Everyone now owns a smartphone or a computer and use the devices every day to communicate with friends, share stories, read news, watch video and much more. All this is possible because of coding or programming – a basic skill of the digital age.
Children who learn coding get important experience that combines communication, thinking, logic and problem solving. These are the 21st century skills that are valuable for the future success in our digital world.
What is coding?
It is a process of creating step-by-step instructions for a computer. Games, tablets, cars, smartphones—even washing machines—all use coding to function properly.
Nowadays children can start learning coding even at very early age – like 5 y.o. through playing games. Early coding is fun and exciting. The earlier children learn the basics of coding, the more easily they will be able to understand and apply coding later in life. Especially for the young children you do not even need a computer to teach basics of programming. That is possible because of precoding educational games.
Some parents think that coding is very complicated, but actually it is very accessible. Through the game activities children are introduced to programming language concepts, like up and down, backward and forward, left and right. Coding is like a game. It’s very engaging for children.
Coding involves understanding reasoning and logic
When children think about direction, location, and movement they improve their math skills in a very practical way.
Coding encourage problem solving
When activities like coding provide a challenge for a user or when there are several ways of solving the same problem, children can consider different paths for finding solutions and choose the most efficient strategy. In these activities, planning ahead is the key to success.
Coding Terms
- Code: A set of instructions for a computer
- Coding: The process of creating step-by-step instructions a computer understand and needs in order for its programs to work.
- Precoding activities: Developmentally appropriate games and activities in which children explore some of the concepts involve in coding in ways that are meaningful to them.
Junior Computer Academy STEP provides digital after-school education for children in Phnom Penh. We accept children from 8 to 14 y.o. and teach them basics of coding, web development, design and even how to create own computer games!
Junior Computer Academy STEP has a unique methodology to teach children digital skills and is providing education in 15 countries.
