---
title: "Coding Classes in California | Live Online, Ages 6 to 67"
description: "Live online coding and maths classes for California students aged 6 to 67. California's CS standards are voluntary, so we teach what school may not. From USD 100."
canonical: https://learn.modernagecoders.com/coding-classes-in-california
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---
> Live online coding and maths classes for California students aged 6 to 67. California's CS standards are voluntary, so we teach what school may not. From USD 100.

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California / Live online

# California wrote computer science standards, then made them optional.

The short answer

California adopted its first K-12 computer science standards on September 6, 2018, and left them voluntary, so whether a child meets the subject at all depends on their district. Modern Age Coders teaches it directly instead: live classes for ages 6 to 67, five to eight per batch or private, USD 100 and USD 150 monthly. The opening class costs nothing.

The state that contains Silicon Valley does not require its schools to teach computer science. It publishes standards, it encourages districts to use them, and it leaves the decision local. The result is the widest variation in provision of any state we teach in. A child in one district takes AP Computer Science A in Grade 11. A child eight miles away has never written a line of code and does not know that is unusual.

This page explains what California actually asks for, the University of California requirement that families most often misread, and where we fit. For the national picture, see [coding classes in the United States](/coding-classes-in-united-states).

Book the free first classRead the A-G trap

No card. No obligation. We call, we do not spam.

10,000+students taught4.9across 547 Google reviews2020teaching since25+countries6 to 67ages taught5 to 8students per groupCourses for California

## What California families actually book

With the state standards left voluntary, these are the courses families use to build the thing a university admissions reader can actually sit down and inspect.

[![AP Computer Science A course thumbnail](/images/ap-computer-science-a.webp)  Ages 14 to 18 AP Computer Science A Java, the exam unit structure, and the free response questions that decide the grade. See the syllabus](/courses/ap-computer-science-a-java-exam-prep-course)[![Python, complete course thumbnail](/images/python-teens.webp)  Ages 11 to 18 Python, complete The language taught to real depth rather than to a demo. Our most requested course. See the syllabus](/courses/python-complete-masterclass-teens)[![Data science for teens course thumbnail](/images/data-science-teens.webp)  Ages 13 to 18 Data science for teens Real datasets with real traps inside them, worked in Python and pandas. See the syllabus](/courses/data-science-course-for-teens-python-data)[![High school mathematics course thumbnail](/images/high-school-maths.webp)  Ages 14 to 18 High school mathematics The algebra and functions every computer science pathway quietly assumes you have. See the syllabus](/courses/complete-high-school-mathematics-mastery)

That is four of more than a hundred. The rest, sorted by age and subject, sit on the [course atlas](/course-atlas), and the order we teach them in is on the [coding roadmap](/coding-roadmap).

The four we are known for

### Python, AI, vibe coding and agentic coding

These run underneath everything above. Every one is live and online, placed by ability rather than by age, and the first class is free.

[![Vibe Coding for Teens course thumbnail](/images/vibe-coding-teens.webp)Vibe codingAges 13 to 17Vibe Coding for TeensPython, web and AI projects where the learner still owns the thinking.See the syllabus](/courses/vibe-coding-for-teens-python-web-ai-projects-course)[![Python AI Automation course thumbnail](/images/python-automation-ai-college.webp)Python and AICollege and adultPython AI AutomationAutomate the work you already do, then let AI carry part of it.See the syllabus](/courses/python-ai-automation-masterclass-college)[![AI and Machine Learning for Teens course thumbnail](/images/ai-ml-teens.webp)AI and MLAges 14 to 18AI and Machine Learning for TeensTrain a model, read what it learned, and be able to say why it is wrong.See the syllabus](/courses/ai-ml-masterclass-teens)[![Codex and Claude Code course thumbnail](/images/codex-claude-code-adults.webp)Agentic codingProfessionalsCodex and Claude CodeRun AI coding agents on real work without losing control of the codebase.See the syllabus](/courses/codex-and-claude-code-ai-coding-agents-masterclass-for-adults-professionals)Adopted September 6, 2018

## Standards without a mandate

On September 6, 2018 the State Board of Education adopted California's first computer science standards for Kindergarten through Grade 12. They were developed by a multidisciplinary team drawing on the national K-12 Computer Science Framework, the Computer Science Teachers Association, work funded by the National Science Foundation, and industry input. They are good standards.

