A month ago, NewTechKids received a phone call out of the blue from one of the founders of the Drarija Taalclub, an organization dedicated to providing after-school activities for Moroccan children in Amsterdam West. Operated out of MAQAM, a Moroccan cultural centre in Amsterdam New West, the club's goal is to offer activities such as cooking, mathematics and singing in the Moroccan language to instil cultural pride and connect Dutch-born kids with the culture of

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Parents, teachers and caregivers often ask NewTechKids' team members how they can prepare kids for a world of pervasive technology which is shaping almost every facet of life. They want to give their kids the best opportunities for success yet are overwhelmed, confused and don't feel well-equipped because they did not grow up in a tech-driven world. This causes a lot of anxiety so here are our top four tips for preparing kids for an

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NewTechKids is excited to start our next batch of workshops and bootcamps in early 2024. We're teaching workshops and bootcamps for kids ages 7-9 at the Amsterdam Public Library's Roelof Hartplein branch in Amsterdam Zuid. These introductory camps are ideal for kids who like LEGO but have never done coding or robotics before. The bootcamps for kids ages 8-12 taught at the Amsterdam Public Library near Centraal Station (OBA Centraal) are ideal for older children

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This is a personal blog post written by Deborah Carter, Founder and Managing Director of NewTechKids. Feeling proud but a bit apprehensive. I just sent my high schooler son off to a pre-university course which happens to be in COMPUTER SCIENCE 😁! (Students in the final three years of his high school can take courses at Dutch universities alongside their regular subjects.) I'm proud because he and his peers were largely the reason why I

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NewTechKids has taught tech education and computer science classes for more than nine years and we've taught kids from all types of backgrounds with differing exposure to tech. Based on our observations, there are some key factors which increase the likelihood that kids will take an interest in tech beyond just using it and actually want to invent, create, make, experiment and prototype with it. These factors considerably increase the likelihood that they will choose

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Due to generous donations from our donors, NewTechKids is able to offer more kids from low-income families heavily-subsidized spots in our summer bootcamps. Already this year, NewTechKids has taught more than 600 kids from low-income families and communities and we're happy to continue this outreach through our subsidy program. We've partnered with teachers, schools, the Amsterdam Public Library and the content moderators of popular social media pages for kids in Amsterdam to spread the word.

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NewTechKids is pleased to announce that we collaborated with Atlas Workshops, a company which organizes international learning experiences around the world for students and educators and which partners with creative organizations around the world. On Saturday, June 17, we hosted a group of American high school students and teachers in Amsterdam and taught a robotics and coding workshop focused on 'the future of farming and tech'. The Dutch backdrop makes a lot of sense. Despite

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Yesterday was hot in Amsterdam! It rose to 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) in the classroom where we teaching and there is no air conditioning. We had planned a digital literacy lesson for four classes of students ages 6-8 focused on software: how the app store works and the role that branding and logos play in online usage. Students were supposed to use iPads to make a series of sketches during a series of

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NewTechKids is honoured to have kicked off the second edition of a Maker education initiative in Amsterdam called 'Plusklas voor Elk Kind' (Gifted Class for Every Child). Spearheaded by the Mokum Maakcoalitie, a group of maker education organizations led by the Amsterdam Public Library and its Maakplaats021 team, the initiative provides all students in groups 5, 6 and 7 at the Burgemeester de Vlugtschool with a year of Maker classes. This school is located in Amsterdam

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NewTechKids is collaborating with Metis Montessori Lyceum, a high school in Amsterdam, to plan a student trip to Silicon Valley in February 2023. Thirty-five students in Metis' Coderklas will be visiting Big Tech companies as well as companies in different industries which are being transformed by technology. Students will visit Google, NASA, Blue River Technology and other organizations where they will meet leaders and technologists. This is another great way in which students can learn

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