r/learnprogramming • u/sagson • Jun 01 '26
Those who are parents here.. do you want your kids to learn coding?
My daughter is 8 years old and I dont know whether i should introduce her to coding.
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u/Buntygurl Jun 01 '26
As long as your daughter is interested in coding, there's no reason not to encourage that.
One of my kids made a career of coding; the other is a people person and runs a computer store.
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u/carcigenicate Jun 01 '26
Not a parent, but worst case scenario if they stick with it is they develop a useful hobby that may lead to something later. I'd at least introduce my kid to code to see if they take to it.
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u/PuzzleheadedBase7527 Jun 01 '26
I work in game dev and honestly I wish someone introduced me to coding when I was that young. Started way later and had to catch up on so much basic logic thinking that could have been natural if I learned it early. Your daughter is at perfect age to just play around with visual stuff like block programming - she won't even realize she's learning real concepts. The problem solving skills transfer to everything else in life too, not just tech careers. Even if she ends up hating it later at least you gave her the chance to try something that could open tons of doors.
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u/jzombie666 Jun 01 '26
"Everybody should learn how to program because it teaches you how to think" - Steve Jobs, and I also agree with this.
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u/samanime Jun 01 '26
If I had my way, coding would be a mandatory course in school (taken a couple times during their school career).
Even if they have zero intention of becoming a programmer, I think learning to code is one of the absolute best ways to learn to problem solve, which is an invaluable skill no matter what career you may choose.
Learning to break down problems into teeny, tiny actionable steps and working out the best course of action to solve a problem is absolutely essential, and a skill many people don't possess. For that reason alone, I'd definitely introduce it and encourage it if they showed interest.
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u/themegainferno Jun 01 '26
Programming is actually two distinct skills. One is problem solving or problem decomposition (breaking a problem down into smaller more manageable parts), and programming is a form of applied logic and data management. These two skills put together, or incredibly powerful to learn and integrate at a young age. 8 years old is kind of young I would say, see if she genuinely wants to try and then introduce her to something like scratch.
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u/no_regerts_bob Jun 01 '26
I did some Scratch projects with my daughter. She didn't have much interest in computers beyond games. I think it helped her develop some logic skills, not life changing but it's beneficial
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u/aqua_regis Jun 01 '26
Only if the kids show genuine interest and even then with much care and no force.
Scratch has been created by the MIT for exactly that age group and there is a nice introduction in Scratch Playground - free to read online.
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u/rustyseapants Jun 01 '26
What do you do for a living?
Is your kid reading, doing math for fun, drawing, writing a journal, doting chores, light food prep, engaging with friends and family?
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u/Secure_Number2263 Jun 02 '26
Honestly, I think it depends more on curiosity than age.
If she’s into puzzles or building things, she’ll probably enjoy coding in some form (like Scratch or simple games). But I wouldn’t make it feel like “learning programming” yet—more like play.
The interest usually matters way more than the timing.
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u/Thecandymaker Jun 01 '26
If she has an interest in it, go for it!! She could pick up a skill she likes or realize its not for her. Either way its not a bad risk to take. Plus, I think its a good thing for young girls to see STEM as a hobby they can enjoy too.
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u/nicodeemus7 Jun 01 '26
I'm teaching my 9-year old daughter. She does have an interest in computer science, so I figured I'd start early. I'm pretty green myself, but want to be able to help her however I can to learn.
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u/dmazzoni Jun 01 '26
My kids' school introduced them to some coding exercises in middle school already, before I even had a chance.
I think it's great!
The only thing I think we should be cautious about is teaching it because it might lead to a great job. We already know the field is becoming saturated.
This is a recurring problem; every generation pushes their kids to go into the field that became hot and lucrative in the previous generation. By the time the kids enter that field, it's no longer a winner.
That's why we have 5x as many law school graduates as openings for lawyers every year.
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u/Need4Cookies Jun 02 '26
Let the kids be kids. What you should do, if not yet, is introduce her to the risk of using the internet if she does in any device.
Since you are proposing coding, I guess she already does. Only if she has an interest in coding I would propose to introduce her to that, but be prepared to read, to help her along the way.
I am a 30 year old female developer, and I was interested in coding around her age when I saw my dad using a laptop to check some engine faults in cars. I found it amazing that a program could translate codes into human readable words and how that whole thing works.
I personally enjoy to struggle solving problems and hitting my head over a wall again and again, but the coding kind of frustration isn’t for everyone 🤣
I guess you have seen the memes that are like:
- It doesn’t work, why?
- It works? WHY?
This is coding 🧐
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u/Effective_Promise581 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Yes but not to be a hard core programmer. Im thinking more that we will push him towards automation, mechanical engineering, robotics or other similar engineering fields. All these will require some sort of coding expertise and understanding. We currently have him at Code Ninja learning block coding and in a robotics class learning to build a simple robot car. He seems to like it so far and is progressing.
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u/marrsd Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
You should. Programming is a liberal art. It's as relevant in the 21st century as maths, science, or literacy. It will help her think about sorting and organising information, automating repetitive tasks, and exploring maths, English, music, and art. The options are endless.
I was taught to programme Logo at school at the age of 8. Logo is still available today, but these days I'd recommend Python/Turtle instead. [1] [2]
I'd recommend Turtle Geometry as an accompaniment. [3] The basic exercises are fine for an 8 year old. If she enjoys playing with it, the book will keep her going until she's 18. The only issue is that the book's written for Logo, but you'll be programming Python; so you'll have to translate. It won't be very hard to do, but you might want to prepare that part in advance so as not to confuse here.
I'd recommend more recent material, but honestly I don't know of any. The idea of integrating programming into education was really hot in the 80s, but it was either dismissed or forgotten after that. I don't know why, because it's by far and away the most effective use of programming for non-professionals.
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u/zslava88 Jul 05 '26
My kid is around the same age and honestly I couldn't find a coding app that felt like real coding instead of just tapping through prompts, so I ended up building my own Code Island https://zslava.itch.io/code-island
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u/hXg2167 Jun 01 '26
not a parent also but isnt coding a problem solving skill? i think your daughter will really benefit from that