Technology is ubiquitous in today’s world. This is why some of the best private school in Singapore introduce kids to coding from a very young age. This helps them appreciate the digital world surrounding them. We cannot overlook the ever-evolving digital landscape that will only become more extensive with time.
Digital Technology has permeated every aspect of our lives – kids are surrounded by laptops, smartphones, websites, video games, and even robots. And all this technology is driven by computer programs or software created by coding. Like kids start learning coding, maths, and science at a young age, they should also learn to code at a very young age. Every secondary school in Singapore offers to code. Still, many primary schools have introduced this to help kids familiarise themselves with the building blocks that constitute technology integral to their life.
However, getting acquainted with technology is just one of the benefits of learning to code for students. The objective of learning to code is not just to become a skilled coder and fulfill the employment market needs. Coding benefits numerous aspects of a child’s life, its wide-ranging advantages. Coding empowers kids with the skills needed to thrive in life.
Below are the numerous benefits of coding for students:
Coding fosters creativity
Coding for students is a creative process. They begin with nothing and finish with something worthwhile. The process is similar to painting, cooking, and the satisfaction of the end product. Similarly, coding encourages kids to benefit from the satisfaction of the result and the process. Coding does not limit a child’s creativity to raw materials and canvases. The possibilities with coding are infinite and only restricted by the child’s imagination. Creativity is fundamental to leadership, ingenuity, and innovation, as it represents the ability to leverage new approaches, solutions, and concepts.
Kids learn computational thinking
When kids are introduced to coding, it develops their cognitive skills, and they learn a logical, problem-solving procedure that resembles a computer. Coding involves various steps. These include using pattern recognition and abstractions for problem representation in various ways, logical organization, and data analysis. Coders are tasked with breaking down the more significant problem into smaller chunks, drawing out the steps to find a solution, running the steps, analyzing the results, and determining if the results are acceptable. They need to keep trying till they find conclusive results. This kind of computational thinking is a great way to solve practical problems in other spheres of life.
Coding teaches problem-solving
Coding is all about the approach taken to solve a big problem. Kids break down complex problem statements into smaller addressable components. This problem-solving technique can be transposed to multiple other fields. For instance, let us consider the way scientists address problems. They form multiple hypotheses and then systematically test each. Car mechanics identify car troubles by changing one part at a time to reach the actual part causing the problem. A programmer does precisely then when trying to identify the bug and correct the code.
Kids become more logical in their outlook
Without logical thinking, one cannot code. Coding comprises framing step by step approach to reach an anticipated outcome. It involves using selection, expressions, iteration, logical statements, and sentences.
Kids learn how to create things that work
Coding teaches children how to build things. They even learn how things work because they rely on cause and effect for things to work and adapt them accordingly.
Kids learn to foresee issues and avert them
A big part of coding is learning how to “handle errors”. Students learn how to predict and anticipate any problems that could emerge and correct the codes to prevent the entire program from crashing when the error happens.
Kids learn structural thinking
Kids learn how to address a problem structurally. When kids code, they need to think structurally about how small pieces build up and add to the solution.
Kids get better at maths because of algorithmic thinking
Algorithmic thinking is the skill of describing clear steps when approaching a problem with solutions. It involves concepts like sequencing, repetition, conditional logic, and essentially breaking down the problem to find a step-by-step solution. This is precisely how they broach long division and equations in Mathematics.
Kids learn persistence
Kids learn the art of persevering when programming. If what they create does not work, they are forced to analyze what is not working and why. They need to keep at it and figure out how to correct it until they do.
Coding makes kids confident
When their code ends up working, it instills a sense of confidence. They take pride in their work and appreciate the end product resulting from all their hard work.
Coding makes kids more employable and ready for future jobs
The fact that technology is omnipresent and the importance of technology only keeps growing in our lives means that the future will entail a lot of opportunities that require people with coding skills. These jobs require technical expertise and will carry on paying well, even in the future.
Also, since coding helps kids develop essential future skills like creativity, communication, critical thinking, and collaboration, kids who learn to code will be more career-ready than their non-coder counterparts. Coding can help students discover their lifelong passion and plan a future career accordingly.
Coding is one of the fastest-growing professions and one of the most exciting – it only continues to gain momentum with each passing day. Coding is the most indispensable profession with machine learning, enterprise mobility, artificial intelligence, data mining, and robotics. It is a thrilling line, and kids exposed to it at an early stage can grow to love and become passionate about it; certainly, a great thing to happen.
Entrepreneurial coders and exceptionally creative coders stand to make a lot of money
We have all read quite a few stories of coders who have built innovative software, cool apps, great games, and unique websites at a very young age. If your child is one of those who can unleash their creativity, think out of the box and build something that the world needs or can get hooked on to, they stand a chance to become famous and earn a lot at a very young age. Many teens are offering their programming skills to build a college corpus, and funding your education is probably one of the most gratifying things.
Bill Gates said, “Learning to write programs stretches your mind, and helps you think better, creates a way of thinking about things that I think is helpful in all domains.” We hope we have been able to convince you about getting your child to start early to code.
