Interactive Course
Python Detective
15 lessons to develop analytical thinking through coding
What You'll Learn
This course teaches critical thinking skills — decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition, deductive reasoning, and inductive reasoning — through hands-on Python programming. Each lesson combines real-world examples, explicit thinking skill instruction, and projects you'll actually want to build.
By the end, you'll be able to break down complex problems, recognize patterns, think logically, and build programs from scratch. More importantly, you'll develop thinking skills that apply far beyond coding.
How This Works
Learn by Doing
Each lesson includes executable code cells. Click "Run" to see the output, modify the code to experiment, and build your own projects. Everything runs in your browser — no installation required.
15 Lessons
Course Structure
Phase 1: Foundation & Decomposition
How Spies (and Your Brain) Break Big Problems Into Tiny Pieces
Decomposition
Learn to break down complex tasks into manageable steps by building a secret code message encoder.
Your Brain's Filing System: Why Forgetting the Details Makes You Smarter
Abstraction
Build a Friend Stats Tracker and learn to identify essential information while filtering out unnecessary details.
If This, Then That: Making Decisions Like a Logic Ninja
Deductive Reasoning
Create decision helpers and learn logical rule-based thinking.
The Power of Lists: How to Organize Chaos (and Your Room)
Decomposition + Categorization
Build a playlist manager and learn to organize information into meaningful groups.
Phase 2: Patterns & Loops
Pattern Detection: The Superpower You Didn't Know You Had
Pattern Recognition
Create an allowance calculator and learn to identify repeating structures.
Why Do the Same Thing 100 Times When the Computer Can Do It?
Pattern Recognition + Abstraction
Build a meme generator and automate repetitive tasks with loops.
Keep Going Until… The Art of Not Knowing When to Stop
Inductive Reasoning
Create a rock-paper-scissors tournament and learn iterative problem-solving.
Phase 3: Functions & Abstraction
Building Your Own Mental Shortcuts (That Actually Work)
Abstraction + Decomposition
Create a text conversation simulator with reusable functions.
One Tool, Infinite Uses: The Swiss Army Knife of Code
Abstraction + Generalization
Build a customizable roast generator with flexible parameters.
The Assembly Line in Your Head: Chaining Ideas Together
Decomposition + Systems Thinking
Create a social credit score calculator by chaining functions.
Phase 4: Advanced Problem-Solving
Patterns Inside Patterns: When Your Brain Goes Inception Mode
Pattern Recognition + Hierarchical Thinking
Build an emoji art generator with nested patterns.
Everything Connected to Everything: Mapping Relationships Like a Detective
Abstraction + Data Modeling
Create a "Would You Rather?" game with structured data relationships.
When Things Break: Becoming a Code Detective (and Life Problem-Solver)
Deductive + Inductive Reasoning
Learn systematic debugging by fixing broken programs.
Phase 5: Integration & Complex Projects
Survive the Day: Your First Real Game (Where Every Choice Matters)
Synthesis + Integration
Build a middle school simulator combining all thinking skills.
Build Whatever You Want: You're Ready (Yes, Really)
Metacognition + Inductive Learning
Plan and execute your own project from scratch.
For Parents
Teaching Philosophy
This course explicitly teaches thinking skills, not just programming syntax. Each lesson names the cognitive tool being developed, provides practice exercises, and includes reflection questions to build metacognitive awareness.
The projects are designed to be intrinsically motivating — things 11-year-olds actually want to build and share with friends. This keeps engagement high while developing genuine analytical capabilities that transfer to other subjects and life situations.
Ready to Start?
Begin with Lesson 1 and work through at your own pace. Each lesson takes 45–90 minutes depending on how much you experiment.
Start Lesson 1