Online or in-person coding classes: which is right for your child?

"My child is already on screens enough, why add an online class?" It's the most common objection we hear, and it comes from a good place. But it mixes up two very different things: passive screen time (watching videos, scrolling) and active screen time (creating, solving, building). An online coding class belongs entirely to the second category — and coding happens to be the one subject where being in the same room adds surprisingly little.

What in-person actually adds — and what it doesn't

For many subjects, being physically in the same room matters: sports, music, handwork. But for programming, most of the useful interaction already happens through a screen, even in person: the teacher and the child are looking at the same code, on the same kind of screen, with the same keyboard. For this specific subject, the difference between sitting side by side in a room and being connected via video call with screen sharing is much smaller than people assume.

What really matters, in person or not, is:

• the teacher seeing exactly what the child is doing, in real time
• the child being able to ask a question and get an immediate answer
• the pace adapting to the child, not to a group

A good online class meets these three conditions just as well as an in-person one — sometimes better, since the teacher literally sees the child's screen, which isn't always the case in a physical classroom where several children work in parallel.

What in-person can't offer, and remote learning can

Remote learning has its own advantages, rarely mentioned:

• Choosing the right teacher, not just the closest one. A child can learn from a teacher whose teaching style genuinely fits them, without being limited to whoever happens to be available nearby.
• Zero travel time. An hour of class stays one hour, not an hour and a half once you add the commute — a real factor when juggling school, sports and homework.
• A familiar environment. Some children, especially shyer ones, feel more comfortable asking "silly" questions from their own room than in front of a teacher physically present.
• Parents can supervise discreetly, without being in the room, just by staying nearby.

So how does it actually work?

At Smart Kids School, every session runs via video call with a dedicated teacher: the child sees the teacher's screen, the teacher sees and can guide the child's screen, and both interact live just like in a real one-on-one class. The equipment needed is minimal: a computer, a stable connection, headphones, and ideally a webcam — nothing more.

The real test isn't a theoretical debate, it's trying it out. That's why we offer a free trial lesson of 30 minutes: you see whether the online format suits your child before enrolling, no credit card needed. And if you'd rather test with a shorter format first, our holiday camps are another way to see how your child responds to it, over one week.