In a world where businesses are becoming more competitive, there are growing demands for tech skills from employers. It is safe to say that early coding skills should be incorporated into kids’ activities in order to improve their abstract thinking.
Coding, also known as computer programming, means creating a sequence of instructions for a computer to execute. Coding helps kids understand how computers work while also learning the critical skills needed for today’s job market.
From an early age, kids who learn coding skills are more geared towards better career prospects that can positively change their lives in the future, help them solve everyday problems, and prepare them for better global career opportunities.
It can also help kids understand the career path they want to choose early on in their life and support an attention-to-detail approach to life issues.
In this article, we are going to focus on talking about the detailed benefits of coding for kids.
Contents
1. Coding Improves Logical Reasoning Skills
When we reason logically, we are trying to make sense of a situation and come up with a solution including anticipating potential future problems and how to act to prevent their effects. By being logical, you are trying to find a correct answer among a set of possible options.
When kids are engaged with coding activities, they are expected to make mistakes and keep trying until they reach a solution. Making mistakes is all part of building a kid’s logical reasoning skills, helping them to see a problem from different perspectives and proffer solutions.
When your kid enjoys fixing your broken devices or gadgets at home, what do you think is happening?
By fixing the broken device or gadget, they are trying to find a solution to the problem and by learning to break down the complex task into smaller tasks (separating various parts before assembling it together).
They are also learning how to manage and solve the problem, thereby improving their logical reasoning skills.
2. Coding Encourages Deep Thinking
When your kid is learning how to code, you are also teaching them to think outside the box and that it is okay to make mistakes. Making mistakes during coding is not unusual, in fact, it is expected.
Several attempts to solve a problem during coding will encourage a kid to think deeper about finding a solution using different strategies and tactics.
Remember that kids learn the most by exploring and doing. Coding encourages and builds a kid’s mindset that there may be another way to reach the desired solution.
Also, there may be more than one right answer and approach to a problem, thereby encouraging them to possibly gain new ideas during problem-solving.
This perspective could also spill into other subjects and areas of the kid’s life, this helps make the kid more open-minded.
3. Coding Improves Mathematical Skills
Having a good math background is important in coding. However, we have also seen cases where coding has helped to improve a kid’s math skills.
In mathematics, one has to make sense of problems and persevere in solving these problems. This is similar to coding, in which one designs and builds a program to accomplish a certain task.
Mathematics and coding are deeply related such that teaching a kid how to code could invariably improve their mathematical skill because, in coding, you also have to apply maths concepts, and visualize abstract concepts.
4. Coding Builds Resilience and Perseverance Traits
Resilience and perseverance are two key character traits one needs in order to achieve their goals in life.
With coding, children can learn that giving up on a problem is not a solution and that in order to solve a problem, they must keep going and coming up with different solutions until they have the right answer to the problem.
This process of coming up with different solutions until a problem is solved is called debugging in computer programming.
For example, in Scratch, when kids learn to build a project by using blocks of code, it helps them to see the bigger picture and know that a big task comprises smaller tasks put together.
5. Coding Encourages Self-Learning
When kids code, they face problems and solve them. With coding, children are able to learn and experiment by themselves unlike in a classroom where they are taught a particular subject by a teacher.
When children experiment with code, it helps them understand that there may be more than one answer to a problem, it helps them to persevere and to know that sometimes the answer may not be simple and it is okay if they take time to find an answer to a problem after many attempts.
Coding also encourages kids to take on new challenges and helps them tap into their innate curiosity and creativity.
6. Coding Teaches Teamwork and Collaboration
Since teamwork and collaboration involve interacting and working with others, it is important that kids are taught about it from an early age.
When kids learn how to create their stories, build mobile apps, build games and animations with other kids, they are also honing their soft skills.
The world is always in need of those who can skillfully collaborate with others as well as those who can lead teams and work as part of teams.
When kids ask for help from other kids during a coding activity, it helps them to understand the importance of being there for others and to cultivate the habit of being open-minded.
When kids participate in competitions and work in teams, it helps them build their self-confidence, build their ability to work with others towards a common goal, and hone their social skills such as communication, empathy, patience, etc.
Also, remember that when you teach kids about teamwork and collaboration, you are also teaching them the importance of understanding, tolerating, and accepting others.
Final Tips
If you want to introduce your kids to coding, there are many free programs such as Scratch and MIT App Inventor that you can download from the internet.
Scratch is a visual block-based programming language that allows kids to create their stories, and build games and animations. MIT App Inventor is a visual, block language for building Android apps.
So parents, what benefits resonate with you the most? Any other benefits you found but not listed in this article, leave a comment and let us know.
