5 Reasons to Include Coding with CodaKid in Your Homeschool
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by CodaKid. I was compensated for my time and honest opinion.
“How was your activity tonight?” I asked my 11-year-old son, Haydn.
“It wasn’t as fun as it could have been. We did coding. All the other boys already knew how to code, so I felt a little behind.”
Oops! Can I just say, I was a little embarrassed by this? I mean, my husband is a software engineer! Coding is how he supports our family. I know all about the benefits of coding for kids.
It’s not that we haven’t ever done coding in our homeschool. My oldest two girls both dabbled with code (Python and Java) in junior high before deciding it wasn’t their cup of tea.
My sons experience made me realize I need to be introducing coding to my kids earlier.
Why Should Kids Learn Coding?
The truth is coding is becoming such a mainstream part of our kids’ lives. Our entire world runs on code!
Much like learning Microsoft Word in high school was our future, for our kids it’s having familiarity with and learning the basics of how to code. This is an important 21st century skill our kids need for the future.
Coding Sparks Creativity
Many times when we think of creativity we lean toward the arts. It’s easy to look at a drawing or painting and acknowledge the creative process involved. But coding requires creativity as well. It takes creativity to make something from nothing or to imagine a thing and write the code to make it happen. Coding allows kids to take their ideas and bring them to life.
Coding Promotes Critical Thinking & Problem Solving Skills
As kids tap into their creative centers, they utilize their logical and critical thinking skills.
My husband spends a good portion of his time problem solving at work. Sometimes it’s trying to figure out how to write or rewrite the code to accomplish his goals. Or figuring out why code is broken, when it should be working. As kids tap into their creative centers, they utilize their logical and critical thinking skills. Kids learning coding spend a good deal of time critically thinking about how to accomplish their task and problem solving when it doesn’t go as planned.
Coding Gives Kids a Competitive Edge
Even if your child doesn’t plan on pursuing a degree in Computer Science, knowledge in coding and the skills learned from it give them a competitive edge. A knowledge of coding gives kids a better understanding of the world around them-especially since they live in such a tech driven world.
Coding also increases a child’s math and science skills, which is always a plus.
Coding Teaches Kids Persistence
I mentioned my husband spends a good portion of his job as a software engineer problem-solving. Sometimes he struggles with a problem for weeks. Weeks! When he comes up against a problem, their usually isn’t a quick and easy solution. This is especially true when they are working to create something new. Other times it’s because they are trying to work with code someone else created and need it to do something different.
To continue, day after day, looking for a solution for the same problem requires persistence. Coding teaches kids to stick with it. To keep trying so they can achieve their goals.
Coding Skills Transfer to Life Skills
Many of the skills I’ve listed from coding are skills kids will need in their everyday life. Creativity, problem-solving, persistence, and stronger math and science skills. These are characteristics that will benefit kids regardless of the occupation they pursue.
Include Coding in Your Homeschool with CodaKid
Knowing the benefits of coding and not wanting my son to feel left out, I signed him up for the Online Self-Study with CodaKid and added it to his homeschool schedule.
CodaKid offers both the online self-study and a one-on-one tutoring option. We chose the self-study to begin because we needed the flexibility. However, I think the one-on-one would be great, especially if we were looking for more than an introduction to coding.
Our Experience Learning Coding with CodaKid
My son was super stoked to begin the coding classes with CodaKid. For him it was the same as play time on the computer and he looked forward to his allotted computer time for coding.
He was most excited about the coding skills he was accumulating. He got real satisfaction from adapting a skill he learned through CodaKid and using it to accomplish his own ideas.
One of his favorite projects on CodaKid was called Dino Defense. In it you get to shoot balls of fire out of your dinos mouth at dragonflies. Kids can use their coding skills to build their “sprite,” or character, and background. But if they haven’t learned those skills yet, they can choose from a selection to customize it.
There were many other games he was able to play to learn different coding skills as well.
The more time he spent on CodaKid, the more confident he became in his coding abilities.
I am positive the next time his group of friends get together for a coding activity, he will feel confident in his own abilities.
CodaKid is Homeschool Friendly
Aside from fitting nicely in a homeschool schedule, CodaKid accepts funding from ESA’s or state tuition tax credit awards. So, if you live in one of those states, you can use that funding to pay for your CodaKid classes.
Try CodaKid for Free
We have enjoyed using CodaKid in our homeschool. I encourage you to let your kid try CodaKid for themself. They offer free trials for BOTH the self-paced and one-on-one tutoring classes.
