Most parents start with the fundamentals when choosing extracurricular activities for their kids: dancing, soccer, and even band practice. Most likely, they don’t think of programming as their first notion for keeping their elementary-schooler entertained. But ought it to?
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Why children should learn to code has become a hot topic among parental organizations and educational institutions in recent years. A full 45 percent of high schools now teach computer science, up from the 25 percent recorded by Gallup in 2014. Interest in computer science has increased dramatically in recent years, according to data presented in the 2019 State of Computer Science Education Equity and Diversity Report.
Parents want their children to be computer savvy in this increasingly digital environment, and who wouldn’t? In addition to preparing students for future employment, learning to code offers a variety of soft skills and advantages that we will discuss later in this post. So when ought they to begin their education?
It turns out that the majority of professional developers began their career training at a young age. More than 54% of professional developers wrote their first line of code by the time they were 16 years old, according to Stack Overflow’s 2020 Developers poll. Although it would seem sense to include a child’s first coding session in their high school curriculum, children can really begin learning to code much earlier—as early as four years old in certain cases.
Elementary school programmers are significantly more prevalent than you might imagine, despite the fact that such an early exposure could seem strange at first. In the Stack Overflow study mentioned above, over 9% of engineers said they started coding before turning ten. Furthermore, it is probable that justifications for teaching children to code will grow as digital literacy becomes an increasingly important component of contemporary education.
In actuality, there are several reasons why children ought to start learning to code at a young age. We’ll go over all of the top benefits of teaching kids to code, supported by science, in this post.
Now let’s get started!
1. Coding Improves Ability to Solve Problems
Without a question, one of the easiest methods for kids to improve their problem-solving abilities is through coding.
But let’s back up and define the phrase first before we do it. In its most basic form, the capacity to effectively handle unfamiliar or difficult circumstances is known as problem-solving. A person with strong problem-solving abilities combines several skill sets, including creativity, emotional intelligence, research abilities, teamwork, and decision-making, to provide a coherent and useful solution.
Coders are frequently faced with challenges and expected to solve problems in a programming environment. They must essentially divide difficulties into smaller, more manageable subproblems as part of the exercise, then work through an iterative process of determining, ranking, and putting solutions in place. So, from the moment they tackle their first coding task, kids begin refining their problem-solving abilities.
This is supported by research. Children who engage in a programming environment have “opportunities to develop mathematical concepts, problem-solving and social skills,” according to a 2013 research on five and six-year-olds. In addition, the researchers observed that the study’s younger participants frequently took pleasure in their educational experiences and actively participated in the developmentally appropriate games and activities.
Nevertheless, the advantages could change depending on an individual’s age and level of cognitive development. For instance, a 2014 research involving four to five-year-olds found that while participants’ non-verbal cognitive abilities had risen, there was “no statistically significant difference in their problem-solving skills.”
According to this research, introducing your child to coding at a young age can help them develop highly transferable cognitive skills, even if they decide not to pursue coding as a career. Why shouldn’t youngsters learn to code?
2. Computational Thinking Is Enhanced by Coding
According to a 2014 research, middle school students’ understanding of computational learning may be improved by playing coding games.
Have no prior knowledge of computational thinking? To put it simply, it’s a field of study that deals with issue expression using computer language. When taught this way of thinking, students are encouraged to deconstruct complicated problems into smaller ones in order to identify underlying process patterns.
According to the findings of a previous study, “We believe that opportunities to engage in computational thinking can directly benefit children as young as ten years old.” Kids can start by working through puzzles on paper, go on to game boards, and then finish their solutions on computers. By using this method, students may be directed through more difficult algorithmic thinking exercises that are based on their enthusiasm for playing games and implicit knowledge.
According to the findings of this study, kids who participated in computational thinking exercises improved their comprehension of algorithmic thought processes. This enhanced understanding may support a child’s problem-solving abilities and transfer well into mathematical endeavors. These improvements may manifestly improve their performance as learners and, eventually, as professionals.
3. Coding Promotes tenacity
One of the few professional fields where it’s completely okay to fail almost always is computer science. Not only is failure easily identifiable—that is, when a program “breaks” and stops functioning as intended—but success is really impossible to get until all mistakes are fixed. Coders must comprehend a set of issues and find solutions to them in order for even the simplest programs to function as intended.
Every experienced developer has logged many late hours searching through Stack Overflow, trying in vain to find the most effective method of assembling an application’s components into a coherent whole. Any developer you ask what “dereferencing a null pointer” means will cringe in exasperation as they recall hours wasted trying to find an issue that would not go away.
But tenacity is a true, long-lasting character gain that comes along with all of this disappointment and failure.
In a previous TED talk about the importance of perseverance, psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth stated, “Our data shows that many talented individuals simply don’t follow through on their commitments.” “In fact, our data shows that grit and talent measures are typically unrelated or even inversely proportional.”
According to Duckworth and her colleagues psychologists, grit is the uncommon capacity to persevere in the face of recurrent failure. Those who see failure as a useful signal rather than someone to avoid are the most successful persons in life.
Children who learn to program discover that failure is temporary and need not be discouraging or a roadblock to advancement. Children can get the motivation they need to persevere through challenges in their programming from even little victories. This tenacity can eventually strengthen a child’s grit and be one of the most significant predictors of their success in school and the workplace in the future.
Your child’s growth mindset—a belief that one’s capacity for learning can be enhanced, modified as necessary, and resilient in the face of disheartening setbacks—may be fostered through coding. What greater way of thinking could a young youngster take up?
4. Creativity Is Taught by Coding
Although most working people do not value creativity, it is a trait that every early educator and parent is completely concerned with.
A group of psychologists at UC Berkeley found that as people age, their creative capacities tend to decline. The saying “adults are less creative than children” is accurate. Upon reaching our later years, we have successfully “unlearned” one of the most crucial life lessons.
“Those that are creative respond quickly and efficiently, which enables them to accomplish their objectives and enjoy the process. According to studies from Notre Dame, Doireann O’Connor, “[It] is both a skill set and a unique and individual personality structure that’s developed throughout childhood and fine-tuned in adolescence.”
Thus, how can we maintain a child’s creative abilities as they grow older?
Experts advise teaching children to code. Coding, as a discipline, places developers in the role of “creators” or “world-builders” inside a computer environment; it necessitates an experimental attitude and creative thinking.
Kids are always encouraged to try new things when they use programming. After kids grasp the fundamentals, they may keep asking themselves, “What if I tried this?” Would that be effective?
Since computers offer real-time feedback, new programmers are more motivated to overcome obstacles by coming up with practical solutions. Children are encouraged to tell tales, bring characters to life, and create original programs through age-appropriate coding projects. This allows them to integrate logical and systematic thinking with artistic, creative, and intuitive learning.