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Squirrels Explorers

Squirrels Explorers gives younger students a safe, playful on-ramp to technology. Learn in supervised peer pods with an older student coach — block coding in Scratch, unplugged logic, digital citizenship, and kid-friendly AI literacy — ending in a Demo Day showcase.

Eligibility

School students in grades 5–8. Guardian consent required. No prior coding experience.

Schedule

12 weeks · 90-minute sessions · supervised peer pods

Outcomes

Comfort with computers and the internet
Computational thinking through games and block code
Safe, responsible AI habits for school
One block-code project presented at Demo Day
Connection to an older peer coach in your pod

Curriculum Outline

Week 1: Welcome to the tech ecosystem

Squirrels Explorers
Peer pods
Club norms

Week 2: Computers & the internet

Files & browsers
Passwords
Privacy basics

Week 3: Computational thinking

Sequences
Loops
Unplugged games

Week 4: Block coding I

Scratch sprites
Motion
Events

Week 5: Block coding II

Variables
Scoring
Mini game

Week 6: Debugging

Read errors
Test one change
Detective mindset

Week 7: Digital citizenship

Kind online
Consent
Sharing rules

Week 8: What is AI?

AI vs human
Examples
Limits & mistakes

Week 9: Prompting for learning

Explain don't cheat
Guardian rules
Practice prompts

Week 10: Mini project

School problem
Plan
Build in Scratch

Week 11: Presentation

Demo script
Storytelling
Rehearsal

Week 12: Showcase & your coach

Demo Day
Meet peer coach
Next steps

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