Computer Science All Around

TinkerTech social media writer and parent Tashena Ramirez discusses how CS touches our lives every day.

Coding at home can be a family activity for all ages!

Why should children learn Computer Science? One of the biggest reasons would be computational thinking. This critical thinking skill takes a problem and breaks it down into smaller pieces by finding patterns and details to help solve it. Whether writing simple code to move a robot from point A to point B in class, or an algorithm to analyze data, each of these tasks requires step-by-step directions from programmer to computer. 

These skills are easily transitionable to many areas outside of technology. Children are natural answer-seekers and problem solvers. They want to know how things work. They are constantly learning cause and effect. If my math problem isn’t coming out with the correct answer, I must go back and look at my steps. If I am having a conflict with a friend, I need to go back and look at why we are fighting in the first place. What steps should I take to remedy the situation? When we understand we have the power to approach problems creatively and analytically, they are less overwhelming.

Everything has sequential steps and processes. Whether writing code for a computer game or applying these lessons to real-life relationships with family and friends, we use computational thinking every day. As parents of children who are growing up as native technology users, we have a unique opportunity to point out examples of how we use CS every day - from models that predict weather patterns to help us know what to wear and how to avoid storms, to the ways we connect and communicate through apps. Computer Science is all around us.