The Hour of Code, the brainchild of Code.org, is one of the most well-known efforts to encourage public schools to invest in coding education. It reached the national level, and high-powered individuals, such as the governor of Utah, participated to back the effort. Homeschoolers should not lose out on the growing trend in education to include coding as part of every student’s basic education.
Coding is more than just nerds who build websites. It is the ticket to understanding how our digital age works. It enables individuals to build their own websites that power their entrepreneurial spirit, their innovative bent. When understood, it puts people in charge of their digital futures. If a child understands the basics behind building a new software program or website, she better appreciates its intricacies and can use it to her advantage.
No different than teaching a child to change his own tire or oil on his car, learning to code should be a basic task of which every child should have at least a basic understanding. In today’s job market, Inc.com reports that 60 percent of the STEM – science, technology, engineering, and math – jobs available are related to computing.
One of the best things about coding is that it can be taught to preschoolers as well as high school-age students. No matter the age of your homeschooler, there are resources like partnerships between homeschoolers and public/private schools, after school clubs at the local youth or recreation centre, and coding classes through a local non profit organization that can get your child started on the road to coding. Your child can teach himself on an app like Light Bot or Daisy the Dinosaur or take advantage of free tutorials online to get started.
Don’t let your child miss out on learning how to code. It is an important skill for the future, and knowing how to code can put your child in the perfect position to land a great job after college in the information technology field. It can also help her start her own business that will take off because she can design her own website to be exactly what her customers need.
