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The Best Christmas Gift for Children Under 12

On December 13, 2022

In Charity, Coding, MiniCoders, Parenting, Udemy, Victor Jung

Who invented the Python coding language?

Python is a popular programming language that Guido van Rossum created. Van Rossum began working on Python in the late 1980s, and the first version of the language was released in 1991. Python is named after the British comedy group Monty Python. The language is known for its simple and easy-to-read syntax, making it a popular choice for beginners and experienced programmers. Python is used for many applications, including web development, scientific computing, data analysis, and artificial intelligence. Van Rossum continued to lead the development of Python until 2018 when he stepped down as the language’s Benevolent Dictator for Life.

Is Python a popular software coding language?

Yes, Python is a very popular programming language. It is widely used by professional software developers, as well as by scientists, data analysts, and other users who need a powerful and flexible language for their work. Python is known for its simplicity and readability, which makes it a good language for beginners to learn, as well as for its extensive standard library, which provides tools for a wide range of applications. Python is also a highly extensible language, which means that it can be easily extended with additional libraries and frameworks to support a wide range of use cases. All these factors have contributed to Python’s popularity and widespread adoption.

Why should kids learn to code?

Ultimately, coding helps to strengthen problem-solving skills, which kids can use to overcome their future problems. In addition, computers are built with zeros and ones, and mathematical operations are processed during the coding.

Due to living in an increasingly digitalized world, computer coding is important for kids and students in the future. These transferrable skills enable kids to learn relevant and competitive skills while developing a problem-solving mindset from an early age.

Although the right age to start learning any skill may differ from child to child, the average and safest age for children to start coding are seven. So, it can be concluded that children as young as five can be introduced to the basics of coding, and children as young as seven can start coding.

Since coding is most often used to problem solve, they are happy to show that they understand how best to utilize technology. While there are often varying levels of capabilities, once they grasp this insight, you will often see elegance in how they implement solutions.

Can kids learn how to code while playing?

Of course, do you know the Montessori System, a famous game-based school technique that uses play as a learning method? In the same way, we use the Digital-Metaverse environment to teach kids the basic principles of Coding and Programming while they play an adventure game inside Roblox.

It’s one thing to know how to use a mobile phone or a tablet.

Knowing how exactly they work and which technological principles are at play is another ballgame. Coding helps children realize how processes work “behind the scenes.” By using coding-related software, kids will slowly learn what powers an application, website, or other programs. With these knowledge-building blocks, kids will gradually see the bigger picture and learn how to recognize the poor design, faulty apps, and much more. As a result, they will perceive the world around them entirely differently, with an increased sense of power, control, and competency. Kids who code will understand why something doesn’t work as it should, and they will learn what´s happening beneath the surface of daily tech activities.

For which age range are children best suited for coding?

Generally, experts agree that children should be taught how to code at the earliest age possible. All children develop various skills at different rates and with different learning styles. Still, you can generally start teaching a child the basics of a skill around the age of 5 or 6. The best place to start is by introducing various logical games that simulate the skill of coding. Children can then move on to more demanding exercises.

Several studies have shown that children who code from the beginning of their elementary school education achieve better academic performance. Compared to children who don’t engage in coding-related learning, a higher percentage of children who start coding early gain interest in STEM in college and professionally.

The early elementary years are the best age for a child to be introduced to coding. At this time, kids will use the ideal cognitive stage of development to sow seeds for more complex knowledge as they age and grow. When children are taught logical-thinking skills and adopt a problem-solving mindset, they will comprehend more complex coding concepts later in life. Much like a child who learns a language early and does not retain the language, even those who do not maintain an interest in coding as they age will benefit from understanding basic technology concepts that will enhance other learning and be invaluable to their future success.

What is the first step a parent or care-giver should make?

Like Confuscious the proverb, “A journey begins with the first step”. The first step begins with booking an appointment with a Victor Jung Foundation team member or enrolling for online course at Minicoders or another provider.

