You can always coach your kids to urge them to make good use of their summer vacations. They can start learning how to program and make use of it right away! Three months can be a long time to learn and to apply the knowledge. Freelancing is a very good idea for students, especially for undergrads. It will help them identify the gaps between what they are studying and what needs to be learned.
If your kids are approaching 18 or are enrolled in university, they can participate in Google Summer of Code. The program pays $5000 for four months of work during the summer and can be done from the comfort of your home. Another alternative is CodeChef, which hosts programming contests from different universities every few days.
An internship in a startup or in a small company can be another good way of getting industry exposure and getting paid for it. Small companies like to outsource tasks that may need more time and resources than they are willing to expend in-house to students. A startup may not want to hire full-time tester when it can outsource that task to students who can go through the test cases. Payment can be on a per-task basis, or the student may choose to put their work experience towards a certificate.
The most important part is that this work can help new programmers to practice reading and understanding a client’s requirement documents. It also develops the tools to create a tool or service that may be offered on a website. Students may not make money out of such tool right away, but a time will come when they can make use of it either by selling it or through advertisements. Facebook and Google were the products of such initiatives, and they aren’t the only ones. Remember Flappy Birds, the famous game that gathered millions? It is one of many simple games or utility apps for a smartphone that has gone on to great things.
You can start a RoboGarden program at the beginning of summer. By the end of the summer, you will be able to write your own scripts, bid on freelance jobs, or start developing your own game or app. Start your learning journey with RoboGarden now. Register for free.