They are also voluntary. The stated intent is to provide substantive guidance while allowing flexibility and innovation across local education agencies, so that each district decides how best to incorporate computer science based on its own capacity and context. Read that as a parent rather than as a policy analyst and it says something plain: your district decides, and your district's budget decides your district.

This is the single most consequential difference between California and the other states we teach. Texas obliges nothing but lets code substitute for a language requirement. New Jersey requires every high school to offer the subject. California publishes excellent standards and requires nobody to follow them. Families near the industry often assume the opposite, and find out late.

What that means practically

Ask your school two specific questions rather than one general one. Which computer science courses are on the timetable this year, and are they on the school's UC-approved a-g course list. A course that exists but is not a-g approved does different work on an application than families expect.

University of California

## The A-G rule almost every family gets wrong

The University of California's subject requirement, universally called A-G, is the spine of a California college plan. Area D is the laboratory science requirement, and it asks for two years providing fundamental knowledge in at least two of the three disciplines of biology, chemistry and physics. A third year is recommended.

Here is the part that gets misreported. Computer science, engineering and applied science courses may be used in Area D *as an additional science*, meaning the third year and beyond. They do not stand in for the core two years of biology, chemistry or physics.

| What families often believe | What the requirement says |
| --- | --- |
| Computer science counts as a lab science for UC | Only as an additional science, third year and beyond, not toward the core two years |
| Any computer science course counts | It must appear on that high school's UC-approved a-g course list |
| Area G is where computer science belongs | Area G is one year of college-preparatory elective and can be used, but it is a single year and competes with other subjects |
| Taking computer science lightens the science load | It does not. Biology, chemistry and physics still have to be done |

Compare Texas, where two computer science credits can be selected in place of the two Languages Other Than English credits outright. California is the stricter system, and a student who plans as though it is the looser one arrives in Grade 12 with a gap. We would rather you heard that from us early than from a counsellor late.

The constructive reading is that computer science in California should be treated as what it genuinely is: a subject worth learning properly, useful as a third science and as an elective, decisive in a portfolio, and not a shortcut around chemistry. That is how we teach it.

Algebra II, and the data science reversal

## The maths decision that caught California families out

This is recent, it is specific to California, and it is the reason we will not sell you coding without mathematics.

For several years a number of California high schools offered introductory data science courses that were treated as validating Algebra II, letting a student satisfy the advanced mathematics expectation without taking Algebra II itself. It looked modern and it looked kind. Many students took that route in good faith.

In July 2023 the University of California's Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools ruled unanimously that existing policy does not allow the currently approved data science courses to validate Algebra II, and that the validation should cease without delay. The change applies to admission from autumn 2025. The workgroup's finding was blunt: the courses labelled data science were closer to data literacy, and none came near the standard required of a genuinely more advanced course.

What this means for a student now

An introductory data science course, and AP Statistics, cannot substitute for Algebra II for University of California or California State University admission. If a student is on a pathway that assumed otherwise, that needs checking with a counsellor this term rather than in Grade 12. We are not the authority here and we will not pretend to be; we are telling you the decision exists because a lot of families still have not heard.

Two lessons sit inside this for anybody choosing enrichment. The first is that a subject can be genuinely valuable and still not do the credential job somebody promised it would; data literacy is worth learning and was never Algebra II. The second is that the mathematics does not become optional because the coding is exciting. A student who can build a working web application and cannot manipulate a quadratic is not a technologist, they are a person with one useful hobby and a closing door.

