Ontario’s new math curriculum now includes coding starting in Grade 1
Great news! You may have read recent announcement made by the Ontario government on June 23rd, 2020. Ontario’s new math curriculum now includes coding and personal finance starting in grade 1.
We’re also excited to announce that Alpha Coding will be working with Toronto District School Board (TDSB) as an educational partner for Computer Science and Robotics curriculum.
In 2014 Britain became the first G7 country to introduce compulsory computer science on the school curriculum for all children aged five to 16. By the age of seven, all children will now be expected to be capable of writing and debugging a simple program. By 11, some will be exploring computing concepts once considered appropriate for undergraduates.
You may ask yourselves – is my child ready?
Not to worry. With appropriate tools and teaching approach, coding is not that complex. Coding is simply putting together a set of instructions to tell computer what to do / how to solve problems. Students as young as five years old can start learning how to code.
For younger students who still learn how to read and write, coding can be taught by using visual block-based coding such as Scratch Junior. Students in grade 1-2 (as well as older kids) can start learning coding using Scratch, among other programming languages such as Python (which is more suitable for students starting in Grade 3 or 4, i.e. age 8-9 years or older). With Scratch, students can create from simple interactive games to more complex video games.
The core benefit of coding isn’t actually learning the syntax (grammar) of programming languages. Rather, coding encourages critical thinking, creativity, computational thinking, and problem solving skills. Not only it’s a relevant skill set to cultivate at a young age, it’s a transferable skill used in the tech industry. Many industries use data nowadays – data scientists, who rely on programming languages to process large datasets and derive insights, is an example of a new profession in 21st century.
Alpha Coding instructors are experienced teachers with varying technical/technological skills as well as experience teaching young learners and being camp counselors. Our instructors are experienced software engineers, Master’s students, 4th year engineering students from top universities such as University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, York University, Carleton University, Ryerson University, etc.
Not only our instructors are technically qualified, they know how to engage young learners. Learning coding can be made fun as it should be and our instructors have the critical skill, i.e. experience to engage kids. In addition, our curriculum is designed with young learners in mind so they learn coding from the ground up without feeling rushed. We teach both visual block-based and textual coding.
Another aspect of our curriculum is that we encourage exploratory learning which is an element of Montessori’s method of education through active exploration learning. We recognize that coding is a creative journey that will spark creativity and imagination. Students are encouraged to come up with their own design, game, and project when the time is appropriate – so we can guide them with achieving their goals. Contact us at customercare@alphacoding.com or call us at 647-955-5401 to learn more about our weekly classes, camps, private lessons, and remote mentoring.
References
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-elementary-math-curriculum-back-to-basics-1.5625289
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/04/coding-school-computing-children-programming
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/world/europe/adding-coding-to-the-curriculum.html
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