Peer Programming

Yes. Every 1-on-1 session and group class is free, and so is your account. Peer Programming is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit registered in Texas.

Yes. Our own instructors are currently high school students. They sign up as an instructor, book a 15-minute call with us, and pass an interview that checks how well they teach and how well they really know the language, not LeetCode puzzles. Their teaching hours are tracked automatically, and they can download a volunteer-hours certificate that anyone can check at peerprogramming.org/verify.

Once your account is linked to your child's, you can see their sessions, read every message in their chats (including class chats and direct messages), and help arrange sessions for them. It's read-only: you can't send messages, but you can report any message to our team. We also email you about your child's account. You can turn that off in Settings, but if your child reports a message, we always tell you.

Your child can invite you at the end of their own sign-up: you sign in with a code we email you, so there's no password to create, and the invite lasts 7 days. Or sign up yourself with a Parent account, then create your child's account or link their existing one with the 6-digit code they read out to you. If your child is under 13, the consent email we send you sets up your parent account. You can link up to 10 children, and each child can have up to 2 parents.

A child under 13 can only sign up with a parent's email, and we get your verified consent before their account is created, as the US children's privacy law (COPPA) requires. The consent link lasts 7 days, and children under 13 can't use Google or GitHub sign-in. You can review or delete your child's data at any time, and we never sell student information. The details are in our privacy policy at peerprogramming.org/privacy.

In 1-on-1 sessions, your child is paired with one instructor, and the two of them agree on times in chat. A group class has its own instructors, who schedule the sessions, and is run by Peer Programming or by an organization we work with. Both meet on Google Meet, both are free, and your child can do either or both. Joining a group class needs no call, while 1-on-1 starts with a 15-minute call with us.

Your child signs in and picks one from the class list in the app, or uses the link or code the class's instructors or organization gives them. There's no call to book, and they can be in up to 3 classes at a time. From your parent account you can add them to a class the same two ways, and RSVP to sessions for them.

Every instructor who teaches a Peer Programming class or a 1-on-1 has passed our interview. Partner organizations choose their own instructors, so before one can run classes here, we check that it's safe and that it properly screens its instructors; that way, when it vouches for an instructor, we know they're suitable to teach. Everyone follows our code of conduct. A Peer Programming moderator is emailed the link to every group session and may join. Any message can be reported with the red megaphone icon, and if someone uninvited joins a group session, the instructor presses New meeting link and the class moves to a new room. There's more at peerprogramming.org/safety.

Yes. For the first hour after your child's 1-on-1 starts, your parent account shows a banner you can click to join, so you can drop in and see how their learning is going. Group sessions are for the class's students and instructors, so parents don't get the meeting link for them, but you can still read the class chat as your child sees it and answer session invitations for them.

Sign in and pick one from the class list in the app, or use the link or code your class's instructor or organization gives you. The list isn't public: you need an account to see it. You don't need to book a call to join.

Up to 3 at a time. They're all free, run by Peer Programming and the organizations we work with.

If a parent or guardian links their account to yours, they can read everything you see and send in your chats, including direct messages. They can't send messages, and they don't get the meeting link for group sessions.

As long as the student and instructor would like, up to a 3-hour cap per session. Most pairs settle into a comfortable weekly rhythm, often 45 to 90 minutes, once they find what works.

In a 1-on-1, no. Students and instructors message back and forth, agree on a time that works for both of them, and meet then. Flexibility is the whole point. Both sides are in school, so the schedule shifts with the week. Group classes meet at times their instructors set.

You can request a re-pair with a different instructor right from the student portal. No awkward conversation required. We quietly match you with someone new, and the old pairing closes out.

In a 1-on-1 there isn't a fixed curriculum, so the student drives their own learning, picking the language, the project, and the pace. The instructor builds a plan around what the student actually wants to make.

Sign up as an instructor, book a 15-minute call with us, and pass our interview. If you teach for a partner organization, they invite you by email instead, and you'd still need our interview to teach Peer Programming's own classes or 1-on-1s.

In a 1-on-1 there isn't a fixed curriculum. You teach whatever your student needs help with or asks about. We handle the pairing carefully, so the student you're matched with always wants to learn a language you already know well.

Our interview isn't LeetCode style. It focuses on your ability to teach and your genuine understanding of the language. We know every instructor is still growing, and we aren't looking for perfection. We just maintain a baseline of instruction quality.

No. Our system automatically tracks the exact time you spend teaching and surfaces the total in your instructor portal whenever you need it.

Yes. You can download a volunteer-hours certificate whenever you need one, and anyone, like a school or an employer, can check it by its code at peerprogramming.org/verify.

For Peer Programming's own classes and 1-on-1s, we currently only accept high schoolers as instructors. Partner organizations bring their own instructors, and we review how each organization screens them. If you have a specific situation you think we should consider, email [email protected] and we'll take a look.

Yes, and it's free: keep your curriculum and your tools, and we run the online classroom around them. Your organization gets its own console in the app to create classes, invite your instructors, and see attendance and volunteer hours. Your classes start link-only, so students join with the link or code you share, and you can put any of them on the class list in the app. See peerprogramming.org/organizations.

You do, and we check how. Before your organization can run classes here, we review it and how it screens its instructors. After that, when your organization's admin invites an instructor by email, that invite is your vouch for them. Your instructors still need our interview to teach Peer Programming's own classes or 1-on-1s. Moderation stays with us: a Peer Programming moderator is emailed the link to every group session, including yours.

Their name, email address, and their RSVPs and attendance in your classes, used only to run those classes.

It's recorded automatically from the Google Meet call: names in the call are matched to your class's members. You can link any names left over to the right student from your console. Your instructors' volunteer hours come from the same records.