That is precisely why coding and mathematics run on a single track here rather than as two products with two invoices. See [complete high school mathematics](/courses/complete-high-school-mathematics-mastery), and if the goal is genuine data work rather than a shortcut around algebra, [statistics and probability](/courses/statistics-probability-maths-course) taught with the algebra underneath it intact.

California Computer Science Standards

## Six core concepts, and what answers each

The standards are organised as six core concepts and seven core practices, aligned to the K-12 Computer Science Framework. The concepts are what a student knows. The practices are what a student does with it, which is the half most enrichment programmes quietly skip.

Concept

Algorithms and Programming. Designing and refining a sequence of instructions, and reasoning about whether it is correct.

The spine of every level. Blocks at six, Python by middle school, Java for a student heading toward the AP exam. See [Python Complete Masterclass for Teens](/courses/python-complete-masterclass-teens).

Concept

Data and Analysis. Collecting, storing, transforming and drawing defensible conclusions from data.

Where the California student project further down this page lives, on a state dataset with a genuinely misleading average in it. See [Data Science for Teens](/courses/data-science-course-for-teens-python-data).

Concept

Computing Systems. How the parts of a system work together, and how to diagnose one that does not.

Beginners learn what a program is before they learn what to type, then debug their own broken code rather than watching somebody else debug it. See [Kids Coding Blocks Masterclass](/courses/kids-coding-blocks-masterclass).

Concept

Networks and the Internet. How data travels, and how it is protected on the way.

Taught by building. A student puts a page on the internet, then examines what actually travelled to make it appear. See [HTML and CSS for Beginners](/courses/html-css-course-for-beginners-build-real-websites).

Concept

Impacts of Computing. What the technology does to people and to society, including the people it excludes.

Argued rather than recited, which matters more in California than almost anywhere, because these students will build the things being argued about. See [AI Tools Mastery for Teens](/courses/teens-ai-tools-mastery-course).

Practices

The seven core practices, including recognising computational problems and creating computational artifacts.

Every course ends in something built and defended, because a practice is a verb and cannot be assessed by a quiz. See [Full Stack Web Development for Teens](/courses/full-stack-web-development-teens-masterclass).

Placement

## Where a California student joins

Placement follows what a student can actually do, established in the free opening class rather than assumed from a grade.

### Elementary

Ages 6 to 10

- [Block coding](/courses/kids-coding-blocks-masterclass)
- [Creative coding and animation](/courses/creative-coding-animation-mastery)
- [AI literacy for kids](/courses/ai-literacy-for-kids-course)
- [Early maths foundations](/courses/early-math-foundations)

### Middle school

Ages 11 to 13

- [Python and AI](/courses/python-ai-kids-masterclass)
- [AI web development](/courses/kids-ai-web-development-course)
- [JavaScript for beginners](/courses/javascript-course-for-teens-beginners-interactive-web)
- [Middle school maths](/courses/comprehensive-middle-school-mathematics-mastery)

### High school

Ages 14 to 18

- [AP Computer Science A](/courses/ap-computer-science-a-java-exam-prep-course)
- [React for teens](/courses/react-for-teens-complete-masterclass)
- [Visual machine learning](/courses/orange-data-mining-visual-machine-learning-course-for-teens)
- [High school maths](/courses/complete-high-school-mathematics-mastery)

### College and adult

18 to 67

- [DSA for interviews](/courses/data-structures-algorithms-masterclass-college)
- [MERN stack](/courses/mern-stack-development-masterclass-college)
- [AI and ML masterclass](/courses/ai-ml-masterclass-complete-college)
- [College mathematics](/courses/college-mathematics-complete-masterclass)

The full catalogue is on the [course atlas](/course-atlas), and [how we teach](/how-we-teach) sets out the method.

California data project

## The average California wildfire does not exist

California's project asks for one ordinary number that turns out not to exist. It runs on the state's own fire records, and the arithmetic is correct at every step.

