My son is nine years old. He’ll be ten soon. He became obsessed with Minecraft about halfway through last year. In his spare time, he watches YouTube videos about Minecraft mods and walkthroughs. When I learned that there was a class, specifically designed for kids in Grades 3-7 to teach how to write Minecraft mods in Java, I knew it would be a perfect fit.
Youth Digital provides this class, along with other such classes on making 3D games, apps, and video games, and they have two new classes coming out in May on animation and 3D modeling. Their whole company is set up to provide a valuable service to kids like my son who are really into various computer activities. The classes will get them well on their way to developing job skills in computer fields.
My son is only a few sections into the Mod Design 1 class, but it is proving to be quite entertaining and educational. The instruction is clear, step by step, and entertaining. There is enough help for the students, and they enjoy it because they get to change things in Minecraft that they’ve never gotten to change before. Obviously, a hearty interest in Minecraft is useful for this class, but it’s also a great way to begin learning Java.
Our initial impressions are that the class is most excellent. My son is truly enjoying himself, and learning a brand new skill. We will report back in a couple of months for a full review. But in the meantime, check out Youth Digital and their classes. The fact that they offer such computer science classes for kids so young is impressive, and they do a stellar job of not talking over kids’ heads, or down at them, at any time. It’s also taught at a very appropriate speed. I recommend these classes to any kids interested in the topics.
Youth Digital provided access to the Minecraft Mod Design 1 class for the purposes of these reviews.
My 10 -year old son and I checked out the courses you recommend in this post but $200+ was more than I can afford.
Thank you for the review here. My son is interested in this as well. What was your final impression? Worth the $200? I don’t mind paying as long as it is truly educational.
Hi Jenny,
Did you see Educents has a deal on these products? Save 30% ($174.99)
Here’s a link: http://www.educents.com/minecraft-design-online-course.html
It’s been about 3 months since your son started…
Did he finish the complete lesson?
What was your impression?
Is it worth the $250?
My 10 year old son started this course yesterday morning and put in 9 hours straight. He finished 4 of the lessons (24 lessons). This morning, 6:45am mind you, he asked me to help get his “youth digital setup” together so he could start lesson 5. If you have a child that asks to learn, you got something special, both in the child and in the courseware. He LOVES Minecraft and would spend hours playing, downloading, watching… and now he’s on the other side. More importantly, he recognizes it. He’s making things from his imagination appear in Minecraft and he’ll be able to share that with others! I can’t recommend this courseware enough.
Not that I’m surprised, but I’m really glad that others are having the same experience we did. I love these classes, and want to take several myself. Thanks for sharing!
I bought the course today on Zulily for $149.99. Today is the last day. There is also 3D courses.
Trying to figure out if this product is a scam
It most definitely not a scam. What questions do you have?
We bought this for our 12-year-old daughter for Christmas as it was also a perfect fit for her interests. We all think the tutor in the videos is hilarious. I’ll keep checking in to see how you are going with your son and let you know how we go too. Early days but I think well worth the money – even with the bad Australian dollar conversion!