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Online Scratch Class · Ages 8 to 10

Your kid can build
video games.

A one-month jumpstart into video game development, taught by Matt Highland, a credentialed elementary school teacher and the author of Coding for Kids: Scratch.

Book the meet and greet See how it works

$99 one time. No subscription, learn from home.

At a glance

What this class actually is.

The Hackingtons Online Scratch Class is a one-month online coding class for kids ages 8 to 10. It costs $99 one time, with no subscription. Your child builds four playable games in Scratch at home, on their own schedule, and Matt Highland records a personal video review of every one of them.

Scratch is the free block-based programming language made by MIT. It runs in any web browser, so there is nothing to buy and nothing to install.

Ages8 to 10, no prior coding experience needed
Price$99 USD, charged once. No subscription and nothing to cancel.
LengthOne month, starting the day of the meet and greet
FormatSelf-paced at home, plus one live one-on-one meet and greet at the start. There is no scheduled class to attend.
What they buildFour playable Scratch games: Butterfly Clicker, Shark Escape, Maze Escape, and Flappy Bird
FeedbackA personal video review from the instructor for each finished game, and a weekly summary email to the parent
InstructorMatt Highland, licensed California public elementary school teacher, author of Coding for Kids: Scratch, teaching kids to code since 2014
SoftwareScratch, free and browser-based. Nothing to install.
What you needA computer with a web browser and an internet connection. A mouse makes dragging blocks easier than a tablet.
RefundFull refund for 48 hours after the meet and greet, no questions asked
WhereOnline, taught in English. Hackingtons is based in Pleasant Hill, California.

How it works

One call, then they are off.

There is no class to attend and nothing to install. Scratch runs in any browser.

Start with a meet and greet

Your $99 month begins with a meet and greet with Matt. He helps set up your Hackingtons and Scratch accounts and gives your child their first assignment. If your child is not excited after the meeting, you have 48 hours to ask for a full refund, no questions asked.

Lessons that fit your child

Matt sends your child personalized lessons throughout the month, tailored to their age and ability level.

Personalized video reviews

Matt plays each finished game, then sends your child a personalized video review: what worked, and what to try next. Yes, he really plays it.

A weekly email for you

Every week you get a summary of the lessons Matt sent, the games your child built, and the feedback he gave. You stay in the loop without having to sit next to them.

A note from Matt

“Wow, I built that.”

I started Hackingtons in 2014 in the Bay Area, and we have taught thousands of kids to code since. The part I care about most is still the first month, the moment a kid sits back and says wow, I built that.

My job is not to be a brilliant programmer, those are our other instructors. I’m an elementary school teacher. But more importantly, I’m your child’s biggest fan, and I can get them excited about building amazing things.

Matt Highland at his desk with a microphone.

Matt Highland

Co-founder, Hackingtons

  • Licensed California public elementary school teacher
  • Author of Coding for Kids: Scratch
  • Teaching kids to code since 2014

The 1 month curriculum

Four games they can actually play.

Each one is a real, playable program, not an exercise. They can send the link to a grandparent and it works.

Game 1

Butterfly Clicker

Click the butterflies and score as many points as you can.

Game 2

Shark Escape

A diver, a shark, and the first game you can lose.

Game 3

Maze Escape

Draw a maze, fill it with enemies, find the way out.

Game 4

Flappy Bird

The one they have played a hundred times, built from nothing.

If your child is more advanced, they can work on more challenging games.

Questions

The practical answers

The meet and greet, every lesson, and Matt’s personal video reviews for thirty days. Charged once when you book. There is no second charge and nothing to cancel. Your month starts on the day of the meet and greet, not the day you pay.

Full refund for 48 hours after the meet and greet, no questions asked. By then you will have met Matt and seen exactly what your kid is getting. And if they simply run out of steam, their account and all the lessons stay open for good.

Matt Highland, co-founder of Hackingtons, a licensed California public elementary school teacher and the author of Coding for Kids: Scratch. Every review video is recorded by him, usually within a couple of days. It is not passed to an assistant and it is not generated.

No experience at all. The first lesson assumes they have never opened Scratch. Eight is the sweet spot: they need to read well enough to follow a video and be comfortable with a mouse, and that is the whole requirement.

A computer with a browser and an internet connection. Scratch is free and runs in the browser. A tablet works, but dragging code blocks is genuinely easier with a mouse. You do not need to sit with them, and most kids would rather you did not. The meet and greet is the only time this asks of you.

Scratch is run by MIT and moderated. On the Hackingtons side there is no student chat, no forum, and no other kids on your child’s page. You can see everything on it, and you are emailed a weekly summary of every message and review your child gets. Matt sets the Scratch account up with you at the meet and greet, so you can see those settings yourself.

Mostly self-paced. The one live piece is the meet and greet at the start, a one-on-one video call between Matt and your child. After that there is no class to attend and no set time to be online. Your child works on the lessons whenever it suits your week, and Matt’s video reviews come back on their own schedule, usually within a couple of days of a finished game.

A YouTube tutorial cannot look at what your child actually built. This class is built around that: Matt opens your child’s project, plays their game, and records a video about their code, by name, with what worked and what to try next. The lessons are also picked for your child rather than for everyone, and you get a weekly email so you can see the progress without watching over their shoulder. Free tutorials are genuinely good. What they do not give a beginner is someone on the other end.

Scratch is a free programming language made by MIT for kids. Instead of typing code, you drag colored blocks together, so an eight year old can build a working game before they can touch-type. The ideas underneath are the real ones: loops, variables, conditionals, events, collision detection. Those move over to Python and JavaScript later. Starting in Scratch means a kid spends the first month on how programs think rather than on where the semicolon goes.

Yes. The games live in your child’s own Scratch account and stay there. Each one is a real, playable program with its own link, so they can send it to a grandparent or a friend and it just works in a browser. Their Hackingtons account and every lesson stay open after the month ends too.

Nothing you have to decide now. The $99 buys one month and then it is done, with no renewal. If your child wants to keep going, Hackingtons runs ongoing Scratch classes, game design classes, and a full path into Python, JavaScript, and Unity. Plenty of kids also just carry on building in Scratch on their own, which is a fine outcome.

Two kids? Book for one of them to start, and we will sort out the second at the meet and greet. Questions before then, email [email protected].

Not ready to book?

Try the first lesson, free.

We will send you the first lesson, Butterfly Clicker, so your child can build a game tonight. No card, nothing to cancel.

One email with the lesson. We never share or sell your information.

Ready to meet Matt?

Book a meet and greet with Matt. Your child leaves it with their account set up and their first assignment.

Book the meet and greet, $99

Full refund for 48 hours after the meet and greet, no questions asked.

Book the meet and greet, $99