Computer Skills

About this course

Tenth grade assumes your student already knows the basics and pushes into intermediate territory. The Python unit reviews variables and input quickly, then works through conditionals and loops in depth, functions, list methods, dictionaries, reading and writing files, error handling with try and except, and an introduction to object-oriented programming complete with a worked Student class showing the constructor, self, attributes, and methods. It closes with modules, building a tool that is actually useful, and presenting and sharing code. The systems units cover hardware selection for a purpose, the boot process from power button to desktop, how data is represented, compression and what lossy formats throw away, wireless standards, cloud service models and their trade-offs, layered defense, computational thinking, machine learning, and a database lesson that designs a church directory from scratch, teaching tables, primary keys, foreign keys, relational structure, and queries, and explaining honestly why a spreadsheet is not the same thing.

The software unit is aimed squarely at college-level output: advanced word processing, research paper formatting, intermediate spreadsheets, data visualization, presentation design, professional email, cloud collaboration, note-taking systems, PDF workflows, citation and bibliography management, and a graphic design lesson teaching contrast, alignment, proximity, and repetition with a Canva infographic assignment. Cybersecurity gets a full unit covering the threat landscape and who the attackers actually are, password managers, two-factor authentication and biometrics and passkeys, the difference between phishing and spear phishing and whaling, a malware deep dive, social engineering, securing a home network, privacy tools, what to do after a data breach, and the legal permanence of what gets posted. Digital citizenship goes after harder questions than in earlier grades: social media and mental health, the attention economy and how free apps actually make money, tracking beyond the cookie banner, who owns what you create and what you use, the bystander's role in cyberbullying, documenting harm, de-escalating online conflict, and the SIFT method for checking a claim before sharing it.

The course is 108 lessons in 9 units of 12, each planned for about 40 minutes, ending with a ten-question quiz that grades itself. Each lesson closes with a Practice or Apply task in the text, and those tasks are the real work of the year. Your family will want a computer with a real keyboard, Python installed (free from python.org), a full office suite, a PDF reader that can also annotate, and internet access for Canva and the cloud collaboration lessons, all of which are free at the level used here. Two of the nine units revisit systems and typing from fresh angles late in the year, so some topics come around twice with different treatments.

What the course covers

• Python: functions, lists, dictionaries, file handling, and error handling
• Classes, objects, and an introduction to object-oriented design
• Modules and building a useful tool from scratch
• Hardware selection, the boot process, data representation, and compression
• Wireless networking, cloud service models, and layered security
• Relational database design: tables, keys, and queries
• Computational thinking and machine learning
• Research paper formatting, citation management, and PDF workflows
• Data visualization and graphic design principles in Canva
• Cybersecurity: passwords, passkeys, phishing variants, malware, and breaches
• Home network security and privacy tools
• Attention economy, tracking, intellectual property, and the SIFT method
• Responding to online conflict and harassment
• Advanced typing: code, symbols, long papers, and timed pressure

What your student will be able to do

• Write Python that reads and writes files and handles errors without crashing
• Define a class with attributes and methods and use objects in a program
• Design a small relational database with primary and foreign keys
• Format a research paper with proper citations and produce a designed one-page graphic
• Secure accounts and a home network and recognize targeted phishing
• Apply the SIFT method to a claim before passing it along

Scope and sequence

All 9 units of Computer Skills for Grade 10, in the order they are taught.

Every lesson, by title

All 108 lesson titles are listed here — nothing is withheld until you download. Open a unit to read its contents.

One whole lesson, exactly as it comes

This is a real lesson taken from the middle of the course — the teaching text, the practice, the homework, and the first three quiz questions with their answers. It is not a marketing excerpt.

What you will need

Drawn from the materials named across all 108 lessons of this course. Most families already own most of it.