The summer
vacations are just around the corner so that means plenty of free time for your
kids. While they are buys planning how they will spend time having a blast, it’s
up to you to ensure that they also end up learning and doing something
constructive during these months. Many parents encourage their kids to even
start studying during the summer vacations but you needn’t do that. However,
specialized courses like computer programming
for kids can go a long way towards keeping your child engaged this summer.
Let’s understand this in more detail.
The primary
goal behind developing a kids programming
language was to make coding accessible to kids. This is because coding is
related to something that kids actually love and understand - softwares and
games. Every child today is hooked to some screen or the other, either browsing
a social media site or playing a mobile game. Coding for kids takes this same
love for technology and flips it into something productive and constructive.
Here, instead of just consuming such softwares, kids are encouraged to come up
with their own programmes and write the code for them from scratch. The whole
process and coursework is structured in such a way that it doesn’t feel like
learning in the traditional sense. The whole thing is a fun, interactive
process for your child which will help them with their holistic development.
If you feel
coding isn’t the right path for your child, you could try out things like robotics for kids or the
kidpreneurs programme. No matter what you pick, just remember that the goal is
to engage your child in an organic yet productive and constructive manner. If
your child doesn’t have a particular area of interest, help them find a space
that speaks to them and explore that to its fullest.
Ever so often, a
new trend comes along in the field of education and parents rush to enroll
their kids for the new classes. However, as parents we understand that you
would first want to thoroughly research the course before climbing on board the
bandwagon. Hot on the heels of the recent coding classes for kids trend, we now have
something called the kidpreneurs programme. Let's explore this in some detail.
As the name
suggests, the kidpreneurs programme essentially seeks to
make little entrepreneurs out of kids. The first step involves introducing kids
to the concepts of entrepreneurship and covers the basic in simple terms.
That's when things get really interesting. Kids are then encouraged to come up
with a product or service that they would like to own. They then create a brand
for their business and basically kick off their plan with basic capital. The
idea here is not to teach them how to profit but basically show them how it's
all done. Kids then go through all the phases of figuring out their markets,
their business plan and are the encouraged to put it into action. In this
process, kids learn a lot of essential lessons. The most important one being
how businesses work in real life. In this world of startups, even if your child
doesn't grow to be an entrepreneur, chances are that they will work for a
startup. Irrespective of their career choices, this course gives them a glimpse
into the bigger picture of businesses.
A number of
schools have started offering the student entrepreneurs programme as a part
of their extra curricular activities. If your child doesn't attend such a
school, you can always sign up for external classes. You will be surprised by
how much your child will end up loving something like this.
When you hear of concepts like coding for children
and robotics for kids, one of the first arguments that pops in your head is
this - is something like this really necessary? The answer lies in the
emergence of STEM learning and the role it has to play in the lives of our
children. STEM learning, on the face of it, might just seem like a more evolved
way of looking at a school curriculum but there is more to it than meets the
eye. It seeks to change the way kids grow and evolve into society and seeks to
build a future workforce that comes prepared for the demands of tomorrow.
For starters, STEM learning changed the way we look at a curriculum
forever. It brought to the fore more important concepts like science, maths and
engineering and placed a greater emphasis on teaching children a whole
different world of learning. The idea is to not only give children the
knowledge they need for tomorrow but also prepare them for the actual
experience. The development of something like a kids programming
language indicates that we are truly ready to arm our kids with more
advanced and complex concepts. However, STEM powered curriculums were just the
beginning. The aim now is to revolutionize the entire way in which we as a
society approach education and learning. And this begins in the classroom. STEM
now leverages cutting-edge technology in schools to help kids learn in a more
engaging manner. From encouraging the use of computers and smart devices for
learning to a shift towards a more audio-visual method of teaching, the changes
are diverse and dynamic.
STEM for kids
has paved the way for a more evolved brand of students in our country. But this
is just the beginning. The responsibility rests with educators and parents
alike to ensure that kids these days are engaged in the best way possible.
