Teach your kids to code and save the world

I recently had the opportunity to hear Richard Rusczyk, founder of Art of Problem Solving, speak about the importance of a rich, problem solving education. He is a huge fan of independent study and homeschooling in general, but also a major proponent of teaching kids to code. His general take is that computers do more now than we ever could have imagined. We need to learn to speak their language, before we work for them one day. Coding is the literacy goal of the 21st century.

Mr. Rusczyk is definitely not alone in his desire to get more kids to code. Back in the "old days" (the 1990s) you had to have a general understanding of computer language to even unpack and run your machine. If you wanted to play a video game in the 80s, you had to write it! Now, in the age of touch screens, apps and drag and drop, the intuitive machine has made the code part seem obsolete. However, all the code is still there- it's just hiding behind pretty icons and voice commands.

If you've been paying attention to education trends lately, everyone is talking about coding. From Google's Made With Code to major sponsorship of http://code.org/ from Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, discussion of the value of coding in schools is everywhere! But how do you get started if you're not a coder yourself? Luckily, many people have put their money where their mouth is and there are many opportunities to learn, for free, online and with apps.

Learning to code isn't just about whether or not you can memorize Python or do something quickly in JavaScript.  Kids who learn to code have to show perseverance, patience and determination, as well as learning error checking, thinking through a problem and writing directions. Coding encourages students to think in a different way and to accept that there is not necessarily a right answer, but sometimes there is a cleaner, more precise answer.

Now that you're convinced, it's time to get started!

My favorite resource of all- code.org and the Hour of Code. Once you complete the hour, you'll also want to go Beyond the Hour of Code! From there, I recommend older kids move on to Codecademy and younger kids pick up apps like Move the Turtle and Daisy the Dinosaur. If you have a student that is interested in the idea of coding but isn't ready to learn a coding language, Scratch is an excellent way to learn the same skills in a drag-and-drop, open source environment. Middle school age students who want to design their own games will also like GameStar Mechanic.

You can find a list of other ideas from Common Sense Media and Edutopia. Whatever path you take, your kids will be learning valuable skills for their future!