Starting programming is never too early: the look of a nine-year-old.
The other day I turned 9 years old. In a week I will go to the third grade. And there is still no computer science in it. This is a big drawback of the school curriculum.
Most of my peers, one might say, were born with mobile phones and tablets in their hands. I saw how the kids who had just learned to sit were dragging their fingers over the pictures in the books and did not understand why they were not moving. From the first day our generation enters the world of high technologies, but for some reason computer science appears only in the fifth grade. We lose a lot. We lose time when you can and need to get acquainted with the computer and its capabilities. Fifth grade is already too late.
The earlier a person starts using a computer, the more he can get from it. The Internet opens the door to the world of knowledge. Textbooks - limit, Internet - free. I’m sure that much more benefit comes from not learning the rules, but the ability to search, select and analyze information.
')
At the age of five or six years old, when there was no school and homework that took a lot of time, I had the opportunity to independently master various operating systems, text and graphic editors. I had my account on VKontakte, I started to shoot my first videos with Bandicam, which very soon I started adding to Youtube and getting the first responses (yes, not always flattering, but I wanted to share what I did). Then there were the first programs in PHP Devel Studio. In principle, much is clear intuitively, but I wanted to go to professional courses. Which, as it turned out, for children and not at all.
Examples of games and programs that I made at the age of 6−8 years
Parents phoned a lot of places, but never wanted to get involved with a youngster. And this is very disappointing. I did a little work with a tutor. And when I went to the first class, I found one place where I was taken after all! In fact, they didn’t take it there either immediately. I had to pass an interview, to tell and show that I already know how. At these basic training courses took at least 3-4 classes. For me they made an exception, for which, of course, thanks.
A year later I had the opportunity to go to the long-awaited programming. Began to study C #. For one desk with eight and ninth-graders. Not everything works out, but persistence and great desire help. I do not only what they ask, but I also try to invent my own small programs. I write codes to solve math problems. There is a calculator, several games, including "Tic-tac-toe". The feeling that you did it yourself can’t be compared with anything!
But the society and the education system still does not see the need to teach computer science to children not by age, but by desire. Recently in the next training center they said that they would not take the 7th grade before. What do you mean? All our life is permeated with computer technologies, and you are going to tell only in the 7th grade about the binary number system and the concept of the algorithm?
Not! Computer science and elementary programming (at least on Scratch and Python) must be woven into the school curriculum from the very first class. It motivates to learn, develops the imagination, makes the learning process more diverse and more productive. In the end, I am sure that in any case you can achieve greater success if you do it as early as possible. Earlier than most. I heard that there is a rule of 10,000 hours. It says that approximately so much is needed to achieve a high level of excellence in any business. It's a lot. Is it possible to accumulate so many hours of practice, if you start too late? .. It is clear that progress is connected with information technology. And for the start of their development there should be no age restrictions.
By the way, one restriction is still necessary to recognize. It is related to mathematics. There is a lot of programming in it ... But when it is mastered together with computer science, it ceases to be an abstract science. When you need to correctly position the character of the game, you will quickly understand how to work with the axis of coordinates. When you need to write a program that calculates something, you will understand much more deeply the essence of these mathematical operations.
When I decided to write this post, I came across an article on Habrahabr about the Irish programming teacher J. Paul Gibson . There is such a quote: "I watched 18 and 19 year olds who had difficulty mastering elementary programming concepts that I learned at the age of 12," recalls Gibson, who independently learned how to program in the Sinclair ZX81. “I realized that I had not yet seen programming in the school curriculum, and I thought that maybe one of our problems is that we come to it too late.”
Eureka! Some adults agree with me. Who knows, maybe when I grow up, I will open programming courses for younger students and even preschoolers. And then before them the world of the virtually limitless possibilities of information technology will open before them, the entrance to which for some reason now remains closed for a long time. Well, class up to the 7th. Or at least until the 5th.
