If you think coding for kids is an impossible endeavor, you are completely wrong! Coding for kids is very much like learning a new language!
And while it’s hard to imagine how a child at a tender age can learn something so complicated and complex at first glance, thanks to a variety of websites, school programs, toys, and academies it can be much more digestible and easy.
Coding for kids not only helps kids improve their math skills and algorithmic thinking but also teaches them valuable life skills.
There are many reasons why coding is important to learn and teach in school. The earlier kids start to learn to code, the greater their chance of success.
What is Coding?
Coding is the language we use to communicate with computers, and what we use to build and run websites, apps, games, and more.
There are different types of languages, depending on what you want to develop, each with its own set of rules.
But why is it so important to teach kids to code? There are so many benefits that it’s hard to pick just one, from problem-solving skills, employability, critical thinking, creativity, and more.
Coding Teaches Kids How to Think
Whether you want to help your child become a computer scientist or simply expand their computer science knowledge, coding for kids has various benefits.
You can find free sources of coding activities suitable for kids, such as Hour of Code and cool coding games that can help your kid expand and develop his knowledge in a fun way.
Programming isn’t just about learning how to write lines of code. Rather, it’s about teaching kids how to think differently. To be able to code effectively, a programmer must use logical thinking.
When they have a big problem in front of them, they need to be able to break it down into smaller pieces in order to solve it effectively.
This method is called decomposition and is considered one of the key features of computational thinking. Kids learning to code will have to take a vague idea and use their creativity to turn it into something effective. Coding helps develop that mindset, and those kinds of thinking skills are in high demand.
Coding Teaches Kids to Solve Problems
Understanding computers and learning the basics of coding helps children develop an understanding of how things work.
It also teaches them how software engineers use mathematics to solve complex problems in a logical and creative way. This is one of the reasons why coding is taught in schools so that children can learn these skills while they are young.
The ability to solve problems is a trait that is useful in life in general.
Writing Code Develops Kids’ Resilience
When kids learn to code, they develop the ability to bounce back from failure. They learn that failure is not necessarily a bad thing and in fact, can often be a positive thing because it serves as a learning opportunity.
This is one of the most important reasons for kids to code, as they will quickly learn that “debugging” their code is half the fun.
Final Words
Coding empowers kids to be creative and confident. They get a chance to design something that is entirely from their imagination and then enjoy the feedback they get. When kids learn how to code, it gives them the opportunity to be confident and create something in a fun and exciting way.
