A competent teacher can turn teaching children to program into a fun process. On the contrary, an uninteresting lesson can put you off trying to read computer code again for a long time. If you want your children to learn the basics of programming quickly and want to move forward, you need to avoid these common learning mistakes.
Too boring and serious
The easiest way to discourage a child from doing something is to let him know how important it is to be able to do it. According to Newton's laws, the force of the impact will be equal to the force of the reaction.
Instead of telling your child about the career prospects of a successful programmer, you need to find an approach that is close to him. For example, in ProgKids we teach program in Python in Minecraft. This game world, familiar to many children, becomes a great simulator for novice programmers. Students don't have to explain the rules, just identify opportunities and suggest ways to achieve goals.
In such a simple playful way, children quickly learn quite adult material and, most importantly, learn to put it into practice. After all, any knowledge is only as good as you know how to work with it.
Wrong language choice
There are now many programming languages for a wide variety of tasks. Some allow you to control deep computer systems, others are used to create websites, and others are used to build robots. Of course, they also vary in complexity, and languages that are easy to learn do not always suffer in terms of functionality.
The Python language we learn in our online programming courses combines a simple style with a powerful set of features. We have already said that it is used in a huge number of modern areas. At the same time, Python was created specifically for people who still don't know how to write programs, but want to use it in their own work. This is why it is often referred to as the best first programming language.
Several other languages, from JavaScript to PHP, are fighting for this title with Python. However, Python has a much clearer syntax compared to them. Students who are more or less fluent in English (and Python is recommended for children aged 13-14) can write and read its code, almost like a book. And for very young programmers, there is an educational program called Snap, where you don't even have to write commands — programs are made up of colored blocks. This low barrier of entry helps any student learn the basics of programming that will later help them learn any other languages.
Too much theory
Software development requires a strong knowledge of mathematics and abstract thinking skills. These challenges can scare off many adults, not to mention children. It's like driving a car — when you want to get behind the wheel as soon as possible, learning how the engine and brakes work is boring. Only when you finally get on the road does it become clear why the lectures were needed.
However, when teaching children to program, many explanations can actually be postponed until later. Modern languages, as we have already said, are often created not for professional programmers, but for those who use computers in other work areas. This application reduces the theoretical minimum that is required to create programs. Developers may not think about many purely technical problems — many in-depth procedures are carried out automatically without the participation of a programmer.
The learning curve is too sharp
When you teach kids how to code, it's very important to find the right pace and increase the complexity of tasks. Students shouldn't be too bored, but, of course, they shouldn't jump headlong into the pool either.
At ProgKids, we've solved this problem with several courses that you can switch between at any time. At the same time, since all learning takes place in Minecraft, students may not be bored going through old material anew to brush up on some topics. As a result, students become familiar with the basics of programming in just one month, after which students develop a set of practical skills that can help them dive deeper into software development.
