Coding in the Classroom

Why teach your kids to code?  Why the heck not?!  Coding is an awesome way to teach critical thinking and problem solving skills.  Jobs involving coding also rank very high on the list of Best Jobs of 2015, and this number is expected to grow.  Becoming fluent in the language of code will allow students to pursue jobs in a fast-growing and well-paying field.  Plus ... it can be really fun!

Code.org is an awesome resource for any teacher wanting to get started in this field.  I introduced my kindergartners to coding by using the free apps Kodable  and Daisy the Dinosaur.  Many of my kids absolutely loved this activity, and when they had "Free App Friday" time, they would always choose to practice coding with one of these apps.  Some of them became "experts" (definitely beyond my skill level, LOL) and would help one another when they got into trickier coding scenarios.

  

I absolutely love this article by Kristi Meeuwse about coding in kindergarten.  She gives some awesome examples and even shows how her kids code "offline", like this image below.

Edudemic has a great article about coding in the classroom, along with some videos ad resources. Click here to read Coding in the Classroom: 16 Top Resources.  Hour of Code happens during the week of December 7-13th, and I would encourage you to take this time to let your kids (and yourself!) dabble in some coding.  You may find that you and your kids love it, and that it will allow some of your kids to really shine!