Idaho Computer Science: Kindergarten
- Level Elementary School
- Number of Lessons 38
- Grade K
This course is aligned to Idaho Technology Standards and is designed to provide computer science instruction for Idaho kindergarten students. It is meant to be taught weekly.
See the full syllabus for all topics and activities, or explore the course to try it out.
UNITS - 9 (38 lessons)
Introduces sequencing and events through unplugged activities and card games, along with basic mouse and keyboard skills.
Introduces the CodeHopJr Playground, basic computer parts, and computational thinking through morning routines.
Introduces the programming interface through the Scout Adventures story unit and creative drawing tools.
Teaches students to use events, and show/hide and grow/shrink blocks to build interactive underwater scenes.
Teaches students to build multi-page programs and navigate between pages using the "go to page" block.
Explores speed and sound blocks to animate transportation scenes, personalize projects, and debug simple programs.
Introduces loops and teaches students to use them to repeat code and animate characters.
Applies the design process and prior skills to build original games and animated wildlife scenes.
Covers early digital literacy and AI awareness including online safety, data storage, networks, decision trees, and research skills.
Explore a sample lesson from this course!
Kindergarten students learn computer basics and create their first block-based programs alongside Scout the squirrel. Throughout the year they use events, sequences, show and hide blocks, pages, and loops to build animations and stories, practice the design process, and create a Chicken Crossing game and a wildlife scene. Students also learn to keep information safe and use technology responsibly, explore how computers store and use data, practice simple research, and discover how AI sorts information and helps people.
The course includes 36 lessons, each about 30 minutes long, providing a full year of instruction when taught once a week. Every lesson is built in a ready-to-teach format, with step-by-step videos that walk students through the lesson. Lessons are designed to be teacher-led using an "I do, we do, you do" format, and a self-paced option is also available. Optional unplugged lessons at the start of the course introduce sequences and events through hands-on activities, along with mouse and keyboard practice.
No. There are no prerequisites, and the course is designed to support all learners regardless of prior computer science experience. Optional lessons at the start of the course include unplugged activities and mouse and keyboard practice before students begin programming.
Idaho Computer Science: Kindergarten is aligned to the Idaho Content Standards for Computer Science. Lessons required to fully meet the standards are labeled in the course syllabus with the standards they address, and all Digital Literacy lessons are required because they cover essential non-programming computer science concepts.