Source: CAL FIRE incident recordsLevel: Grade 7 and upConcept: Data and Analysis

CAL FIRE publishes every incident it responds to, with the acreage each fire burned. A student is asked a reasonable question: how big is a typical California wildfire, and is it getting bigger?

The obvious move is to average the acreage. In the 2020 season, nearly 10,000 fires burned more than 4.2 million acres, which divides out to roughly four hundred acres per fire. The student writes that down and it is arithmetically perfect.

Then they sort the list and look at it, and the number falls apart.

The trap

The August Complex alone exceeded one million acres, the first California fire to pass that mark and the reason the word gigafire entered use. One incident accounts for close to a quarter of the entire year. Meanwhile most fires on the list are small, some only a few acres. The mean sits far above the typical fire and far below the fire that actually mattered. It describes almost nothing in the dataset, and there is no arithmetic error anywhere.

The follow-on question is sharper still. If you compare mean acreage between two years, what are you measuring? Not whether the typical fire changed. You are mostly measuring whether a megafire happened. A headline that says average fire size doubled may be reporting one event, not a trend, and the student can now see that for themselves rather than being told.

The repair is to stop asking for one number. Report the median alongside the mean and watch the gap. Plot the distribution instead of summarising it. Count the fires above a threshold separately from the rest. And when a distribution is this lopsided, say so in the write-up, because the shape is the finding.

| Step | What the student does | What it teaches |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Average | Compute mean acres per fire for a season and write it down | Commit to the naive answer before critiquing it |
| Sort | Rank every incident by acreage and read the top and the bottom | Look at the data, not only at statistics about it |
| Compare | Put the median next to the mean and explain the gap | Two summaries disagreeing is information |
| Isolate | Recompute with the single largest fire removed | Test how much one point is carrying |
| Report | Answer the original question honestly, including what cannot be concluded | The shape of a distribution is itself a finding |

Older students meet the idea that some quantities are heavy-tailed by nature, and that averaging them is a category error rather than a rounding problem. It is the same reason average income and median income tell different stories, and a student who has felt it once with fires will never again accept a lone average without asking what it is hiding. Current figures are pulled from CAL FIRE by the student, not copied from this page.

The same discipline continues in [statistics and probability](/courses/statistics-probability-maths-course) and, for students who want to build models rather than audit them, [AI and machine learning in the USA](/ai-and-machine-learning-classes-in-usa). Finished work sits in the [student labs](/student-labs).

The arrangement

## What a California family is buying

Stated plainly, because batch size is the number most providers work hardest to obscure.

| Item | Group | Private |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Learners in the room | Five to eight | One |
| Teacher | The same person weekly | The same person weekly |
| Sessions | Two a week, eight a month | Two a week, eight a month |
| Format | Live video, never a recording | Live video, never a recording |
| Outcome | A built project and a certificate | A built project and a certificate |
| Subjects | Coding and mathematics on one track | Coding and mathematics on one track |
| Commitment | Month to month | Month to month |
| Fee | USD 100 a month | USD 150 a month |

Everything runs in a browser. A laptop or desktop, a microphone and a connection that carries video is the whole equipment list, and there is nothing to install on a school-managed machine.

Pauses, plan changes and missed sessions are set out on the [pricing page](/pricing).

Fees

## Two numbers, and nothing behind them

Billed monthly in US dollars. No enrolment fee, no materials charge, no minimum term.

Group$100per month, 8 classes

Five to eight learners, one teacher who does not change. Where most California families begin and remain.

Private$150per month, 8 classes

One learner setting the pace entirely. Usually chosen for AP preparation, or where a student needs far more speed or far more time than a group allows.

Pauses, plan changes and missed sessions are covered on the [pricing page](/pricing).

Reviews

## What families say

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews. These are real reviews, reproduced as written.

★★★★★

"The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content."

Ria Mukherjee

Parent

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease."

Samriddha Mondal

Student

★★★★★

"One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development."

Vansh Agarwal

Student

★★★★★

"My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative."

