Coding Revolution by Kids

Once, I asked my parents and sister, "What do you think I do in my daily work life?" Their answer was somewhat like, "something with computers?"

My parents and sister are well-educated and established in their professions: my parents were school principals, and my sister is a magistrate. While everyone has a basic understanding of their own professions, mine remains less familiar to them.

However, that does not surprise me. Information technology is relatively new compared to many other established domains. Over my 20-year journey in this field, I've come to accept that the intricacies of my professional life might not be easily grasped by anyone outside of the domain.

Recently, for the first time in my life, I have been having surprising and delightful everyday conversations with many non-IT parents where they mention their kids are learning various programming languages like Python, Java, JavaScript, and many more.

In fact, this experience is not limited to just here in Toronto. Last year, I had the opportunity to visit family and friends around the world: Dhaka, New York, London, and Paris. And even during those short visits, coding came up frequently in everyday conversation! My aunts, uncles, and friends told me about how their kids are learning programming!

What is more fascinating are the various processes and tools being used in learning. For example, one of my young cousins seems to have a dedicated tutor who visits daily at a predefined time and teaches Python in person. Some of the other kids I know start with Scratch, Tynker, Minecraft, or take online live or pre-recorded classes. For many others, it has become a matter of pride, similar to training in sports, swimming, or music. They are spending a good amount of money to enroll their kids in expensive programs. Even in my child's school, programming began using paper and pencils—an unconventional yet effective approach.

This is definitely a refreshing and delightful phenomenon for me. Reflecting on my own journey and my child's experiences: over 20 years ago, was the first time I used a computer to learn C! Our first lab involved creating a number pyramid using C (it was brutal).

Fast forward to recent years, when I introduced my child to coding in first grade, initially using tools like Tynker and Scratch. However, as time passed, visual or block-based programming seemed limiting, often resulting in the child spending more time playing games than learning.

Last year, my child explored Grasshopper (JavaScript) recommended by a friend and expressed an interest in learning Python. This prompted me to dedicate some holiday time to teaching Python, facing a few initial obstacles:

• The abundance of quality digital content makes learning variables and loops, when explained by a parent, boring for a child.
• Children easily get bored without an interactive interface.
• Without knowing the basics, installing Python and an IDE on his device seems to be overkill.
• Investing in an expensive course for a 9-year-old felt premature without understanding his interest.

Considering these factors, I introduced him to a dear old friend: W3Schools. Its free, bite-sized lessons and interactive modules provide a hands-on experience without diving into complex installations and libraries.

So far, it is going decently. Attached is a screenshot of his latest lesson, where he is using string manipulation to poke fun at mom’s expense.

Happy New Year!

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