Lessons
Lessons pair video teaching with hands-on build labs. Each video comes with written worked examples and a Build Lab. A family watches the idea and then builds it.
Robotics · AI · STEM
Robotics is not just a field of science.
It’s a canvas for art, innovation, and progress.
— Rodney Brooks
Intuit Robotics is a full-year robotics and coding course for homeschool families with younger builders ages 8 to 12 working beside a parent, older builders ages 13 and up working more independently, and adults. Younger builders program robots in blocks, older builders write JavaScript and Python, and the year earns transcript-ready credit. Each of the ten units ends with a capstone project and studies a real case from the history of engineering. Every unit is taught from a Christian perspective and helps students think carefully about the ethical questions in robotics and how to build technology that serves people well.
Overview
What you get
Intuit Robotics is a full-year online robotics and coding course. It is written for younger builders ages 8 to 12 working with a parent and for older builders ages 13 and up working more independently, and adults can complete it too.
JavaScript, then Python
Older builders write real programs in JavaScript for the first seven units. They write Python in units eight, nine, and ten, and each of those units ends with a capstone written in Python. Younger builders work in blocks all year.
Simulator and kit
Every lesson runs in the free Microsoft MakeCode simulator in the browser. The programs are written for the Elecfreaks Cutebot, so the same code can drive a real Cutebot whenever a family is ready to add one.
Christian perspective
A Christian perspective runs through every unit. Each unit has one anchor verse, one real ethics question, and a family discussion question in every lesson, and families read each verse in the Bible translation they use at home.
Homeschool credit
The full year earns 1.0 homeschool credit. The year also includes grading, rubrics, a fillable hours log that totals itself, and a transcript summary.
Family roles
Parents and children take family roles in each unit. A self-serve quarterly family challenge, posted in the course, gives them a shared build.
The first lesson is free. Memberships start at $14.99 a month, with family plans for up to four learners.
Try the Free LessonThe simulator
Program a robot on the mat
Younger builders work in blocks all year, with a parent beside them. Older builders type JavaScript from lesson one and write Python in units eight through ten. The buttons add a move forward, a move back, a turn, or a repeated path, and you can watch the robot drive it.
Choose a sample program, read the steps, and press Run. The robot drives that path on the mat.
repeat(4) { forward() turnRight()}
OutputWrite a command and press Run. The robot drives it on the mat.
Use the buttons to add a move forward, a move back, a turn, or a repeated path. Press Run, or press Command or Control and Enter, to start the program.
A lesson
How every lesson builds mastery
Lessons combine focused teaching with hands-on build labs and projects. A learner explains the idea and then builds it.
Unit 01 · Hello, Robot
Peek inside a lesson
This preview is drawn from unit one. It shows the unit verse, a concept, a short program, and a build challenge.
…unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required…
The verse places a greater responsibility on the person who has been given much. In unit one, that person is the builder, and the learner is responsible for what the robot does. The name badge and the driven square are the first practice of that responsibility.
Year one
Ten units across the year
Year one has 124 lessons on a suggested 36-week plan. Each of the ten units ends with a capstone build, and the card states the theme for that unit.
Kids learn how robots make choices, from simple rules to real machine learning, and how to use AI wisely.
Unit 01
Hello, Robot
Younger builders work in blocks and older builders type JavaScript, and every learner puts a name on the screen and drives a square that is tuned to be accurate.
- Capstone
- The capstone is a name badge and a carefully tuned square.
- Theme
- The theme is careful work on a first program.
Parent and child
Families build the course together
On the family path, the child is the driver and the coder, and the parent is the navigator and the debugger. They trade those seats at the end of every unit.
Scripture
Faith and wonder in the course
Families choose the Douay-Rheims or the King James Version.
And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
In every unit
Faith in every lesson
Only persons bear God’s image. A robot, however humanlike, is a tool that people build to serve people. Students learn to build those tools responsibly.
Each unit pairs a real ethics question in robotics, such as responsibility, privacy, fairness, truth, the dignity of work, or stewardship, with one anchor verse and a practical way forward. Students also study a real event for each question, such as the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter, the Hawaii false missile alert, and the global problem of electronic waste. Then they learn what people changed afterward.
We explore AI with wonder and care, and we always ask how technology can serve God and others.
01
Anchor verse
Each unit has one anchor verse. Families read it in the Douay-Rheims or the King James Version.
02
Ethics question
Each verse is paired with a real ethics question and a true case from engineering history.
03
Family conversation
Every lesson includes a family discussion question, and the year ends with a stewardship essay.
Wonder
Unit four places robot sensors beside human senses, so learners can study how a machine measures a room and how a person does.
Stewardship
Unit ten closes the year with stewardship, anchored in Genesis 2:15, so learners plan how the robots they build can be cared for, repaired, and recycled well.
People and machines
Unit nine sets people and machines side by side, so learners can see what a person is and what a machine is for.
For families
Homeschool credit for the full year
The full year is a 1.0 elective of about 140 hours, which is more than the 120 hours that one credit requires. Our suggested plan spreads that work across 36 weeks at about three and a half hours a week. Units one through five form a half year of about 75 hours on that plan (about 19 weeks), and that half year earns 0.5 credit.
The parent awards the credit. The transcript summary lists the description, the hours, the grade, and the standards for the family record.
Suggested plan: about 140 hours.
72 hours
Lessons
124 lessons of about 35 minutes each.
