There are variety of benefits to learning web development skills at a young age, including real-world applications beyond technology.
- When most parents start curating extracurricular for their children, they start with the basics soccer, dance, maybe band practice.
- Their first idea for entertaining their elementary-schooler probably doesn’t include programming, but should it in recent years, the question of why kids should learn to code has spread like wildfire among parenting groups and educational centers.
- Interest in computer science has skyrocketed in recent years according to statistics shared in the 2019 State of Computer Science Education Equity and Diversity Report, a full 45 percent of high schools now teach computer science, up from the 25 percent reported by Gallup in 2014.
- In our increasingly digital world, parents want their kids to become computer-literate and why wouldn't they Learning to code doesn't just set students up for career opportunities later on in life it also provides a host of soft skills and benefits that we will cover later in this article.
- But when should they start learning As it turns out, most professional developers started learning their trade early in life.
- According to Stack Overflows 2020 Developers survey, over 54 percent of professional developers wrote their first line of code by the time they turned 16.
- While it might seem intuitive to schedule a child's first coding lesson into their high school curriculum, kids can start coding at a much younger age, sometimes as early as four years old.
- Chart that shows the age when people first started programming While such an early introduction might seem odd at first glance, elementary-school coders are far more common than you might think.
- Nearly nine percent of developers polled in the above Stack Overflow survey began coding before their tenth birthday.
- Moreover, it seems likely that rationales for why kids should code will expand as digital literacy cements itself as a critical tenet of modern education.
- The truth is, there is a plethora of reasons why kids should learn to code early.
- In this article, well walk you through all of the best research-backed benefits for why kids should learn to code.
Lets dive in bit more deeper and see how it helps.
- Coding Boosts Problem-Solving Skills Coding is, without a doubt, one of the most straightforward ways for children to boost their problem-solving skills.
- But before we get into that, lets take a step back and clarify the term.
- At its simplest definition, problem-solving refers to a persons ability to tackle complex or novel situations in an efficient way.
- Someone with well-honed problem-solving skills weaves disparate skillsets such as creativity, emotional intelligence, research skills, collaboration, and decision-making into a cohesive and effective response.
- In a programming context, coders are constantly challenged and asked to problem-solve.
- The practice all but requires them to break issues down into more manageable sub-problems, then progress through an iterative process of identifying, prioritizing, and implementing solutions.
- Thus, children start honing their problem-solving skills as soon as they take on their first coding challenge.
Research backs this point.
- One 2013 study conducted on five- and six-year-olds found that when children participate in a programming environment, they have opportunities to develop mathematical concepts, problem-solving and social skills.
- Moreover, the researchers noted that the studies young participants often enjoyed their learning experience and were engaged in the age-appropriate programming games and activities provided to them.
- That said, the benefits provided may vary according to age and relative cognitive development.
- For example, another study conducted in 2014, and with four- to five-year-olds noted that its participants demonstrated increased non-verbal cognitive abilities, but showed no statistically significant difference in their problem-solving skills.
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