Sonam Oswal

Parent of Dhairya

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation."

Sonu Goyal

Parent

★★★★★

"I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding."

Ritu Kedia

Parent

More, with photographs and student work, on the [wall of love](/love).

Questions

## California questions, answered plainly

### Does California require schools to teach computer science?

No. The State Board of Education adopted California's first K-12 computer science standards on September 6, 2018, but they are voluntary. They give districts substantive guidance while leaving each one to decide how, and whether, to fit computer science into its curriculum based on local capacity. Two children in neighbouring districts can therefore have completely different exposure to the subject.

### Can a computer science course satisfy the UC science requirement?

Only partly, and this is where families are most often misled. Area D asks for two years of laboratory science drawn from biology, chemistry and physics. Computer science, engineering and applied science courses may be used in Area D as an additional science, meaning a third year and beyond. They do not replace the core two years. A course also has to appear on that high school's UC-approved a-g course list to count at all.

### What are the six core concepts in the California standards?

The California Computer Science Standards are built on six core concepts and seven core practices, aligned to the national K-12 Computer Science Framework. The concepts cover computing systems, networks and the internet, data and analysis, algorithms and programming, and the impacts of computing. The practices describe what a student does, such as recognising computational problems and creating computational artifacts.

### We live near Silicon Valley. Is that not enough?

Proximity to the industry does not put computer science on a timetable. Because the standards are voluntary, provision depends on district capacity, and capacity varies enormously across California. Plenty of families in Fremont, Cupertino, San Jose and Irvine discover their child's school offers one introductory elective with a waiting list. That is the gap we exist to fill.

### Do you teach students anywhere in California?

Everywhere in the state. Because the teaching happens over live video, a learner in Bakersfield sits in the same class as one in Palo Alto and neither has a commute. What is needed is a laptop or desktop, something to speak into, and enough bandwidth to hold a video call. We ship no hardware and ask you to install nothing.

### What time do classes run on Pacific Time?

We build the schedule around your household instead of asking you to fit ours. Weekend slots are the easiest to arrange for Pacific Time, and weekday slots are handled case by case. Times are agreed on the demo call before any money changes hands, so no family commits to a slot that will not survive a normal week.

### What does it cost a California family?

Group classes are USD 100 a month and private tuition is USD 150 a month, each running two classes a week for eight a month. No enrolment fee, no materials to buy, no annual contract, and you may stop at the end of any month. The opening class is free and doubles as a placement check.

### Which ages do you take?

Six through sixty-seven, and that spread is real rather than aspirational. Where somebody begins depends on what they can already do, established in the opening class. A child who has outgrown blocks moves on regardless of school year, and an adult retraining after fifteen years in another field is taught as the adult they are.

### How many students are in a class?

A group is capped at eight and rarely runs below five. Private tuition is one learner with one teacher. In both formats the teacher stays the same from week to week, which reads like an operational detail and is actually the difference between a child who keeps going and one who quietly stops.

### How do we start?

The opening class is free, and it is a lesson rather than a pitch. A teacher works with the student, sets a few problems to see what is genuinely there, then says which level fits. Sometimes the recommendation is to wait six months, or to go elsewhere. We would rather say that than take a payment we have not earned.

Book a free class

## A real lesson, and an honest placement

Tell us the grade and what has already been tried. A teacher runs a genuine opening class, finds the real starting point, and recommends a level. If we are not the right fit, you will hear that on the call rather than after a payment.

You can also use the [contact page](/contact), or read [about us](/about) first.

Nearby

## Other places we teach

[United States](/coding-classes-in-united-states)[Washington](/coding-classes-in-washington)[New York](/coding-classes-in-new-york)[Texas](/coding-classes-in-texas)[New Jersey](/coding-classes-in-new-jersey)[Ontario](/coding-classes-in-ontario)[Coding for kids, USA](/online-coding-classes-for-kids-usa)[AI and machine learning, USA](/ai-and-machine-learning-classes-in-usa)

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