Ultimate Guide for Coding for Parents

Thanks for getting your free guiding to teaching your kids and students how to code. In this guide, I'm going to share with you things you need to know about coding for kids and why computer literacy is so important is society begins making amazing technological advances.

What is coding and programming?

Coding is a complex topic that takes time to learn, but you need to explain it in kid friendly terms. The easiest way to explain coding is to tell children it is the way that humans can learn to communicate with computers. It is learning the language of a computer.

Programming is what you are able to do once you learn to code. Once you have learned the “language” of the computer, you can begin to write a series of instructions you would like the computer to follow. Programming can be challenging to do if you haven’t learned the language first.

I talk all about how to explain coding to kids in a way that is simple and easy for them to comprehend that you can share here.

Top 10 Programming Languages

This video is amazing because this guy shares some of the top programming languages and how they are used in the real world. While I do think that Python provides the fundamentals of coding, knowing the tech stack of popular platforms like Facebook and Amazon are great just to know that learning coding can lay the foundation of learning larger skills that build big companies today.

Why teach coding to kids?

There are so many reasons to teach kids programming, and I believe that one of the most important aspects is teaching them how to troubleshoot and perservere. While it can be complex at time, programming is just another language that allows them to communication with a machine, so understanding the syntax in which the machine speaks allows them to expand their ability to grow their brains.

What age can kids start to learn how to code?

Kids can learn how to block code starting at the age of 5 (Kindergarten). While there are toys and apps that teach high level concepts of coding to kids younger, as a mom of four kids, I think between the ages of 5 and 6 are great to introduce them to block style coding.

How do you keep kids interested in coding and programming?

I truly believe that gamifying coding for kids, as in turn the learning into a game, keeps kids excited and wanting to learn more. This is a link on some additional tips on how to make learning programming fun for kids.

What are some structured learning programs available?

There are lots of online coding bootcamps and tutorials for kids, especially curriculum built by big tech. There are also in-person learning programs like Code Ninjas that teaches kids fundamentals of learning by earning "belts" like you would do in martial arts when you master a set of skills.