Get started at home with programming and coding

 You might not recognize it when your son is hanging upside down on the couch with a screen in front of his sniff, but he's actually doing quite well. He is busy developing his 21st-century skills. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Society is constantly changing due to digitization and technology. We cannot yet predict which professions there will be when your child grows up later. That is why education is increasingly interested in 21st-century skills. These are the skills that children of today must acquire in order to cope with the professions of the future later on.


 

Coding and programming

One of the eleven skills is Computational thinking. Children learn to use digital tools in a creative way to solve a problem. This is also where the frequently mentioned coding and programming skills come into play. Skills with which you can later build a website or game yourself, with which you can vlog or edit your own sound. Coding is literally punching in codes, part of the bigger picture; computer programming.
 

How is a game made? Coding!

Familiarity with computers and ICT is a 21st-century skill. Your children have already mastered that with their screens. Digital literacy is also called. But does your child also know how the game he plays 'at the back' works? How is such a game designed, how does programming work?

Your child may have heard about it at school before. And otherwise, it will definitely happen. Because programming is hot at school. It is not intended to train all girls and boys to be small programmers but to teach them something that they will later need in every profession. Very important, perhaps just as important as math, language, and good English speaking. And it is super fun too.

In the Netherlands, programming is not (yet) a compulsory subject at school, and there is still a debate on whether programming should become a compulsory part of the lesson. But many schools want to pay attention to programming and sometimes already spend class time on it

Is learning to program difficult?

Isn't that difficult, programming? No, it is no more difficult than learning to read or learning a new language. The nice thing about coding is that your child can immediately see whether it went right or wrong. If your son programs that a text should turn red, he will immediately see whether that has been successful. If the text is red, it has been properly coded. If the text is not red, he can just try again. This way of learning is in line with how children prefer to learn.

Bleep, bleep - I'm a robot

Coding is part of programming, but both terms are often used interchangeably. Coding is actually nothing more than issuing a series of logical commands. In principle, you do not need a computer for that. So go outside! A robot is nice to have with it, but it is you (or your child). Sounds simple? It is. Even for toddlers. Cut out paper arrows and out and let your child create a route. Then walk the route that your child has mapped out as a 'robot'. It's nice to have a few obstacles that your child has to walk the 'robot' around.

Which robot is right for my child?

Overview of Robokidz that teach your child the basic principles of coding and programming. That already starts with building
and constructing, discovering how gears work, and thinking through steps. In this overview, you can see which material is suitable at what age when a child is (on average) old enough and has sufficient skills to understand and handle the material shown up to and including at what age most children are ready for the next step.