Courses
The Shell, then Python.
Pramondo has two courses for middle school. The Shell is the command line course for kids, and its Act 1 is free. Python opens once Act 1 of The Shell is done.
Each course is a story told in short quests. Students type real code, and it is checked in the browser against hidden tests. Practice rounds and a skill tree bring each idea back until it sticks.
The Shell
Act 1, Awakening, has 21 story quests. Students learn to give a computer instructions in a simulated shell. Act 1 is free for every student.
Speaking Out
Print text with echo.
Looking Around
See where you are and what is there.
Walking About
Move between folders.
Keeping Things
Write text into files, add to them, and read them back.
Named Boxes
Store values in variables.
Listening
Read input from the person at the keyboard.
Python
Act 1, Awakening, has 22 story quests. Real Python runs in the browser. Act 1 is free for every student who has finished Act 1 of The Shell. Later acts need a class pass or a parent pass.
Speaking Out
Print text and numbers.
Named Boxes
Store and change values in variables.
Word Packs
Write strings and glue them together.
Listening
Ask for input and use the answer.
Curriculum fit
Both courses build computational thinking through text-based programming: sequences of instructions, variables, input and output. In the UK this fits KS3 computing. In the rest of Europe it fits digital competence goals for lower secondary.
The course is in plain English, so it also works as coding and English together (CLIL). How classes work.