The children of today are using technology like never before; many people seek to rectify that and go ‘back to basics’. While of course limiting screen-time is a good thing for the underdevloped mind, computers are not going away any time soon – in fact with all the techonological advanements being made in finance, medical and education to name a few industries, it would be criminal to neglect technology.
I recently learned the concept of having a generational advantage and how important it is to acknowledge what that might look like for this generation and what it will look like for the next.
Nobody (the majority) saw the internet coming in the way that it has, the blockchain, streaming, social media etc. And the select few that did? Well they are laughing now..
I liken getting ahead of the tech curve and the advantage our little people have of time to the ability our elders had to get into the property market and how some have managed to maintain huge property portfolios starting with just one property a few decades ago.
And really, how many disadvantages could there be to getting your children’s journey in computer science started early.
Is 4 years old actually early?
My 4 year old actually began learning the basics blocks (playing with the megabloks of coding, if you will) at around 2.5 years old. I didn’t think anything of it but as time went on and he progressed and adapted effortlessly throughout these apps, unknowingly learning as he played – I realised how easy it would be to MASTER multiple languages by the time he was 16.
The advantage of time. 16 years old, still so very young but with 12 years experience of something that will undoubtedly shape his (and our) world. Granted, new, more complex languages and god knows what else will be around in 10 years but he won’t look at anything presented and say “Oh I am not computer science-savvy”. He will adapt, transfer his skills and get on with it.
Coding Resources For Kids
Hopster Coding Safari (iOS App) (2-5 years)
Scratch Jr. (App) (4-7) iOS / Android
Code.org (Website) (5 years – teens)
Scratch.mit.edu (Site)
Minecraft Education (Free via Code.org)
Swift Playgrounds (Mac/Apple iOS App) (4+)
Khanacademy.org
CodeMonkey
Codemonkey is a programming platform that helps kids learn to code. It offers a variety of courses and tools to help people learn to code in a fun and interactive way.
CodeSpark
CodeSpark offers endless opportunities to learn to code through gameplay.
