What is Coding?
Coding is simply the language of the computer used for the development of applications, websites and software. Without it, we wouldn't have some of the most popular technologies we've come to rely on such as apps like Facebook, our smartphones, our favourite blog sites or even the blogs themselves. All runs on a code.
In simple words, the code is what tells your computer what to do. Our computers don’t understand words; they only understand the concept of ON and OFF or we also called it a Binary code i.e. 0 and 1. Computer programming languages were developed in order to make binary code manageable. Each of these languages serves various purposes, but all of them allow programmers to translate important commands into binary code.
Coding is a part of every technology of today’s time. Scientific and technical advancement is the backbone of our global economic system. Our economy, our health, everything depends on it. In the digital age, coding is basic literacy, and it is crucial for children to understand and be able to interact with the technology around them and understand it. At a young age, making kids learn to code will train them for the future. Coding helps kids with communication, imagination, math, writing and confidence.
Kids are addicted to video games, mobile devices, laptops, social media networks and yet they barely know anything about how those are designed. Simple knowledge of programming will help them understand the technologies used in these things.
Reasons Why Your Kids Should Learn How to Code
Coding for kids is in high demand. It is not hard to predict that coding will hit much greater heights in the coming years than it has now. It provides better prospects for jobs. It is a lucrative career and people are also switching their profession and migrating in their profession to gain a higher salary by learning to code. Some reasons why kids should learn coding:
Coding Promotes Creativity
It is important to learn to code because computer programming teaches kids to experiment and allows them to be innovative. They're going to have the opportunity to create something unique and their own. Children can learn a lot by making something they enjoy. Much like learning a language or playing a musical instrument, children need inspiration. Seeing success along the way is enough to foster this, and that's what happens when children learn to code.
It Helps to Improve Maths Skills
Coding is the language of maths. Learning coding involves many skills like organizing and analyzing data. Without even realizing it, kids will improve their math skills when coding. It will make maths more interesting. It would be fun to use their logic and calculation skills when making something of their own. Coding should be taught in schools for this one reason. i.e. to improve mathematical skills.
Coding Helps to Improve Problem-Solving Skills
A quality that is important in life, in general, is the ability to solve problems. We all want our kids to become great problem solvers so that they can resolve whatever adversity they encounter. Learning to code allows the kids to learn some of the most important skills of problem-solving. This is one of the major reasons why coding is important to learn. This logical thinking is powerful and will help the kid a lot in school, work as well as life.
Programming is the Present as Well as the Future
Coding is an extremely valuable skill to possess when you look at how the world is growing. There are a growing number of organizations that depend on computer code. This is not just limited to the technology industry. With more job opportunities open to them in the future, a child who learns how to code would have the advantage in life, no matter which industry they decide to join, whether it be in the technology field, banking, retail, health, or other.
Learning How to Code Builds Confidence in Kids
Being able to bring an idea to life gives a great sense of achievement. Whether it's making an app, a website or just putting the right steps into a coding game, it gives them an immense boost of confidence when they get it done.
It Helps with Core Soft Skills
When kids start learning to code, they go through processes and issues that are more and more complicated. As they build more complex code, they can also improve enhanced concentration and management skills naturally. Coding may also help them strengthen their resilience and communication.
Future Employment
In the future, almost every work would require a basic understanding of mathematics, science and software. Students need to have a comprehensive skill set that involves technology in order to succeed in the new global economy. Apart from being lucrative, coding-oriented jobs are both fascinating and easily accessible. Many jobs would demand that you have basic programming skills. Therefore, those who specialize in coding can receive a lot of money.
Coding Teaches Collaboration to Kids
Kids coordinate with their peers through the discipline of coding and prefer to work in groups. They learn to communicate in a constructive way to give and accept criticism, and to integrate feedback into what they do. In their later lives and careers, learning these skills is extremely significant, as it imparts the knowledge that there are many solutions to the same problem. Via coding, children learn that knowing how to ask the correct questions is often more important than getting the correct answers.
It Helps to Learn Algorithmic Thinking
The ability to identify easy steps for solving a problem or solving a task is algorithmic thinking. Computational principles such as repetition, sequencing and conditional logic are involved. Kids use many algorithms all the time without even knowing it, particularly in math and science. Algorithmic reasoning helps children to break down complex problems and think about alternatives as a step-by-step process.
Programs Encourages Kids to Think Beyond the Box
Coding sends a message to kids that they can make anything out of nothing if they want to work on it. They can stretch what's possible by coding. This promotes the advancement of humanity and the general improvement of the quality of life.
We have gone through some great reasons why coding is important not only for kids but for everyone to learn. If you have a kid, it will certainly give them an advantage in life by giving them the opportunity to learn about technology and the way computers work. Learning to code will set them up for a successful future while they are young.
What is the Best Age to Start Coding?
Many good programmers claim that they start coding at 5 or 6 years of age. However, the best answer is when the child begins to display passion and interest in it, such as when a gamer kid thinks he can make his own game, or when he thinks he can create a program that will be beneficial to his friends or will entertain them. When he is young, a child learns languages best, and learning programming syntax is akin to learning a new language. At 7 or 8 years of age, most children have sufficiently developed the logical and critical thinking skills required for coding. Children up to 10 years of age will create programs that achieve professional quality.
Popular Coding Languages to Learn for Kids
C++: C++ is an object-oriented programming language, that is an extension of C, to perform computer tasks at higher levels. Released in 1983 by Bjarne Stroustrup, for more complex programs, C++ organizes and stores data in packages. The program used by Adobe, Microsoft Office, Amazon, and Mozilla uses C++ for quick processing.
C: C Language is a simple, low-level coding style created by Bell Labs in 1972 to develop the UNIX system. Probably the easiest language, C has only 32 basic keywords used for scripting embedded systems, network drivers and artificial intelligence. C is a flexible language for computer hardware to communicate.
PHP: PHP, or hypertext processor, is a web development coding language founded by Rasmus Lerdorf in 1994. For server scripting with HTML, PHP is commonly used to piece dynamic website content together. WordPress, an open-source online platform that accounts for 20% of websites and blogs, is written with PHP.
SQL: A domain-specific coding type that streams information into a database is SQL or Structured Query Language. SQL, first introduced in 1974 by IBM researchers, has a simple syntax for running back-end online databases. Most organizations use SQL for loading, retrieving and analyzing text or numbers on their servers.
Python: Python is a coding language for general purposes, which means that in addition to web development, it can be used for other forms of programming and software development, unlike HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Bill Gates once said, "Learning to write programs stretches your mind and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think are helpful in all fields." Parents and schools around the world are willing to teach coding to their children. Of course, learning how to code will not make them professional programmers today, but one day, they might even become billionaires like Bill Gates, Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg.
