Laura Gini-Newman is an educational mathematics specialist and consultant to schools and school boards around the world. Over the course of several months, she and Hatch co-founder, Peter Kuperman, mapped the many ways in which coding helps with success in the learning of mathematics. This work was undertaken as part of the Hatch Leadership Team initiatives to research the impact of innovation in industry on learning in the classroom.

We talked to Hatch co-founder and innovator, Peter Kuperman about innovation, kids learning code, and being in Toronto.

According to Hatch co-founder, Peter Kuperman, kids learning code is like long-distance running because:

You don’t want your children to miss out on the experience of summer camp, but it seems that the camp you sent them to last year just doesn’t fit them. You struggle with whether you should even send them anywhere this summer – then, you discovered Hatch.

Where have the soft skills gone?

Could it be that flexible working environments, distance education and sparsely decorated, so-called open workspaces are actually stifling our ability to navigate a modern tapestry? With the prediction from academics and the World Economic Forum that 47% of jobs will be lost to technology within the next decade, our interpersonal and leadership skills are going to take a real hit. Major players in the tech world are already voicing troubling shortfalls in employees’ skill sets. They note that employees are often unable to address large groups or think strategically, putting themselves at a leadership disadvantage. Truly, students today must be prepared to be life-long learners. Through our classes and most particularly, our tech leadership camp, students are able to develop their soft skills and to become familiar with the multiple facets of the tech industry.

For the past several years, we've been able to bring many Toronto summer campers on industry field trips. It's an opportunity to have kids start to understand how their developing skills will help them in the future, particularly as life-long learners. To inspire them, we visit local leading technology companies to show our students potential exciting career options and coding in action. Our camp has been so successful that it's even been featured in Owl Magazine and Our Kids! Keep that in mind when you're hunting for the best summer camps in Toronto!

Learning a computer language might seem intimidating for beginners, but there are so many different ways to begin. Games and robotics are a great introduction or parallel activity. While Hatch focuses on teaching computer languages, namely JavaScript and Python, we like talking about everything that's going on in the space. 

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, also known as STEM is a valuable part of  students' education. When we add the letter A - for ARTS - to the acronym, we get an even more meaningful experience in programs at school and at camp. It even makes for great playtime and Hatch achieves that through project-based learning. 

We love getting feedback directly from our students. Parents love the valuable skills our courses offer their children, but we like hearing directly from the students so that we can better evaluate our programs' effectiveness. Why? Because our aim is to make coding fun and accessible for young people and they'll tell us straight up how they feel.

In this blog post we look at why Peter Kuperman, one of Hatch's co-founders, is excited about kids coding, making, and innovating.

Peter Kuperman believes that in a perfect world, every student will have the opportunity to create and make something innovative and new that comes from their hearts. He loves toys, games, coding, and sharing those passions with anyone willing to listen. Making, coding, and innovation are essential to making Hatch fun.