My "parents" perspective...

I tell you what... Trying to find that one thing to spark some imagination & excitement in your children can be the most rewarding & exhilarating thing ever!!

I've 4 wonderful children, aged twelve, ten, nine & then four.
They love nothing more than trying activity after activity, turning me into the proverbial "Soccer Mom" racing from one activity to another You name it.... We've probably tried it!!

We finally settled on Choir, Ballet, Karate, Basketball, Youth Club, Cubs, & Snooker... (and my 4yr old hasn't started anything yet lol) Yes, there's literally NEVER a dull moment!! But my 10 year old, Conor, was just not really into any of it... He didn't get to socialise much outside school with other kids his age & well, kept himself to himself... That is until I heard about Coder Dojo!!!

I heard about it from one of the mentors in the Drogheda Coder Dojo.  Louisa Maher explained a little about it when I attended a course she was giving, & well after hearing about how children got to learn how to code etc in a fun, cool environment, I was SOLD... I knew this was it!! Conor was finally going to have a club that seemed to be made especially for him.

Now the thing is lol, we live in Portarlington, Co. Laois... Drogheda is about 1hr 40minutes from us & I would have to stay with him for the 3 hour class & do that long drive home again... But well what the heck, we'll give it a go... Again, on his first day in Drogheda, I was SOLD, & Conor was hooked :-) We made the trip every 2 weeks and I left the other kiddies at home with Daddy.  

@coderdojodrog - Drogheda Coder Dojo

Gosh it was a commitment to make the trip but seeing Conor's talents come to life, however... I was suddenly overjoyed to see my once quiet son become animated & mesmerised by the possibilities ahead of him!!  He was the proudest little man after receiving his white belt 

and wore it with pride lol... It was infectious and sure I started to join in and learned for myself what HTML & CSS were... It was amazing to share this with him and have him teach me a thing or two :-)





After a while I was told that there might be a new Dojo closer to home.  Although I really didn't want to take him away from what he was used to, for our familys sake at least, we had to look at the bigger picture with lost time and fuels costs so I reluctantly signed him up for Kilkenny's Coder Dojo. I was so afraid he wouldn't settle in, Conor managed to settle in Drogheda, but could he do a move again? Would he be ahead or behind? Would I settle with the other parents? lol...  But it has to be said... all my fears  were unfounded and I couldn't believe my eyes... This lad of mine, who would have struggled to mix in the past, just blended right in with the kids & mentors in Kilkenny!!! He proudly showed off his white belt and his skills and interest just grew & grew... The club here was run differently but the ethos of fun & coolness was evident and even Conor's Dad got involved and decided he was going to bring him sometimes too!! Anything to support our son :-)

@coderdojokk - Kilkenny Coder Dojo

But... this was still a committment & a chore purely from the travelling aspect.  Mind you... at this stage, seeing how much Conor was getting out of it & well, us too as parents seeing our child blossom, there was NO way we were going to give it up... However... there was a rumour that the local Community Development Association in our town of Portarlington were interested in opening a Dojo... (I held my breath in anticipation!!)

Low & behold, it came about!  But this time I had no fears, no reservations for Conor, I had seen him grow in confidence and ability soooo much, that I just embraced the idea of not having to travel anymore (Yippee) and I knew Kilkenny would understand as Drogheda had beforehand.  I'm so grateful to everyone in both of these Dojos!! More than words can say :-)

We are now only 5 weeks in Portarlington, but I now volunteer with them doing Admin... I am actually upskilling myself, whether it's from managing the social media side or even starting this blog, and my own interest in volunteering is growing, especially with the exhilaration of watching so many new kids at the point where my own son was when he started over a year ago.  Knowing what kind of exciting times are ahead of them...  and then seeing Conor now stepping up to mentor others... #superproudmammy

Coder Dojo has opened a whole new world to both myself & my son in a way I couldn't have imagined.  Conor is on the best ride of his life, soaking up so many things from actual coding to socialising & even teaching as he goes along.  Seeing that in your child, is the most rewarding thing a parent can see, but to have the same experiences for yourself is an honour.... Already Portarlington Coder Dojo is a community within a global community of Coder Dojos and I'm privilaged to say I'm a part of it & learning as I go too!!!

Thank you Coder Dojo, you've changed our family's path in an amazingly positive way ♥♥♥