Curriculum

Girls Who Code Clubs is an after-school program that is democratizing access to computer science education for girls nationwide. Girls Who Code Clubs inspire, educate, and equip girls with the 21st century skills they need to change the world. Girls Who Code Clubs offers a fun and engaging exposure to computer science. Our curriculum provides monthly, project-based activities and the opportunity for students to build mobile apps and websites.

Girls Who Code Club is for all girls grade 6-12. If you don't know how to code, we'll teach you. If you do know how to code, we'll teach you to code better. Our ultimate goal is to teach girls to think like Computer Scientists, which goes way beyond simply coding.

The curriculum is built around 6 units:

Unit 1 - Graphics

Unit 2 - Video Games

Unit 3 - Artificial Intelligence

Unit 4 - Mobile Apps

Unit 5 - Cryptography

Unit 6 - Real World Solutions

Our curriculum has 3 different levels that run concurrently. Each level takes a full school year to complete, although it is possible that some students would benefit from doing some levels twice if they need more time to pick up some of the skills. Students will be placed into the level that best matches their experience and current abilities. Bonus activities on each project allow girls to stretch themselves regardless of what level they are in.

Students code in Scratch or JavaScript, depending on their level. They use the KhanAcademy JS environment and the ProcessingJS library. See our Technology Links page for more details.

Girls Who Code Club is not a program for elite students only -- anybody can learn to code. At the same time, girls who complete Level 3 of the program have all the skills and experience needed to place out of the typical CS101 class at elite engineering colleges like MIT, CMU, or Stanford.

For more insight into the curriculum, see the Lessons and Assignments page.

Views expressed here are those of the Newton Free Public Library Girls Who Code Club, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Girls Who Code.