A guide for the grown-up beside the builder
You bring the patience.
They bring the ideas.
You can help without knowing every line of code. Read an unfamiliar word, help locate a file, and ask your child what they predict. Let the child dictate a change if typing gets in the way.
- Child · driver & designer
- Draw the route, choose one change, play the same experiment twice and show which rule made the result happen. You can dictate edits while your parent types.
- Parent · thinking partner
- Keep a working copy, read errors aloud and help locate model.js versus main.js. Ask for a prediction before taking the keyboard; let the child choose the world change and explain its result.
One short activity, four useful questions
Before
What do you think will happen? Point to the rule, sketch the result, or say it in your own words.
During
Which one thing are we changing? Keep a working copy and try one bounded edit at a time.
After
What did we actually see? Repeat with the same input, then try a boundary or recovery case.
Next time
What will we keep, undo, or try next? Leave the activity name and a small note beside an exported copy.
Pause when attention or frustration rises. A spoken explanation or drawing counts as a useful conversation. The checklist is a family note, never a verified assessment.
Choose the device for the job
- Browser introductions
- Use a laptop or desktop with a keyboard and modern browser. No installation, payment, child account, or AI-provider credentials are required to try the starter. Internet is needed to load the site and runtime tools. Jelly Jungle needs WebGL; robotics begins as a Python simulation.
- Phones and tablets
- Use them to read activities and try supported controls or observe a demo. Screen size and graphics vary. Editing is designed primarily for a computer; a mobile browser preview is a rehearsal, not an iOS or Android emulator.
- Full local, native, and hardware extensions
- Read the complete course plan and starter README before installing anything. Downloaded JavaScript projects can need Node and a local development server. Native iOS work needs an adult-prepared Mac/Xcode setup; Android needs its own tools or device. Physical robots require separate power, component, and stopping checks by a responsible adult.
Three different things you may want to keep
- Your place in the guide
- The unchecked “Remember my place on this device” option is the family's choice. When enabled, it remembers checklist ticks and the selected activity in this browser. Turn it off to remove that course's stored checklist. If the browser blocks removal, the page tells you to clear site data yourself.
- Your edited source files
- Use the workspace's own save status and export controls. Export before closing, resetting, changing device, or clearing browser data. Reopen or import a backup and Run it to check the copy. A checklist tick does not save code.
- Data inside the project
- An app's favorite, checklist, or journal is separate from source code. Browser previews can reset their data when re-run. Re-enter fictional sample inputs for repeatable tests. These materials do not promise cloud sync.
Device storage can disappear in private browsing, after a browser cleanup, or when the site address changes. If storage is unavailable, keep an exported file backup and a paper next-time note. On shared computers, agree what to retain and remove together.
When something goes wrong
Run shows an error
Stop, keep the first error and file/line, and compare your changed line with the original. Check quotes, commas, and braces. Undo only the last edit and Run again. Each mission has project-specific hints and the complete authored code.
Nothing changes
Check the selected file and current editor text, then use Run again. The project may also need its own Find/Build button. Repeat the same input from the same starting state; do not treat a worked example as an execution result.
The program will not stop
Use the workspace Stop control. Keep or export edits before Reset, and read the confirmation before discarding work. Refreshing the browser is a last recovery step; it can lose unsaved work.
The runtime or graphics cannot load
Read its message and try another supported computer or connection. Keep the drawing/reading activity while you prepare the downloaded starter using its README. Changing game rules will not fix a missing runtime.
Saving or importing fails
Copy files or export before leaving. Import only a compatible workspace export and read the validation message; an activity report or original starter archive may be a different format. If a browser blocks storage, use files and paper as your backup.
If you need more help, an adult can contact JR Learning with the course, activity, browser, error, and fictional steps to reproduce it. Leave out child names, photos, passwords, and personal inputs.
Access and optional AI
Catalogs, workspaces, these guides, and each course's first mission are public. Later authored missions use the existing guardian access flow. AI is optional: the supplied code and human-partner questions are enough to learn. A parent operates any approved assistant and verifies suggestions with real checks. The paid AI playground has its own access requirements.
Open guardian access →These guides are a first edition ready for family feedback. We have not yet finished checking the timing and age fit with children and parents. A browser try-out also does not tell us how an app works on a real phone or how a physical robot behaves; those need their own careful checks with an adult.