Why You Should Teach Your Child Coding From An Early Age

Since the world is ever-increasing and coming up with new and more demanding things for a better world it becomes so important for one to be equipped with knowledge to stand out in the market.

As for parents, schools, and institutions, they very well know about the numerous advantages offered by coding. Hence, it should be initiated from childhood as young kids have a stronger grasp of power than adults.

It is also the need of the hour as we cannot overlook the advantages a child can have in the future with the knowledge of coding, for instance developing critical thinking, problem-solving skills, creativity, creating better job opportunities, and many more.

Let’s get some insights on this in detail through this article.

What Is Coding? 

Coding is a process in which a set of instructions is given to the computer which is analyzed and executed further to get the desired result.

This is why the language which computers accept is contrasting to the language that human beings use. Coding is useful in the process of placing the instructions in a certain proper language to match with the computers and then running them. 

They can be used in the development of mobiles, websites, applications, databases, and many more. In this context, it is crucial to discover where coding is applicable and to choose what you want to do using the coding skill of having learned how to code.

Have a look at The Importance of Coding in 21st Century Education to know why learning coding is important. 

At What Age Can Kids Start Coding?  

Children can start coding lessons at the age of five. Gradually the complexity can be introduced based on their learning and grasping pace. Evidence has shown that by the age of 12, they are capable of developing applications.

Why to Teach Coding at a Young Age? 7 Benefits of Coding 

As it is said when we are a child we are very creative but gradually that creativity fades away. It is time to break this notion.

To keep the kids engaged developing critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and being creative will keep their curiosity alive which will nurture their creativity. 

Therefore it is very important to introduce them to new things like coding, at the early stage of their life. Let’s have a look at the benefits of coding in detail.

1. Children develop cognitive skills.

Cognitive skills are capabilities that enable an individual to grasp, evaluate, reason, know as well as recall.

Such cognitive development of children skills in kids is developed through coding because it challenges the brain and their problem-solving and critical thinking skills.

It helps them to learn logical approaches to solving problems. 

2. Children learn to solve difficulties.

As mentioned earlier while coding we provide a set of instructions to get a desired result.

The basic principle behind coding is to identify a bigger problem, break it down into manageable pieces, and excel them to achieve a central goal.

This exercise helps kids to deal with difficulties and learn how to solve them. They learn to build hypotheses and test them one by one as well as deal with the errors that might have happened during the process.

Also, read Best Coding Websites For Kids to know where you can learn to code perfectly 

3. Kids develop tenacity

Tenacity means an unwillingness to give up. While coding one has to go back and forth to look for any bugs in their code until they find a solution.

Coding helps kids to be tenacious. It builds a curiosity and a willingness to know what could have gone wrong and try to fix it.

This exercise also helps them to excel and the art of persistence and perseverance.   

4. Creativity can be nurtured via coding.

Coding is a “cross-disciplinary” art. It nurtures creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills. Once learned it can be applied in various fields to solve problems.

It helps kids to think out of the box ideas and apply coding to test their hypotheses. For students, it is like painting one’s only abstract ideas on a canvas and then creating them into reality.

Sometimes, when kids get to coding, they can fix a problem in a way that is unique from before or they get to develop something they like, such as art, music, designs, etc.

They could be the minds behind video games, or any other applications of use. Small success they achieve at this age boosts student’s confidence and it becomes too addictive to give up on this once the job is done. It encourages you to take the next step and continue. 

Learn about The Best Online Platforms to Learn How to Code

5. Persistence and resilience – the keys to success

These are both very valuable and useful traits for life, which can easily be explained to children through the basics of coding. It means not giving up on particular habits or techniques after one fails in a specific task. 

Coding is certainly an art and science for which a lot of patience is expected and when one gets defeated then, she or he must know how to accept defeat. It is an iterative process, one has to go through it again and again to fix it until the code is good to go. 

The continuous trial and error process doesn’t accept failure as an option and motivates kids to be tenacious and get the job done. Resilience means to recover quickly from any kind of stress. 

This quality keeps kids looking for solutions rather than sulking on failing. Like my teacher used to say, it is you who is making the mistake, the computer is just following the instructions so look for the error and try to fix it. 

For teachers, have a look at Five Best Ways to Implement Coding into Your Classroom.

There is always a solution to problems, one has to have willingness and determination to look for it. In no world, parents would not embrace these qualities in their children at such an early stage of their lives.

6. Coding Encourages hands-on learning.

Coding is not something that can be learned by reading books, you have to get your hands dirty. It is an art one can excel only by practicing and incorporating their creativity to it.

It encourages hands-on learning because they can only learn the concept behind let’s say video games by making one. It is not passive which keeps them occupied, mostly learning and handling the problems.

7. Future Opportunities

Learning coding is definitely going to generate far better conditions for children in the future. It may give better chances for employment and engender business.

There is evidence of teenagers turning into millionaires in the process of selling their Codes or applications. 

Altogether, due to the increasing role of technologies in the new market environment, there is a great need for coders. But in some way getting to learn coding from a young age is equally getting to seal one’s future as well.

Although coding is not all about the computers the actual process of learning coding also helps an individual personally in order to sustain their lives. 

Conclusion 

Lastly, learning coding at a young age will not make a kid professionally developed but, rather, personally developed.

In many ways, it is a fun method to train and develop students’ imagination teach perseverance not to surrender quickly, and learn how to bounce back when faced with failures. 

It also helps improve their problem-solving skills, analytical skills, decision-making abilities, and thinking.

Yet, in some way or another, I believe this has become the cardinal rule that should not be overburdening whenever children are in the equation. They should be allowed to choose priorities to follow their passion and do the jobs of their interest.