Can younger children engage positively with electronics?

Absolutely!  Children learn through play, through taking things apart and putting them back together.

Our hands-on approach allows children as young as four years old to experience the delights of creating interesting mini-products that work. 

Through building things that are genuinely interesting for them at their age level, the children in our courses learn the fundamentals of technology & computing in a way that feels very different from a classroom.

Accompanied learning sessions: Each child & participating adult learner (a parent, grandparent or carer), goes on a guided journey of collaborative discovery.  Together, they will explore the core elements of modern technology: electronics, sensors, and computing, guided by a master instructor.

In the process, children develop their self-confidence, their ability to persevere, strengthen their communication skills, improve their dexterity with objects, and experience the delight of accomplishment! 

These physical, social, and emotional skills are part of a growth mindset which will serve them well throughout their years in school.

What does a typical session look like?

Our accompanied learning sessions have four parts:

Welcome activity.  Each session starts in a circle with an activity that gets each child welcomed personally and feeling comfortable with the others in the group.

Discovery of the Day.  Each session's build is broken down into a few simple steps that take components and apply an assembly process.  Each step is first demonstrated to the children, after which each child is invited to take the relevant components back to their station and try it for themselves with their parent.  This is an exciting time when they get to choose materials for themselves!  After three to four of these steps, they will have created something that works.  In most cases, there is an activity that allows them to explore further and play with their creation!

Interactive show & tell.  In each session, the children get to present what they've done, building their self-confidence to explain to others, and strengthening their pride in their accomplishment.

Tidy-up routine.  The children are guided to take apart what they have built, piece by piece, and return it to the equipment station at the top of the circle.  We end the session going round each child and parent, and where the child gets to hear what their parent learned.

What involvement is expected of the child's parent/care-giver in these sessions?

Parents/care-givers are vital for the success of their child in these sessions.

Our activities are designed to create a child-carer team approach to discovering, learning, and playing together.

Our sessions facilitate the development of a growth mindset in children.  Child learning is best when the play is child-led, with the carer providing encouragement, attention, and support but only after letting the child have a few goes.  Trying, persevering, and eventually succeeding, are core aspects of a growth mindset. 

My child is 3 and a half years old, do I need to wait until they are 4 in order to enroll?

Once the child is past 3 and a half years old, we allow parents to exercise their judgement on readiness of the child, subject to the benchmark guidance below. 

Behavioural Guidelines for the Electronics for Junior Course

From a capability perspective, a child should have the following attributes in order to have a great session:

a) The child must assuredly beyond the stage where interesting things go in the mouth.  This must not happen with electronics & wires, which have sharp ends.  We have set the lower age to 4 years because this stage has been reached by 90%+ of four year olds.

b) The child should have reasonable fine motor skills.  A typical four year old is able to use both hands to clip a hook onto a pin.  There's may be a little shakiness, but if this is offset by sufficient focus and determination to accomplish an exciting task, and if they're ok to receive some gentle help in order to succeed, then they should be fine!

c) When excited but frustrated, the child with encouragement should be able to to a 'growth mindset', i.e. to double down their focus and try again, and to feel good after succeeding, even if they have received a little gentle help.

If you think your 3 and a half year old child meets the guidelines above and will enjoy the session, please reach out to us to schedule a taster session to give it a try!

Where do you run your Junior sessions?

We currently run our Junior sessions across Herts, Bucks, and North  & Northwest London in the following Locations.

Our locations are warm, friendly, safe spaces, with convenient on-site parking, embedded into local communities. 

What are the timings for the Junior sessions?

Our Junior programmes run Term-Time for 50 minutes. 

Weekly After-School: We typically start at 4pm to allow time for primary schools to finish and the child to have a little snack.

Weekly Weekend: We also Sunday slots at selected locations by request.

Want to learn more?

Read our article "Electronics in the Early Years: Gateway to Technology".

Visit our About Us page to learn more about our approach, the philosophy behind it, and the background of our Founder.

Or, to speak with one of our programme team, Register and request a callback in comments box.