Whether the kiddo in your life is in elementary school, high school or somewhere in between, coding is definitely a skill that should be added to their repertoire this year.
There are a variety of reasons, however, why kids should have this added to their agenda, even though many people may initially think that they are too young for it.
Coding is a skill that is perfectly easy to pick up as early as the age of five, and it is becoming easier than ever to give kids access to coding education.
Though there are dozens of reasons that coding skills would be beneficial for any kid and their future, here are three big ones that are sure to pique your interest!
Coding is An Accessible Way to Develop Important Skill Sets
It’s probably a given that coding skills will help your child in technological areas, but there are a number of other skills it can help strengthen and develop as well.
Coding is essentially a language, making it easier to learn at a young age and also a great pathway into picking up other subjects in the field of humanities.
Since coding is often complex and some projects require numerous individuals to complete, coding is also known for strengthening communication and teamwork skills that can be applied in any subject or field.
Lastly, the nature of coding promotes creativity, problem-solving, discipline, mathematical skills and more since completing a coding project takes a lot of time and original ideas.
Coding Can Increase Motivation
Coding is a project-based skill that also puts the majority of the responsibility and control into the hands of the individual.
Many children struggle with motivation because they believe the outcome of an activity or responsibility is out of control, such as with grading in school.
With coding, however, this mindset can be altered by giving them a fun and extensive activity that is completely in control. The way the project turns out is completely up to the person who is coding.
This and the project-based nature of coding helps kids develop organizational skills and feel more in control of the tasks ahead of them, giving them a boost in motivation that often extends to other areas of their life as well.
Coding Can Prepare Kids for Successful Careers
Coding is one of the most lucrative skill sets that young adults can possess when entering the workforce, so why not start the students in your life off at a young age?
It may seem odd to look at a child as young as five years old and picture them as hardworking career professionals somewhere down the line, but we all want to make sure that they are prepared for when that day does come.
It’s becoming a well-known statistic that by the year 2020, it is expected that there will be one million open jobs in the U.S. tech industry, showing that strengths and skills in this field will lead to both profit and security.
This shortage in engineers seems to be a pretty current issue, it is still wise to prepare your children for this fast-growing field even if the start of their careers is still far in the future.
David Dodge, CEO of Codakid, firmly believes in the lucrative nature of the tech industry and of coding skills:
“Learning coding is now practically a guaranteed path to the middle class. If you can code well, you absolutely can get a high paying job regardless of your educational background, gender, race, or ethnicity. Last year, over half a million computing jobs in the US went unfilled because there weren’t enough engineers to fill them. Schools should be doing everything possible to encourage their students to go to where the jobs are.”
Everyone wants to make sure the young students in their life receive the tools needed to help them thrive and achieve their goals.
One of the ways you can help promote useful skills, spark motivation and prepare them for their future education and careers is by getting them involved with coding as soon as possible.
This guest post was written by Katherine Lutz. A recent honors graduate of Florida State University with a degree in English, Katherine’s work has been published in Tallahassee Democrat and USAToday. She has worked as a freelance writer at a local student-run newspaper during college and received promotions to the positions of Arts & Culture Editor and Editor-in-Chief. Since graduating, she has been doing a great deal of freelance work.
