At CodeREV Kids, we’re huge proponents of teaching kids coding. We believe there are many advantages and that it helps not only prepare kids for their future careers – in virtually any field – but increase their problem-solving skills as well. While we strongly hold this opinion, we keep up on those who say that coding for kids has its drawbacks.
An article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Younger kids learn to code — but is it too early? raises some interesting questions. The article discusses the decision of San Francisco to teach computer science starting in preschool and in every year through a student’s senior year. There are a number of programs that help kids learning computer science, and many of these programs involve coding.
Programs have introduced kids as young as three and four to programming robots with apps. Preschoolers who started learning to code a few years ago are reported to love it, and parents have loved it too. A school principal who has a similar program says that it improves her students’ vocabularies and encourages them to think in computational ways.
Not everyone is on board, though. Detractors say that encouraging kids to spend more time in front of computers is a mistake. There’s no question that children’s brains are more sensitive than the brains of adults. They worry that if a child is exposed too much to screen time, that their stress hormones will be affected or their natural clocks will be out of sync – even when they’re using computers for educational reasons.
However, Dr. Tanya Altmann, a pediatrician, disagrees. She believes that teaching coding to children as young as three-years-old is appropriate, assuming parents have rules about how much time they spend in front of screens. She even says that her own son was involved in a coding class when he was seven. The key was that she created guidelines to ensure the kids weren’t always on computers.
At CodeREV Kids we understand these arguments but the truth is that the future is in technology. Kids are already spending hours a day in front of some form of technology, whether it’s TV or a game on their tablet. We know from experience that getting kids involved in creating – not just consuming – this technology is fun for everyone involved. Do you want to learn more about our programs? Reach out to us today and let us share our passion with you and your family.