6.3: Coding
What is Coding?
Coding is step-by-step instructions that a computer understands for programs to work. Our cars, tablets, and cell phones all use coding to work properly. However, children don't have to start out making coding instructions for computers. There are many activities children can participate in called "pre-coding" activities that don't involve using a computer.
Coding Stories and Games for Preschool
Pre-coding activities for preschoolers involve directional language, ordinal numbers, and one-to-one correspondence. Directional language involves understanding words such as up and down, backward and forward, left and right. Children must also know how to count using ordinal numbers, such as first, second, and third. Children must also understand one-to-one correspondence meaning they only count each item once. All children will be at different places in their understanding of these concepts. Some children will have mastered these skills while others are still learning them. That is ok because pre-coding activities help to develop these skills.
See Creating Coding Stories and Games to learn more about the benefits of coding with young children and for ideas for pre-coding activities.