Increasingly, the introduction to programming in children occurs even in the lower grades. Let’s see what languages are ideal for learning a baby.
To begin with – tools
The first step is to teach children to understand algorithms and form a special type of thinking. In this case, good helpers will be:
- Scratch – a visual programming environment created at the Massachusetts Institute of technology. Designed for ages 8-16 years. With its help, the child will be able to create games, cartoons and animated videos. A big plus is that the platform is free, does not require immersion in the subtleties of syntax, children immediately see the result of their efforts and can send it to friends or publish it in the online community.
- Code.org – catalog of a huge number of free educational materials, including for students of all ages. The purpose of this resource is to make IT-science accessible to everyone, regardless of place of residence, gender or nationality.
- Tynker – a service used by 60 million children from all over the world. They have already written about 14 million applications and 4 billion lines of code. Users with a free account get access to twenty training games, all available powers and skins, as well as a personal account
Minecraft-серверу. - CodeCombat – a resource for learning programming and computer technology in a playful way. Contains 11 courses, ten of which are paid, and one is free.
- CodaKid – online coding Academy, offering children 40 training courses, 180 information quests and 550 challenges to create programs. Thanks to the 14-day free access, users can choose a suitable activity for their child before paying.
Also check out our article ” 10 Interesting Web Experiments Based on HTML. CSS & JavaScript»:
Children love bright books and it-related magazines. At the same time, it is important not to load them with a solid theory, but to use an entertaining approach and colorful materials. So, most often the love of programming begins with a passion for computer games. But in this case, there is a side effect: some become addicted. However, it is not necessary to strictly limit the child, because this can only make the situation worse, and after playing enough, he is more willing to reach for development.
The ambitions of school children increase by the age of 13-16 years, and at this time as never will be relevant Raspberry PI and Arduino. Try also Unity-environment for creating 3D graphics with support for more than 25 platforms.
Best languages for children
- Logo – language for teaching the youngest. With the help of turtle graphics, students and even preschoolers will be able to master the principles of programming and algorithmic logical thinking.
- Scratch – a language similar in main concepts and visualizations to Logo. The ability to interest and simplicity make it very popular among teenagers. In 2008, Scratch was ported to Arduino.
- Python – a high-level computer language
that tops all tops for children due to its simple syntax, breadth of application, and interpretability. - Java – one of the most popular languages today. With its help, a huge number of applications and programs are written. Agree, it will be very reasonable to study the environment that is in demand and gives a lot of opportunities. Especially if even small children can do it.
- C++ it will be necessary for those who want to program for the Arduino platform. Let the child take at least a few steps to learn, and very soon you will be amazed at his achievements.
- С# – a younger language is used in Unity. We recommend teenagers who want to develop computer games.
Summary
Don’t worry about which programming language to choose for your child. After all, the most important thing is to interest and inspire, and not discourage excessive loads all the desire to develop.
Listen to the student’s wishes, and if they want to start with graphics or 3D modeling, give them the opportunity. Make sure that his interest and attention do not fade. For this purpose there is a game form of training.
It is important for school-age children to immediately see the result of their efforts. So offer them special resources for visual development, such as Scratch, CodaKid, CodeCombat, Tinker, and games with a programming function, such as Minecraft or Lego Boost.
Teenagers will love programs for the raspberry PI and Arduino platform, or immersion in real language environments: Java, Python, C++ and C#. And the dream of creating computer games can become a reality thanks to the Unity engine.
