Did you know that Kautilya Katariya became the world’s youngest computer programmer at age 6 and later founded “The Decipher” to inspire young minds in computing and math? In today’s digital world, coding is not just a technical skill but a gateway to creativity and growth for children. It enhances creativity, logical thinking, and concentration, offering profound benefits.
While enrolling your child in a coding program might seem unusual, many professional developers started coding early. According to Stack Overflow’s 2020 survey, over 54% of developers wrote their first code by age 16, and nearly 10% began before their preteens.
Research confirms that coding offers numerous advantages for kids, including:
- Enhances Problem-Solving Skills:
Coding requires kids to break down complex problems into smaller, manageable parts and find solutions step-by-step. This problem-solving process helps enhance critical thinking by 85% and analytical skills that are valuable in many areas of life.
Coding follows a 3 step process of problem-solving that can be applied to any situation. This process starts with Planning where children learn to figure out their goals and to start from. They brainstorm potential solutions and determine the best solution with the least consequences.
Decomposition follows initial planning. This involves breaking a complicated problem down into smaller, easier-to-understand tasks. This process enables children to mitigate panic when faced with complex tasks such as building a website from scratch.
Testing: Testing at each step instead of waiting for the whole project to be complete allows mistakes to be discovered earlier. It’s always better to recognize an error after an hour of code rather than spend an eternity peering over lines of code looking for a singular error.
- Encourages Persistence and Resilience:
Children working on coding projects must learn to break down complеx problems into smallеr, morе managеablе tasks, which involvеs dеvеloping a systеmatic problem-solving approach. Coding is an itеrativе process that involves writing and tеsting codе, identifying and fixing еrrors, and continuously rеfining until it works as intended. Children dеvеlop a growth mindset as they undеrstand that making mistakes is part of lеarning, and they nееd to be patient and not gеt discouragеd when spend hours trying to figure out why their codе is not working or why they are getting error messages.
- Builds Digital Literacy:
Generation Alpha (people born between 2010 and 2025) are more technologically inclined than previous generations. They are the first generation to interact with voice-activated assistants like Siri and Alexa, virtual reality, and smart devices from a young age. In a digital world, understanding how software and applications work is crucial hence enrolling children into Coding programs helps them gain a deeper understanding of the technology they interact with daily.
- Increases Confidence and Empowerment:
Children undergo their formative years from the time they are toddlers to teenagers. They form their beliefs, values, and their self-confidence. Coding helps build confidence as children see their creations work and understand that they have the skills to solve complex problems. Completing projects, grasping concepts, and seeing their ideas come to life can be incredibly empowering for young children. ‘Seeing the children’s happy faces as they tell what they learned in the day’s class makes the programme feel worthwhile’ – Ivan Bunyali-Programmer Coordinator @iLabAfrica Kids and Teens coding programme. Through such a programme children understand that they have the brain power and capacity to bring their ideas to life and this is a notion they carry with them throughout their lives.
- Boosts Concentration and Focus:
Coding projects require sustained attention and perseverance as learning how to code can be highly engaging, especially when children see immediate results from their efforts, like seeing a game they’ve built or a project come to life. It also requires sustained attention to detail which helps children maintain focus over longer periods This engagement can increase their motivation and willingness to concentrate on tasks.
As the digital world continues to evolve, the ability to code becomes increasingly valuable, providing children with a competitive edge and a deeper understanding of the technology shaping their lives. The earlier children begin coding, the more they can leverage these skills to their advantage, academically and professionally.
This is the perfect time to give your child a head start in this exciting and ever-evolving field. Enroll them in the coding programme November 2024 Intake to unlock their potential and set them on a path to success.
For more information, visit our website: https://ilabafrica.strathmore.edu/kids-and-teens-coding-bootcamp/
By @iLabAfrica Research and Innovation Centre, Strathmore University.