Coding classes for seniors in Canada

Sources: W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Recommendation of 12 December 2024; Python documentation, IDLE; Accessible Canada Act. All read 22 October 2026.

The list lives in a CSV file, the plain format spreadsheets can save. The Python documentation describes it as "the most common import and export format for spreadsheets and databases", so a learner can keep the list in a spreadsheet and save it as CSV.

name,month,day
Aunt Maureen,11,3
Daniel,12,19
Priya,1,8
Grandpa Joe,10,30
Leo,11,21

# Our birthday reminder: who has a birthday in the next 30 days?
import csv
from datetime import date

today = date(2026, 10, 22)        # fixed so the example always prints the same
window = 30                       # days ahead to look

coming_up = []
with open("birthdays.csv", newline="", encoding="utf-8") as f:
    for row in csv.DictReader(f):
        when = date(today.year, int(row["month"]), int(row["day"]))
        if when < today:                      # already passed this year
            when = date(today.year + 1, when.month, when.day)
        days_left = (when - today).days
        if days_left <= window:
            coming_up.append((days_left, row["name"], when))

for days_left, name, when in sorted(coming_up):
    print(f"{name}: {when.strftime('%A %d %B')} (in {days_left} days)")

Grandpa Joe: Friday 30 October (in 8 days)
Aunt Maureen: Tuesday 03 November (in 12 days)
Leo: Saturday 21 November (in 30 days)

1. Read it aloud first. Before running anything, the teacher and learner read the program line by line in plain English: open the file, look at each row, work out the next birthday, keep it if it is close.
2. Run it and compare. Three names appear. Daniel (19 December) and Priya (8 January) are further than thirty days away, so they are left out.
3. Change one thing. Set window to 60 and run it again. Daniel now appears, Priya still does not. This is how a learner discovers what a variable does.
4. Break it on purpose. Add a line Sam,13,5 to the CSV. Python stops with an error, because there is no thirteenth month. Reading that message calmly is a skill in itself.
5. Ask the awkward question. What happens to someone born on 29 February in a year that has no 29 February? Finding that out, and deciding what the program should do, is real programming.

1. Week 1: set up the screen and the editor together; type a first line and see it run; learn what an error message looks like and that it is not your fault.
2. Week 2: storing information in variables; asking a question with input and answering it with print; a greeting program that uses your name.
3. Week 3: making decisions with if and else; a program that answers differently depending on the reply.
4. Week 4: repeating with loops; a times-table printer; a number-guessing game to play with family.
5. Week 5: lists of things; adding, removing and sorting a shopping list or a list of club members.
6. Week 6: reading a file; the birthday reminder above, built step by step over both classes.
7. Week 7: writing your own small functions, so a program reads like a set of named steps.
8. Week 8: a project of your choice from the table above, finished and kept, with a talk about what comes next.