Can Little Kids Code?

I’ve always wondered how young is too young to start teaching children how to code. I guess the obvious answer to that question is at least when they know how to read and write. Or is it?

Coding is nothing but a language. The real skill is really when you use it to solve problems. One can argue that if you know how to code, i.e. make a computer program do what you actually intend it to do, then you essentially have solved a problem.

I think the reasoning behind teaching kids coding isn’t so that they have have the skills required for future jobs, at least, not in the literal sense. When anyone studies and successfully learns how to code, the skill one acquires isn’t the act of coding itself but it is figuring out how to continuously break problems into bits until it is of a manageable size and then using those micro solutions to solve progressively solve the ultimate problem.

So maybe, toddlers aren’t able to read and write yet, perhaps there are other ways to get them used to the concepts used in programming through other means. Maybe the question shouldn’t be Can little kids code? but rather Can little kids solve little problems?  so they can eventually learn how to code, and eventually learn how to solve bigger problems 🙂

I am starting this blog to document the things I discover and learn along the way.
http://canlittlekidscode.wordpress.com