up to whole families, the preschool age children also get to watch and participate. And the surveys we collected from parents show that they come not only to prepare their children for the future, but also to learn for themselves. 

Eoghan, thank you for watching our video. I am also interested in better understanding the conditions under which a one-time event like Family Code Night can lead children and parents to do more coding. We hope to get funding that would allow us to do some follow-up interviews to help us answer that question.