Top 5 Myths about kid’s computer coding debunked

By Ankur Hack | Views: 1926

With the digital revolution, coding has been put at the forefront of future skills for children. Parents and educators across the world are constantly working towards empowering kids with this 21st -century skill. Learning to code offers immense benefits to kids as from the early days they develop important qualities like problem-solving skills, enhanced creativity and better attention span. In simple words, it helps to build skills in mathematics and science. In fact, the Indian government under its New Education Policy has emphasized schools to include coding as part of their curriculum. However, myths are floating around teaching coding to kids. Let’s do some myth-busting here. 

  1.  Coding is not for school going kids

This is the biggest myth amongst parents and in general that school going kids are a little too young to learn to code. In fact, the best time for anyone to learn a new language is by the age of 10 and this has been revealed by a study. Reports suggest that young children can absorb information fast and perform well in a new language. There are a wide variety of programmes created especially to teach coding to children and many applications combine coding and gaming to make learning interesting for the kids.  

  1. Learning to code will enhance their screen time

Coding can help children in many ways. It will teach them how to think logically. As coding requires one to solve complex problems and find solutions for them. Children will learn to create something of their own through coding and this will motivate them further to learn more. It is said that children who do coding perform better at maths and language.  Now to address your concern of increased screen time with coding for children. You can restrict their coding time to just one hour a day and not more. Thus, controlling and monitoring will make them learn a new language and turn out to be beneficial in the later stages. 

  1. Coding is very boring for kids

Learning to code can be boring if they are introduced to the subject in the same way as adults but if the same can be made interesting, they would love to learn. Fortunately, there are many apps that teach children how to write their first lines of code in a fun and engaging manner. The combination of lessons and games are perfect for grabbing a child’s attention. 

  1. Coding languages are rapidly changing

This isn’t true as the top 5 five programming languages like JavaScript, HTML/CSS, SQL, Python and Java are more than 20 years old and still continue to be the engines powering the internet. Children can start to learn basic languages like HTML and JavaScript as early as Grade 6 and little complex ones like Python and Java from Grade 8. 

  1. You need to be good in Maths and Science to learn coding

Another myth that needs to be busted is that coding is only for kids who are good at Maths and Science. The reality is coding is still not part of the school curriculum, hence this misunderstanding. As per the New Education Policy, schools have been asked to include coding as a subject in their curriculum. Also, to learn coding one doesn’t need to be a math wizard or a science champion. It is very much like learning a new language as any other language.

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