Choosing is hard because most parents have no basis for judging the content. So here are questions anyone can ask without knowing any code.

Seven questions to ask everywhere

1. "May I see work by previous students?"

The most revealing and the easiest to verify. A good school produces it immediately. If the answer is no, or only screenshots, be careful.

2. "How many things will my child design themselves?"

Beware courses where children type along with the teacher every lesson. They feel capable until asked to build something alone. Look for at least three or four original pieces.

3. "What happens if my child falls behind?"

Everyone says a teacher will help. Ask in what form — asking in a group chat of fifty is not the same as one-to-one time.

4. "Have the teachers worked as programmers?"

Teachers without industry experience are not automatically worse, but those with it can answer "what is this actually used for?" from experience — the question children ask most.

5. "What can my child take away afterwards?"

If the work lives inside the school's system and disappears when the course ends, your child leaves with nothing. They should own files or links.

6. "How do you measure progress, besides test scores?"

A good school can answer: do they fix their own bugs now, do they modify the brief?

7. "May we see a real lesson?"

Confident schools will show you one — ask for a recording of a lesson they actually teach, not a specially polished promotional video. You will see at once how the teacher explains and how much the child actually does.

If a school will show you nothing — no student work, no named teachers — step back and think.

Poor criteria

  • Expensive means good. Price mostly reflects rent and marketing.
  • More content means better value. A 100-lesson course nobody finishes loses to a 48-lesson course they complete and can use.
  • Many languages means better. One language done properly beats four done shallowly.

Red flags

  • Guaranteeing employment for primary-age children
  • Refusing to say who the teachers are
  • Not a single piece of student work to show

You can check every one of these with us: playable student work, who teaches, a recording of a real lesson, and a free conversation with Kru Pim on LINE @sorndekcoding.