Children are naturally curious about their surroundings and absorb information like sponges. Now, the information they absorb depends on what goes on around their surroundings and what their parents and teacher feed them.
When it comes to teaching your kids something that helps them throughout their education and career, there are multiple popular choices such as sports, foreign languages, and arts. However, according to the current scenario of education and the job sector, the best thing you can teach your kids is coding.
Programming is a career-oriented choice when it comes to learning extracurricular subjects as it pays well and provides excellent scope. However, it is not exclusively about career and payment. Learning to code has amazing long-lasting benefits that can improve one’s mental state of being. Kids who learn to code at an early age grow up to be logical problem-solve who remain persistent in tough scenarios. Here are some of the benefits that kids can take advantage of when learning to code:
- Prepares one as a problem-solving individual
- Increases creativity
- Feeds and sustains curiosity
- Helps develop math skills
- Helps understand the surrounding
- Helps with academic performance
Nevertheless, even if the parents are well aware of the benefits of learning to code, sometimes, it takes quite an effort to get your kids interested in the subject. Parents who are not well-versed in the subject themselves are less likely to explain coding and its benefits to their kids. In order to get your kids interested in coding, you need to be able to introduce them to the subject in a fun and enjoyable way. To help you best explain coding to your kids and have them interested and curious about its functionalities, here are a few tips and tricks:
Explain how coding connects to everyday life
It is the age of technology that we are living in which also makes most of our lives and day-to-day activities dependent on computers. Children are naturally curious and ask a lot of questions, especially the whys, hows, and whats. So while introducing coding classes for kids, consider telling them about how the entire world runs on computers, with most programs requiring computer codes. Try to relate computer programming and its importance to the real world. You could also give them real-world examples, for instance, our reliance on smartphones to stay connected with each other.
Show them how it works
There are thousands of devices, machines, and gadgets that require computer codes to run. Whether you are withdrawing money at an ATM, watching a cartoon movie, or surfing on YouTube, you can choose a wide variety of options to let your younglings know how coding is implemented throughout the world and why it is important to learn about it.
If you are unable to dive into the basics of programming yourself, watch a documentary video together about coding and its utilization in the modern world. Your kids would love to know how their favorite cartoon character was brought to life with the help of coding.
Introduce them to coding
For kids who are a little older, the best way to introduce them to coding is by letting them have a first hand at the practice. Kids who are younger can try gamified coding languages to understand the basics of coding while being entertained. Gamified coding aims to clarify and impart the basics of computer programming with the help of interactive visuals and block-based games.
For teens, Python programming is the best stepping stone towards coding expertise. Python is one of the most widely used computer programming languages in the world. It is used by Google, NASA, and other big corporations to create and maintain their app. Python is also easy to learn and understand compared to other programming languages, a fact which further adds to its popularity.
