Things I Have Learned While Teaching Your Kids to Code
I’ve been teaching people to code for seven years. First as the co-founder (and first teacher) of Girl Develop It where I taught adults, and now hosting build events for Jewelbots where I teach kids.
The majority of the students I teach are total beginners, they have never written a line of code (consciously). It’s one of my favorite things to do. The biggest disservice the developer community set loose upon the world is the idea that coding is hard and enigmatic.
Sure, there are tasks that require a ton of math, like working at a hedge fund or making it through a Google interview, but basic software development is easy, and, dare I say, fun! It’s such a privilege to be able to lead people to that first “ah ha!” moment.
There are some distinct differences I have observed while teaching kids vs. teaching adults. I’ve been thinking about these a lot lately so I thought I’d share.
