Every country in the world is working towards a digital economy. Whatever their goals or career aspirations, children are going to need to know how to make technology work for them. And what better way to prepare them for the future than coding – the engine that is propelling us to rapid progress in the 21st century.
Isabel Sieh, founder of Girls Will Code, learned the skill at the age of 10. If she can do it, so can any child. There are coding systems that even children as young as four years old can work with. With the right program and learning approach, it won’t take long for the young ones to master the basics.
Still think that your child is too young to code? Here are the top seven reasons why coding is important for young minds.
1.Coding is the language of technology
Children are growing up at a time when computing is embedded in almost all aspects of our lives. They know how to use cell phones, laptops, and social media, but it’s coding that will help them understand the science behind these tools. In many ways, learning to code is like learning a language. Mastering it in progressive steps is considerably easier when spread out over a number of years.
2.Coding boosts self-confidence
Learning a new skill is incredibly rewarding. When a child, or even an adult, learns to code, it enables him or her to reach higher levels of happiness, satisfaction, and self-esteem. It gives a different kind of psychological boost because coding is largely seen as difficult to learn and understand.
Imagine how a child will feel after programming a virtual robot! When children get to successfully apply coding concepts and see positive results, they’ll begin to understand that hard work allows them to achieve goals they set for themselves. Coding classes also provide exciting opportunities for children to collaborate with each other and improve their communication and social skills.
3.Coding helps develop practical skills
With coding, children get a more visual understanding of basic mathematics concepts and apply computational thinking to real-life problem-solving. Coding is not just about developing a program, it’s also about building logical thinking that requires one to focus on solving a specific challenge. It encourages children to evaluate situations from different angles. Coding teaches children to think logically and visually – critical skills that are needed by digital natives who thrive in the modern world.
4.Coding inspires innovation
Computer programming motivates children to let their imagination fly as they discover the ins and outs of planning and developing an app or a video game. By experimenting with computer code, children are able to think outside the box and take different approaches to solve a problem. This way, children realize that they can always try out new ways to resolve everyday issues. Learning to code helps children foster problem-solving techniques that can translate to success in different fields.
Visual programming languages help children learn to code using images, signs and diagrams. Coding is similar to writing a story – both follow a pattern of having a beginning, middle, and end. Just as words are put together to form the sentences of a story, commands or blocks are arranged to form a script that triggers the computer or processor to initiate a specific task. Learning to code improves children’s written skills as it trains them to turn a complex idea into a simple one through a more concise and structured approach.
5.Coding helps build core soft skills
When a child starts to learn to code, he or she embarks on an exciting journey of moving through more and more complex problems. Computer programming enables children to develop a growth mindset because making mistakes is part of the learning process. They strengthen their resilience by persevering through errors. In coding, children get to test their creative ideas and, if they don’t work, figure out what went wrong.
What makes coding more exciting is that errors present opportunities to find alternative solutions to a single problem. Children are encouraged to write codes that prevent an entire program from cashing. They get to understand that mistakes can lead them to deeper learning. As children build more complicated code, they also develop improved focus and organisational skills.
6.Coding is fun
More than the practical reasons for learning how to code, it’s no secret that creating a game or an animation can be very appealing to children. Computer programming makes learning fun for children because they see the results of their hard work right in front of their eyes. There is no shortage of those priceless “aha” moments – those that spark brilliant, unexpected solutions and those that make children see the value of technology and why they need it.
After school coding groups, tech camps, and codelabs make coding more exciting for children because they get to learn with peers and collaborate on projects. Through these learning environments, children get safe spaces where they can interact, raise questions, and play important roles.
7.Coding is the most important job skill of the future
Coding gives children a head start for the future of work. Children need to know how to code for themselves and for the future of the economy and the society as a whole. With a rapidly growing digital jobs market and increasing concerns that artificial intelligence may phase out certain job roles over the next 10 years, there has never been a better time for children to learn coding.
Computer programming jobs are among the most in-demand and hard to fill. A plethora of opportunities await children who nurture a passion for coding. Knowing how to code is a huge asset in a wide array of industries that include education, health, energy, manufacturing, information sciences, and nanotechnology.
Learning how to code will help children thrive in a competitive digital world. Starting them young is the way to go to ensure that they have the right knowledge and skills to face the programming demands of the future.
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As children learn to code, there is a significant amount of benefits that have been reported.
One thing we did not cover in that, however, was the importance of coding for child development as well.As we are now into the digital age, coding seems to be the new literacy.
Coding is important for children to understand, as it teaches them skills in innovation, technology, and prepares them for the high demand in the tech industry- should they choose that route.New games such as Minecraft are creating incredible results in the developmental stages of children.
As they get more and more interested in their task at hand, they will be dedicated to seeing the challenge through to the end, thus building persistence and dedication.2.
This is how a software engineer approaches problems, with computational, logical thinking.3.
This will, in turn, improve writing skills as it helps understand the placement, structure, and order of writing.
Coding is finally trendy.The idea of learning to code is propagating down further and further into the educational system.
This conversation is happening on ever corner of the globe.
Here in Victoria, the provincial government unveiled plans in January that would introduce computer coding in its school curriculum, addressing a chronic skills shortage.“Every kindergarten to grade 12 student will have the opportunity to learn the basics of coding,” Premier Christy Clark said at the Annual Tech Summit in Vancouver.Even President Obama has pushed youth to study coding saying, “Don’t just play on your phone, program it.”Clearly learning how to code has inherent economic value.
Communities can reap significant benefit through higher salaries, exportable skills via outsourcing, and entrepreneurial development.More than anything, coding has become an invaluable language that enhances both communication and problem solving skills in children.Enhanced problem solvingAlgorithms are programmatic solutions to problems.
They take inputs like sensors to see if cars are arriving and timers for how long lights have been the current colour.
The lines at the DMV follow a First In First Out algorithm with category-based queueing and appointments as priority interrupts.Try to think of an algorithm as problem solving over time.
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