Home About Gallery Blog Fab Academy Contact # Should young children really be learning to code?  <span>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@goran_ivos?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Goran Ivos</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/learning-coding?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span> I taught coding to children ages 7 and above using platforms like scratch, makecode arcade and makecode for the playground express. They love it! The interactive element and being able to experiment over and over again and see the results are fascinating to them. It's one of my favorite things to teach. Most children seem to enjoy it and they learn a lot of skills through learning to code. That being said, some parents seem to belive that inlisting their childen in coding classes early on, means giving them an advantage and a push towards a career in technology and will be the first stepping stone into becoming the owners of successful tech startups. Some Ed-tech companies seem to be pushing that same narrative. I, personally, disagree. While interoducing young children to coding using age appropriate tools might teach them some basic coding elements such as loops, variables, and functions, assuming that a child would be able to jump from those basic concepts and start coding java the very next week is a reach at best. Sure, it might ignite curiosity and lead some of the children to go deeper and spark a passion for coding, but that should not be the main objective. Some points to consider: ### Coding might not be the future, but problem solving is timeless I've had anxious parents wondering which coding course would give their children an edge. Programming languages change very often and what you learn today might be obselete in a few years and replaced with something better and more effecient. We never know what the future will look like and what technical skills will be transferable to the jobs of tomorrow. That is true for 20 years down the line and even true for 5 years down the line. However, some skills do not have an expiration date and problem solving is certainly one of them. A child that learns problem solving skills early on has a better chance at preforming academically and overall. Multiple [studies](https://www.ejmste.com/download/the-impact-of-problem-solving-instruction-on-middle-school-students-physical-science-learning-5300.pdf) suggest that students that employ problem solving methods in their education outpreform peers learning by traditional methods.(Cheng, She & Huang, 2017) ### Not every child will be interested, and thats okay  <span>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@kellysikkema?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Kelly Sikkema</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/children-playing?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span> Some children just are not all that interested in coding. They might be showing interest during class but have no dsire to build up on it. That is perfectly fine. Not every child learns the same way and it is unfair as adults to expect them to care more than they actually do. I have had students that get particularly excited over the ability to design their own playable characters in Makecode Arcade, spending hours on end meticulously drawing the details pixel by pixel and excitedly showing me their progress at the start of every class. That part was more of interest to them than the actual game coding. And that is absolutely okay. A lot of coding courses teach children analytical thinking and problem solving in th same way that playing with blocks is benifecial to a childs development. It's perfectly fine if they tried to code and just didn't enjoy it enough. They can always move on to the next activity! ### It can simply just be fun!  <span>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@robowunderkind?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Robo Wunderkind</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/children-coding?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a></span> Should parents of seven year olds really be thinking about future career and university applications? The seven year olds sure aren't. They just want to have fun. Coding classes can just be a way for a child to have fun, enjoy their time learning a new skill and interacting with their peers. It dosent not need to be more than that, but it can be if the child wanted to.