features skills have never been more crucial in today ’ s businesses – as companies strive to become more flexible and more dynamic .
These soft skills include communication skills – kids communicate with computers and with people . Janet Siegmund , a psychologist , studied brain activity in programmers and it turns out coding had more to do with language than mathematics . The process of breaking down problems and finding the right communication can translate with people , too . Your child ’ s communication skills will always be necessary – be it in the workplace or in their day-to-day relationships .
Motion , Looks , Sound , Events and Sensing . Once the user assembles their logical choices , an animation will be created with the character or Sprite moving around the Scratch screen area . This is exactly what “ coding made easy ” looks like – anything is possible !
The number one skill kids need to have today Now that we ’ ve examined the definition and the application of coding for kids , let ’ s weigh all the advantages that will emerge from learning to code . Hint : there are lots of reasons why your child should start learning now …
1 . Improved academic performance As you can imagine , coding firstly improves maths performance . It helps visualise concepts that are typically challenging to understand at school . Secondly , it helps to apply mathematical concepts and exercise problem-solving abilities ( through learning algorithms for example ). Last but not least , it also helps children build logical and critical thinking through precise methods of thinking . It teaches them to see the bigger picture of things and how to transform big challenges into smaller and more achievable tasks . Sounds tempting !
2 . Basic language in the digital age As mentioned previously , coding is the basic language of the Digital Age . It is also the world ’ s most widely used language . If your child can understand how technology works today , so many doors will open for him / her in the future . It will also help exercise their mental cognitive flexibility – who doesn ’ t need it ? Simply put , think of coding as the new reading and writing . As Mitchel Resnick , professor at the MIT Media Lab says , “ To thrive in tomorrow ’ s society , young people must learn to design , create and express themselves with digital technologies .”
3 . Soft Skills Yes , coding can also enhance your child ’ s soft skills . It ’ s important to shed light on these as they are too often neglected in academic context . In the long term , soft skills are even more important than technical skills . In fact , soft
Communication skills will also lead to good thinking skills , as Steve Jobs expressed .
Everyone in this country should learn to programme a computer , because it teaches you to think – Steve Jobs
4 . Creative expression Another silver lining is creative expression . Think of programming as a mode of expression where kids will create games , interactions , presentations , animations and more … You name it ! The simple fact of understanding how a piece of technology works already enhances one ’ s creativity as they will have to constantly find unique innovations to make their systems work . Also , learning to code will make them better writers . There is common ground between programming and writing as coding pushes them to execute a complex idea in a simple way – which good writers do too .
The Naysayers As like everything , there are always contradictory opinions or perceived pitfalls . Coding may spark excitement for some ; but also fear for others . Some argue that , in contrary to what was mentioned above …
1 . Coding will not help kids develop human skills - just computational ones . John C Dvorak from The New York Times writes : “ A second grader should be running around , throwing a ball , scratching out drawings , learning fine motor skills and developing normal interpersonal social skills ”.
46 www . playtimes . com . hk