Fast Company | Jonathan Stern, Fatherly
Not only are tech jobs going to be the jobs when your son or daughter graduates high school (by 2020, the U.S. will create 1.4 million jobs in computer science-related fields), chances are, those who have them are going to have more job security, a better salary, and probably more helpful robot butlers than you.
Zach Sims wanted to learn how to code, so he launched the online platformCodecademy five years ago, and now anyone can go there to learn programming languages from Java to Python. “I’m not a programmer by trade,” says Sims. “We actually started the company to teach me to program, and this is the hands-on learning experience that I wanted.”
It’s become pretty common to grumble that America doesn’t make things anymore, but that’s not exactly true—it’s just that old people like you can’t necessarily envision what it is we’ll be making in 20 years. You know who can envision it? Your kid, after they learn how to code.
IT’S THE FOURTH “R”
In the days of floppy disks and Revenge of the Nerds movies, the computer science classrooms were full of bespectacled pariahs. Now programming is a fundamental part of early education. “Classically there are the the Rs of literacy: reading, writing, and arithmetic,” says Sims. “We think that algorithm should be the fourth R. It is a foundational set of skills and framework for people to have in the 21st century.” If your kid’s school doesn’t offer computer science, it may be time to disband the PTA.
TEACH THEM HOW TO MAKE MISTAKES
Problem solving, critical thinking, and even spelling improves when kids start coding. But one of the most important skills that students pick up is how to fix mistakes. “You find plenty of bugs in code,” says Sims. “How do you go through a systematic process of finding and eliminating error? In coding, you learn that it’s okay how to make mistakes, as long as you know how to fix them.”
PROGRAMMING FOR PRESCHOOLERS
These days, you don’t even need to know how to type to start coding (and you really don’t need techno music and a multiscreen command module). Children in preschool can be taught how to think in developing languages using toys and apps geared toward their age group. At this basic level, kids between 2 and 5 are learning how putting things in different orders yield different results. Like, underwear first, then pants.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
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