Code Crew: Mission Commander (Grade 6 and up)
Real Python on a real computer, for kids who already know what a loop is.
Free, start to finish. No card. Every week opens without signing in.
- Grade
- Grade 6 and up
- Length
- 12 weeks
- Pace
- 6 short lessons a week, about 30 minutes each
- Price
- Free, every week
About this course
Code Crew: Mission Commander is the next step after Grade 5. Students write real Python on a computer in IDLE, the editor that comes with Python. Twelve missions cover input, decisions, loops, functions and modules, the standard library, files and JSON, and testing and debugging, and end with Mission Log, a small command-line tool students build and demo. Each session pairs a short read-and-predict lesson with exact steps to type and run. Plan on about 30 minutes a session; a grown-up installs Python once, in week 1.
Kids will
- Write, save and run Python files in IDLE
- Use standard library modules (random, datetime, json, time)
- Read and write text and JSON files in a project folder
- Read a traceback, fix the bug, and test with assert
- Build a small command-line tool that solves a real problem
- Save numbered snapshot copies of work in progress
The 12 weeks
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Week 1
Hello, Mission Control
Your first real Python programs
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Week 2
Variables and input
Programs that remember and ask
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Week 3
Decisions
if, elif, else and the logic words
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Week 4
Loops
for, while, break and a countdown clock
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Week 5
Lists and dictionaries
Keeping many values together
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Week 6
Functions and modules
Name a job once, use it everywhere
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Week 7
The standard library
random and datetime
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Week 8
Files
Saving work that lasts
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Week 9
Structured data
Saving lists and dictionaries with JSON
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Week 10
Bugs and tests
Tracebacks, try and except, and assert
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Week 11
Build Mission Log
A real tool, one piece at a time
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Week 12
Ship and demo
Test, polish, snapshot, graduate
Inside the course
From Mission 7: Days until launch
Students write a program that asks for a launch date and uses Python's datetime module to say how many days are left. They test it with a fixed date first, so they can check the answer by hand, and make it handle a launch that already happened.
Capstone, Missions 11 and 12: Mission Log
Students build Mission Log, a command-line tool that adds, lists, searches and counts dated notes and saves them in a JSON file. They build it one function at a time, test the edge cases, and demo it.
Is it the right fit?
For students who have finished the K to 5 line or who arrive already knowing loops and variables. Students type and run Python in IDLE on a computer, and a grown-up installs Python once, in week 1.
About 30 minutes a session, Monday to Friday, plus an optional Crew Quest.
See the Code Crew ladder →More in Code Crew
Try Week 1 today.
Open the course, pick Day 1 and go. Make a free parent account when you want progress saved for each kid.