There are many exciting outcomes children can achieve when programming. That’s why teaching programming is so beneficial for kids.
Programming enables children to create wonderful things and helps them acquire various skills that students can learn through thinking, analyzing problems, and designing solutions.
Teaching programming in schools makes children aware of how computers work. It gives them an awareness that many of the devices around them, such as traffic light control systems, cash machines, or virtual assistants (e.g., Alexa), have been programmed for them to work.
By teaching children to program, we empower them to take control of computers and provide them with a platform to understand and change the world.
When programming, children simultaneously develop soft skills such as collaboration, communication, turn-taking, and conflict management. The skills children learn when programming support their understanding of computer science and may also be applied more widely in other subjects and outside school.
Teaching programming supports children when solving problems. For example, you could encourage them to break down their task into smaller chunks (decomposition) so that they can fix a smaller amount of the problem. In addition, The students can apply many skills they learn when solving problems with their programs to other areas of their learning or lives.
Developing problem-solving skills
Programming can cause frustration. It is essential to teach children that it is OK to make mistakes and support them in learning from them to develop their programming abilities. Children build resilience by making and fixing mistakes; they begin to deal with problems they meet rather than give up.
You should support children in developing their computing skills and adding new concepts and ideas to their programs. It is helpful to remind them how they have improved over time, as this helps to foster a growth mindset. That means they recognize that while they can’t do something at the moment or find something challenging, it will not be this forever. It supports the idea that hard work and determination can enable them to improve their skills, even if they find things tricky.
Increased opportunities to be creative
When children program, they learn skills to help them express themselves in new and creative ways. They could learn by creating artwork, programming music, or building websites. Creativity in computing can differ from art or design and technology lessons and may appeal to a different set of children.
Future careers
Programming has become one of the most sought-after skills for employers across various industries. This is because one of the roles of education is preparing children for the jobs they will do in the future. Technology is developing rapidly, and some jobs that people will pursue haven’t been invented. So, how can you prepare children for the job market?
In many nations, government authorities have included computing in the national curriculum. Let’s take a look at UK national curriculum.
In the UK, computing is one of the national curriculum subjects. It means that all pupils in compulsory schooling must study it. The aim of this is to ensure that all young people have a basic understanding of computing, including how to use technology safely and responsibly and to be able to create digital content.
Computer science is a rapidly growing subject, and many jobs in the future will require computing skills. Therefore, all young people need to be exposed to it, even if they don’t study it further. In addition, computing teaches problem-solving and thinking skills, which are valuable in any field.
UK Computing at School (CAS) curriculum is a comprehensive guide to teaching computing developed by teachers for teachers. It covers everything from basic circuitry to coding, digital literacy, and cyber-security.
The CAS curriculum contains four strands:
- Computing fundamentals: This covers the basics of computing, including using technology safely and responsibly and creating digital content.
- Programming: This teaches pupils to write code and create software and apps.
- Data and Society: This covers how the world uses digital data and the implications of this.
- Computing in the world: This looks at how the real world uses computing and how it can be applied to solve problems.
Computing is a vital subject for young people, and all schools must provide a basic level of instruction. However, it is also important that pupils could study computing in more depth if they are interested in doing so. There are many excellent computing courses available, both presential and online.
Conclusion
As technology advances, so does the importance of computing in our society. Therefore, students must learn about computing and its role in our world at a young age, which is why it is part of some national curricula that the authorities have considered important.
Here we can find some important activities to share with your kids:- ScratchJr Interface
- Easy Games to Make on Scratch
- Motions and Drawings
- Easy Scratch Project: Let’s do it
- Easy games to create on Scratch step-by-step