Having followed several thousand students, the number is fairly clear: two to three hours a week, spread over two or three sittings, is the best value.
Why not do it all at once
Many families schedule three hours on Saturday because weekdays are full. It is understandable, and it under-delivers, for two reasons.
- Attention runs out at roughly 45–60 minutes. Hours two and three are much lower quality.
- Memory needs spaced repetition. Once a week means forgetting half of it before the next session.
The schedule I recommend
| Age | Per session | Per week |
|---|---|---|
| 6–8 | 30–40 min | 2 sessions |
| 9–12 | 45–60 min | 2–3 sessions |
| 13+ | 60–90 min | 2–3 sessions |
When you will see progress
- Weeks 2–3: they grasp that a computer follows instructions literally and guesses nothing.
- Month 2: they fix simple bugs without calling anyone.
- Months 3–4: they start altering projects to suit themselves instead of following the brief exactly — the best sign there is.
- Month 6: they can carry a small project of their own from start to finish.
The slump everybody hits
Around weeks five to eight, almost every child reaches the point where it has become harder but the results are not yet impressive. This is where most people quit.
Get past week eight and the odds of staying for years are very high. The parent's job here is to steady them, not to speed them up.
The most effective way to steady them is to let them build something they chose during that stretch, even if it is easier than the lesson they are on.
Live lessons or video?
A self-disciplined child does well with video and pays less. A child who needs someone to notice they are stuck gets far more from one-to-one live lessons, because the teacher sees the sticking point immediately.
