We were set to host a teacher from Cotham school to show them the world of coding and the life of a software agency. The aim was to equip teachers with tools they could take back to students. Unfortunately due to Covid-19, the INSET day was cancelled. But we thought we would write a quick article on why kids should be learning to code and how they can start learning at home!

Why learn programming?

Aside from the fact that learning to code can improve children’s mathematical and logic skills, coding will also give children valuable life skills as the world continues to digitalise.

The digital age, also called the information age, is defined as the time period starting in the 1970s with the introduction of the personal computer with subsequent technology introduced providing the ability to transfer information freely and quickly. (YourDictionary)

Traditional jobs are increasingly being digitalised, meaning that an understanding of programming could be essential for your children or students. Automation is one of the main reasons work is being digitalised: cutting the costs for the business and the buyer. Take the legal sector, where standard contracts or Terms & Conditions can be automatically built without the need of a lawyer.

Citigroup predicted that as many as 1.7 million U.S. and European banking jobs will be lost to automation by 2025.

This said, new jobs are being created every day! In fact, over 2.1 million people worked in the UK digital tech in 2018

With over 2.1 million people working in UK digital tech in 2018, the tech economy is a bigger employer than sectors like Hospitality (1.3m), Construction (1.9m) and Financial Services (1.2m). (Technation)

Take us as an example!

Our team builds amazing products for business owners who dream big and disrupt markets. Imagine being able to build anything? (within reason…). Learning to code from an early age can allow children to pursue careers in almost any industry: from ecology (look at the search browser Ecosia), to creative professions (for example animation) to banking (for example building banking apps like Monzo).

Check out some of our projects to see what we have been up to at CookiesHQ.  We have worked on companies such as Big Clean Switch that allows people to compare and find sustainable gas and electricity, or Good Sixty that delivers food to homes from independent shops!

We also work in the community helping young people build amazing products. For example, our co-founder Nat recently judged the final of the FFactor which encourages under 25s to start their own businesses.

Homeschooling during the coronavirus outbreak? Here are some resources you can use to help teach your kids about tech.

• KS3 programming course CBBC bitesize here
• Tynker is offering free coding courses for kids during school closures
• CodeSpark Academy is a free award-winning app that teaches kids to code (Ages 5-9)
• For kids ages 7-13, the Hopscotch app is a great way for kids to learn coding. You can make your own games, apps, animations!
• For KS2 children who have already got the basics of coding, check out Mimo
• When it’s time we can go outside, why not find a local coding club for your children with Coder Dojo?
• If you want something more physical for your child to play with, you could purchase the Mochi Robot. Aimed at kids aged 3-6, this toy is lego-compatible and helps children learn coding in a hands-on way
• If you want to throw arts into the mix of STEM, take a look at Artie 3000 where kids can learn code in a creative way. It goes from beginners (Blockly and snap! Intuitive programming) to advanced (Python and JavaScript)

If you have any questions for us or need some pointers about how to support your children or students learning code, then drop us a line. We also have a list of resources available for parents in our Corvid-19 community resources page.