5 reasons your child should start coding
reasons why kids should learn coding

5 reasons your child should start coding

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Coding has become an important factor in our modern and advanced lifestyle. Electronic devices we use regularly, such as laptops, TVs, and even traffic lights, require code to function as we desire. Coding and programming are used interchangeably.

There are about 274 coding languages that are approved according to the TIOBE index. Since anyone can invent their language, several thousand languages are not in much use, enough to be considered noteworthy. The popular languages include JavaScript, Java, Python, C and C++ and then many more.

Coding/ Programming as a career choice

Considering today’s upcoming age, coding as a career is a great occupational and professional path. Depending on the person’s coding skills, they can choose different professional careers such as cyber security, software development, software engineering, data science, Product management and computer programming to name a few from a long list of options. Furthermore, all coding professionals get an excellent, pretty above the national average. Hence, it is a good idea to choose code as a career. Another interesting fact about this career path is that the working environment will be full of compatible and like-minded people and colleagues. And also, because it will always keep one on their peak senses, and with the knowledge of latest tech, as well, that is always advancing.

Coding/ Programming in other disciplines

Nowadays, babies learn to swipe, click and, sometimes even, play games before they can learn to stand or even speak. All children these days are growing up and learning in the digital age and coding is a skill that they can learn to use on daily basis. This is because coding cannot be only used in a professional career, but it can also be useful to young children and students in general as well. There is a common understanding that coding is a technical skill of a high and advanced level, but instead, it is more of a language for computers, a new form of literacy. And as the world is witnessing advancement and improvement in technology and science every day, the importance of coding is also increasing daily, hence people with knowledge and ability to do coding are also becoming important. Therefore, it is also beneficial for students to start learning during their early academic years. Children with interest and potential in science, games and gadgets do not necessarily have a knack for coding as well, this is why professional guidance is important. Below 5 main reasons are mentions as to why your children should start learning and doing coding, irrespective of which career they will opt for;

Coding helps with an increase in creativity

As the main idea of coding is to produce something new out of nothing or a basic template. Because coding is important for designing apps, games, websites and many other platforms. This is why coding also becomes a way to demonstrate the creator’s creativity and innovation. With the help of coding, young children can create projects that are of interest with maximum creativity and fantastic ideas. They keep on experimenting with different factors and ideals to come up with the best result for their project, and when they find the result they were looking for, it also comes with confidence and motivation to achieve more. Moreover, experts advise teaching code to children because this will become a continuous challenge for them. They will keep on trying different things while thinking, ‘What if I try this method?’ or ‘Can this solve this issue?’. This will increase their creativity in a discipline that demands creative minds and experiments. Another method to keep their interest in coding is to always give them constructive and positive feedback on their progress work. Children are always looking forward to feedback, especially on things are putting effort into. This feedback could be verbal, or it can also be given by checking live feedback on computers, or both. This will encourage young learners to find workable solutions to whatever problems and challenges they could be facing. This way they can also develop an ability to find solutions to their problems and difficulties, hence making it a crucial ability and skill that go beyond the usage of a computer.

Coding helps in developing Persistence

Perseverance Is not a common trait, especially in young children or students. But it is one of the most important and required traits of life in general as everyone faces failure. They need to learn to not give up easily when faced with continuous issues, problems and challenges but to find in themselves to keep going forward. Coding makes learners practice persistence and they need to find answers to the problems in their design project, again and again until they can come up with the perfect workable solution. Interestingly, Computer Science is a professional discipline that does not look at constant failures but understands that accomplishment cannot be achieved without a handful of failing experiences. When children start to do coding, they are sure to face failures in their projects, but they still come to learn that it is not that frustrating but can be solved if looked at with concentration. And while solving their constant challenges, when they come across even a small accomplishment, they are overjoyed and also find the motivation to push through all the future problems to achieve their main goal. With time, perseverance will be rooted inside the student and become one of the leading factors in their academic and career success.

Coding Develops Resilience

Resilience cannot be taught but learned through a series of experiences. Even young children need to face different sorts of experiences to be able to develop their resilience skills. Another amazing benefit of coding is that it would make them practice and build resilience as well. This is because whenever they hit a wall, they need to look for a solution to move forward. If the first solution does not work, then try the second one, if that does not work then try the third and so on until there is a solution. This method, called ‘debugging’, is well sought after in the professional world, and is half the fun of coding. Another important reason why children should learn coding as it teaches patience, continuous effort and resilience.

Coding Improves Digital Literacy

Technology has become a crucial part of the current age, it is used to support our professional and household work, provides better communication and transportation along with playing vital functions in every industry in the nation’s economy. Technology, in our digital age, is not only a luxury or something to be good at, but it has also become a necessity and demand for everyone. Now children also need to be digitally literate to navigate through their lives. Digital literacy is a person’s capability and aptitude with understanding and engagement with technology within a reasonable and meaningful manner. Digitally literate children can use technology for several purposes like research, and also gain the ability to manage their online identity on different platforms. Even though coding is not one of the upfront necessities for netizens, it will become one shortly. All online and many offline platforms are already embedded with codded programs. Hence it would not be wrong to conclude that coding is becoming a necessary digital literacy on its way. Even if life is still fine without knowing how to program, it does not mean it will be the same in future as well. So, the upcoming generation should start learning to code as soon as they can.

Coding can improve a child’s communication skills

Learning how to do coding is the same as learning a new language. When a person learns a language, they become better at communication as well. Unlike the common conception that coding is an individual activity, it is teamwork, comprising different roles, all working for the same goal. Enrolling young learners in coding classes can become an efficient way to develop their team-building, team-managing and communication skills. And good and confident communication skills permit children to boost their social skills and enlarge their social circle with diversity and quality, and all this will bring a positive impact on their academic, personal and professional lives and a healthy self-image.

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