Bob Mather - Coding for Beginners and Kids Using Python: Python Basics for Beginners, High School Students and Teens Using Project Based Learning

Coding for Kids and Beginner Using Python

Bob Mather

Disclaimer

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N o part of this eBook can be transmitted or reproduced in any form including print, electronic, photocopying, scanning, mechanical or recording without prior written permission from the author. While the author has taken utmost efforts to ensure the accuracy of the written content, all readers are advised to follow information mentioned herein at their own risk. The author cannot be held responsible for any personal or commercial damage caused by information. All readers are encouraged to seek professional advice when needed.

Introduction

D o you want your child to code? I am sure this feels like an impossible endeavor, doesnt it? It is as hard as learning a new language, and this is definitely a daunting experience for a child. It is harder to convince your child to learn to code as well. Every parent has been there. You know how difficult it is to start a new journey. It is quite overwhelming and scary. So, how do you think your child may feel about it? He is going to have a million questions, such as:

• Can I learn how to code?
• Will I ever reach a stage in life where coding is easy?
• When can I use this skill?
• Is it something that will help me in school? If not, why am I even doing it?

These statements stop most of us, so it is going to stop your child, too. The entire process of learning is too tedious. You first need to have a plan in mind, then find the right courses so you learn, make sure you are good enough and then create an app or tool. Having said that, you should first decide what it is you want to learn. You also need to know everything there is to know about the new subject, so you know what the dividend will be. There is no easy way to go about this, and it is a quite challenging task.

A new task may seem impossible when you start off, and it will definitely be hard for you to meet your goals if you do not take the necessary steps. If it is this hard for you, how hard do you think it will be for your child? You need to ensure that you and your child jump in with two feet. If both of you do not commit to learning, it will only lead to frustration. It will also lessen the chance of your child following through with the course and succeeding. It is best to let your child start with something small, take his time to learn and achieve measurable and realistic goals.

If this is what you want to do, you have come to the right place. You will find all the information your child needs to learn more about coding and get involved in it. There are different gamified and fun exercises that will keep your mind engaged. It is quite difficult to engage a young brain and motivate your child to learn something new and complex. However, the information and exercises make coding easy to understand. So, before you coax your child into learning how to code, make sure to do the following:

• Explain to your child why it is important for him to learn to code
• Outline the benefits of coding
• Define some key terms
• Look at different examples
• Choose a programming language and begin!

Coding, in simple terms, is a language used to communicate with computers and machines. You can also use this language to build and run apps, websites and more.

How to Make your Child Code?

This question has numerous answers but let us focus on how it helps your child move forward. This does not mean your child must make giant leaps. If you read the section above, you know it only means your child needs to start off small. The only thing you must focus on is to ensure your child progresses with every move he makes with respect to coding. This gives rise to the question why should my kid learn to code?

The idea that kids should lean to code was planted years ago, and at the time, you may have believed it was hype. The concept was new, and every educational institute wanted to include coding classes for kids. The idea was not unfounded, but people needed some time to digest the idea that coding will become the most important strength that people must have. Some statistics show that the number of jobs will increase in the years to come, but the majority of those jobs will be in computing. This makes people wonder if coding is difficult to understand and learn.

Your child should not learn how to code for the wrong reasons. Do not tell him he needs to code to look cool. You must explain to him what the results are and how coding will help him land a good job in the future. Make sure to tell him he will be rewarded if he knows how to code. There are so many jobs out there, and they pay quite well. What makes coding better is that it not only helps your child do well in the future, but it helps him become creative, develop problem solving skills, collaborate with other programmers or people to develop new apps, communicate with them and various other skills that help him become a star employee.

Does this mean learning a new language is as easy as learning how to perform other activities or talking to people? Definitely not. Having said that, it is best to use these reasons to get your child moving if he is wary about learning how to code. Give him a set of guidelines, so he knows where to start. These guidelines will also help him determine where he stands. Coding is the language of the future, and thus it is important for your child to know how to code. As mentioned earlier, when your child learns to code, he also develops other skills that will help him in the future.

Python Example, why it's good

W hen we want the computer to do something, we need to give the computer instructions it can understand, i.e. machine language. Machine Language. Machine Language consists of 0s and 1s. Below is an example of Machine Language:

10011 00011 110001 1001010101 100001 001 0111 0000 11111 11010101

Although the computer might find it easy to read, we humans do not. Therefore, to make instructions readable and easier to understand, we use Programming Languages. We write the instructions for the computer in a programming language, and it is converted to machine language which can be understood by the computer.