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Ask HN: What is an ideal age for Kids to introduce them to coding?

1 points by sk2code ↗ HN
My son will be turning 7 soon and he is showing keen interest in computers. Often he is asking me how one can create websites and web pages?

For starters I am planning to teach him HTML and introduce him to Scratch. Am I starting too soon? Is 7 is an ideal age for Kids to introduce them to coding? When did you start with your kids as far as Computer education is concerned?

2 comments

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nnoitra
Definitely 18. I've been programming since I was 15 and if I could back I would definitely spend that time studying more Math. It's very important to digest fundamental Math concepts before attempting to learn how to program.
rbrady
I started my daughters at 4. We would play in a Python interpreter as a group. The idea was not about teaching syntax but showing them that code == fun stuff. We have continued with that theme for a while. At 6 they started playing more with Python on their own and one of them did Hackety Hack for a week or so. They're 7 now and we've played with Arduino a little but including them adjusting parameters in the source. I continue to expose and encourage them, but not require them. I try to keep the time blocks small to keep their attention. I would rather leave them wanting more than feeling like they were forced to learn.