PS This is my first post on Habrahabr, so do not judge strictly. I would be grateful for the advice and recommendations. And please participate in the survey.
Most of my peers, one might say, were born with mobile phones and tablets in their hands. I saw how the kids who had just learned to sit were dragging their fingers over the pictures in the books and did not understand why they were not moving. From the first day our generation enters the world of high technologies, but for some reason computer science appears only in the fifth grade. We lose a lot. We lose time when you can and need to get acquainted with the computer and its capabilities. Fifth grade is already too late.
The earlier a person starts using a computer, the more he can get from it. The Internet opens the door to the world of knowledge. Textbooks - limit, Internet - free. I’m sure that much more benefit comes from not learning the rules, but the ability to search, select and analyze information.
')
At the age of five or six years old, when there was no school and homework that took a lot of time, I had the opportunity to independently master various operating systems, text and graphic editors. I had my account on VKontakte, I started to shoot my first videos with Bandicam, which very soon I started adding to Youtube and getting the first responses (yes, not always flattering, but I wanted to share what I did). Then there were the first programs in PHP Devel Studio. In principle, much is clear intuitively, but I wanted to go to professional courses. Which, as it turned out, for children and not at all.
Examples of games and programs that I made at the age of 6−8 years
Parents phoned a lot of places, but never wanted to get involved with a youngster. And this is very disappointing. I did a little work with a tutor. And when I went to the first class, I found one place where I was taken after all! In fact, they didn’t take it there either immediately. I had to pass an interview, to tell and show that I already know how. At these basic training courses took at least 3-4 classes. For me they made an exception, for which, of course, thanks.
A year later I had the opportunity to go to the long-awaited programming. Began to study C #. For one desk with eight and ninth-graders. Not everything works out, but persistence and great desire help. I do not only what they ask, but I also try to invent my own small programs. I write codes to solve math problems. There is a calculator, several games, including "Tic-tac-toe". The feeling that you did it yourself can’t be compared with anything!
But the society and the education system still does not see the need to teach computer science to children not by age, but by desire. Recently in the next training center they said that they would not take the 7th grade before. What do you mean? All our life is permeated with computer technologies, and you are going to tell only in the 7th grade about the binary number system and the concept of the algorithm?
Not! Computer science and elementary programming (at least on Scratch and Python) must be woven into the school curriculum from the very first class. It motivates to learn, develops the imagination, makes the learning process more diverse and more productive. In the end, I am sure that in any case you can achieve greater success if you do it as early as possible. Earlier than most. I heard that there is a rule of 10,000 hours. It says that approximately so much is needed to achieve a high level of excellence in any business. It's a lot. Is it possible to accumulate so many hours of practice, if you start too late? .. It is clear that progress is connected with information technology. And for the start of their development there should be no age restrictions.
By the way, one restriction is still necessary to recognize. It is related to mathematics. There is a lot of programming in it ... But when it is mastered together with computer science, it ceases to be an abstract science. When you need to correctly position the character of the game, you will quickly understand how to work with the axis of coordinates. When you need to write a program that calculates something, you will understand much more deeply the essence of these mathematical operations.
When I decided to write this post, I came across an article on Habrahabr about the Irish programming teacher J. Paul Gibson . There is such a quote: "I watched 18 and 19 year olds who had difficulty mastering elementary programming concepts that I learned at the age of 12," recalls Gibson, who independently learned how to program in the Sinclair ZX81. “I realized that I had not yet seen programming in the school curriculum, and I thought that maybe one of our problems is that we come to it too late.”
Eureka! Some adults agree with me. Who knows, maybe when I grow up, I will open programming courses for younger students and even preschoolers. And then before them the world of the virtually limitless possibilities of information technology will open before them, the entrance to which for some reason now remains closed for a long time. Well, class up to the 7th. Or at least until the 5th.
PS This is my first post on Habrahabr, so do not judge strictly. I would be grateful for the advice and recommendations. And please participate in the survey.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/308554/
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