26 hours
Weekly labs
On the suggested plan, about one hour in each of the 26 instruction weeks. The other 10 weeks are capstone weeks.
30 hours
Capstones
Ten capstone builds of about three hours each.
4 hours
Journal
A short weekly journal kept across the year.
8 hours
Assessments
Unit quizzes, the midyear exam, and the final exam.
Those pieces come to about 140 hours on our suggested plan. Families can go faster or slower; one or two lessons a week is fine, or whatever pace fits your family. The hours still count toward credit. The self-serve quarterly family challenges posted in the course and extension work can add another 10 to 20 hours.
Assessments
The year includes lesson checks, unit quizzes aimed at 80% mastery, a midyear exam, and a final made of an exam, a practical mission, and a stewardship essay.
Capstone rubric
Each capstone is graded on the same six qualities.
- Works means the robot does what the program asks.
- Code quality means the program is clear and careful.
- Debugging means the learner finds and fixes a mistake.
- Explanation means the learner can say what the program does.
- Faith and ethics means the learner connects the build to the unit’s verse and its ethics question.
- Family collaboration means the family builds the project together.
Records the family keeps
The family keeps these records through the year.
Parent guide
Each lesson carries a parent page with its answer key and a coaching script for parents who are new to coding, ready to download inside the lesson. Each of the ten units adds a parent guide that explains what to teach, what to look for, and how to grade, and those guides arrive in the course as each unit releases.
Weekly hours log
A fillable hours log, downloaded inside the course, records the learner’s minutes for each day and totals the week and the year on its own, and those hours support the credit on the transcript.
Quarterly report cards
A fillable report card, downloaded inside the course, lets the parent record each quarter’s grades, hours, and progress, and the same form carries the midyear and final reports.
Certificates
The academy issues a printable certificate when a learner completes the course.
Transcript summary
The transcript summary lists the course description, the hours, the grade, and the standards, and it is included with the full course as the final unit releases.
Membership
Membership for the year
The first lesson is free. One learner pays $14.99 a month or $129 a year. A family of up to four learners pays $24.99 a month or $199 a year.
- The full year is 1.0 credit, about 140 hours.
- The course is aligned with CSTA, NGSS, and ISTE.
- Each unit brings its rubric and quiz as it releases, and the year includes a midyear exam and a final exam.
- Every lesson includes a parent page with an answer key and a coaching script, and each unit adds a parent guide.
- Fillable hours logs and report cards keep the family record, and a transcript summary completes it.
One learner
$14.99/month
You can also pay $129 for the year.
Family · up to 4 learners
$24.99/month
You can also pay $199 for the year.
Refund policy
- Monthly
- Cancel anytime and keep access through the paid month. A first-time member can get a first-month refund within 7 days.
- Yearly
- Full refund within 30 days. After that, access continues through the paid year.
- Kits
- The makers' policies apply.
Requests go to help@intuit.org, and refunds go back to the original card.
Read the refund policyQuestions
Questions before you enroll
Here are quick answers about ages, the kit, weekly time, credit, faith and memberships.
What ages is this for?
Every lesson has two tracks. Younger builders, ages 8 to 12, work in blocks all year with a parent beside them, and the parent reads along. Older builders, ages 13 and up, work more independently in typed JavaScript, and they can take the course for transcript credit. Adults can use the same lessons to get started.
Do we need a robot to start?
No. Every lesson runs in the free online simulator, so you can start today and add the robot kit later.
Which robot kit do we need, and what does it cost?
Every lesson runs in the free MakeCode simulator in your browser. The programs are written for the Elecfreaks Cutebot, so the same code can drive a real Cutebot with a micro:bit V2. A micro:bit V2 costs about $22.90, a Cutebot costs about $30, and a Maqueen Plus V2 costs about $50. Your family can add the kit whenever you are ready.
How much time does it take each week?
Our suggested pace is about three and a half hours a week across 36 weeks, with focused lessons, a hands-on build lab, and a project. It is not required. Families can go faster or slower. One or two lessons a week is fine, or whatever pace fits your family. The hours still count toward credit at any pace.
Does it count for homeschool credit?
The full year is a 1.0 elective of about 140 hours, whatever pace your family keeps. Units one through five make a half year of about 75 hours, which earns 0.5 credit. The parent awards the credit. Your family keeps a fillable weekly hours log and a fillable quarterly report card from the course, a parent page for every lesson, and each unit’s parent guide and rubric as the unit releases, and the year closes with a transcript summary. The summary lists the description, the hours, the grade, and the standards.
How does faith show up?
Every unit has an anchor verse, and families read it in the Douay-Rheims or the King James Version. Each verse is paired with a real ethics question and a true case from engineering history. Unit one begins with Luke 12:48 and responsibility. Unit nine studies Genesis 1:27 and human dignity. Unit ten closes with Genesis 2:15 and stewardship. Every lesson also includes a family discussion question, and the year ends with a stewardship essay. When this page quotes a verse, the wording is from the Douay-Rheims.
Does the course teach AI?
Yes. AI runs through the whole year as part of hands-on projects, including training the micro:bit to recognize patterns.
Is the first lesson free?
Yes. The first lesson is free. After that, memberships start at $14.99 a month, with family plans for up to four learners.
Can we cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel a monthly membership anytime and keep access through the paid month. A first-time member can get a first-month refund within 7 days. Email help@intuit.org.