Teaching Children the Importance of Personal Finance

By Victor Jung

On September 3, 2019

In Parenting

Victor Jung

Personal finance is one of the most important topics that children should learn about at a relatively young age. Giving children some teachings and practicals on the topic ensures that they grow with the right foundational knowledge. It also advances their strength in personal finance planning as they grow up.

According to the president of JumpStart Coalition, a children’s finance literacy group, parents should lead the way by starting conversations and incorporating finance lessons in everyday activities at home. Using a systematic approach when performing these lessons ensures that children can progressively grow their competency on the subject. Here are a few ideas on how to go about teaching your children the importance of personal finance.

Start with the importance of money

From the beginning, children should be taught how to identify and value money accordingly. Giving them a fundamental understanding and demonstration of financial value ensures that they can appreciate its importance whenever they see it. This can be done by showing them what exactly money can do for them and how it should be handled.

Spending vs. saving

Children also need to have sufficient knowledge on how to acquire money, how to save it, and how to spend it wisely. This can be perfectly demonstrated by asking your child to do a mild task and then ‘paying’ them a small salary. The essence of an allowance is to ensure that children understand that to get money, they have to do some work. It also reinforces the idea that money should be appreciated. Once they acquire money, you should then proceed to show them how to set a personal budget of prospected expenses, including setting aside some savings.

Setting a good example

There is perhaps no better way to teach children effectively than by serving as a good example. Using your life as a case study on how to handle money, how to budget, and how to save gives your children a reinforcement of ideas that are highly unlikely to be forgotten. Taking them on a trip to the grocery store, for example, demonstrates that they can set a clear budget to purchase only the necessary goods. From the change you get back after your trip, you can then teach them the value of setting aside some money for future use by tossing coins in a private piggy bank.

Charity is More Than Just Money for Children

By Victor Jung

On July 12, 2019

In Charity

With the decline in donations to charitable causes in recent years, the idea of engaging children in humanitarian acts in meaningful ways promises to provide adult donors in the future. Having been involved in charitable acts as children, these donors will understand what solutions can genuinely aid people, and they will contribute to making improvements in the conditions of peoples’ lives.

While many adults perceive charity as giving money, children’s perceptions of charity generally include social interaction and activities. Some of these acts involve children picking up litter, bringing food to seasonal festivals, dressing up for Children in Need, putting on red noses for Comic Relief, or donating their old toys for needy children. The list is endless.

Such engagement, if performed in a meaningful way, helps to foster altruism in children. In fact, since research suggests that children’s social orientations begin to form in their early years, helping children to become donors in the future by providing them experiences in which they become concerned about others is essential. Further research supports the conclusion that children who have charitable experiences before they are 10 years of age are twice as likely to be concerned about the welfare of others throughout their lifetimes than those who started when they were teenagers. Therefore, for charitable causes to succeed, it is vital that a child’s inherent socially-orientated behavior is fostered.

Equally important to the success of charitable organizations is the positive exploration of social and environmental issues. Acts of charity provide children the arena in which they can explore these issues in proactive ways. With the opportunities to acquire knowledge about the environment and their society and those of others, children can learn about the dangers to the air, land, and water. Also, when children are engaged in social and philanthropic activities, they are exposed to the inequalities of society.

From such exposure, they can learn much to become responsible adults, having gained an understanding of citizenship and the importance of altruism. With this understanding also comes an increased motivation for giving to social causes in an effort to make improvements for people.

From their engagements in charitable activities in which they are exposed to people suffering deprivations, children gain the knowledge to know the importance of preserving clean air, clean water, and other natural resources. Interestingly, when they enter the conversation about climate change with their parents, studies in the United States have shown that these knowledgeable children have often contributed to a change in their parents’ attitudes about climate change. Indeed, knowledge fosters results.

How to Discuss Terminal Illness with Children

By Victor Jung

On February 27, 2018

In Parenting

Most adults have an instinctive desire to protect children, both physically and emotionally. Their wish to guard against harm leads them to safeguard their environment, and do what they can to clear dangers and obstacles from their lives. Unfortunately, there are some things that simply can’t be avoided, regardless of a parent’s vigilance.

As death is a part of life, it stands to reason that sooner or later, children will have to face the impending death of a loved one. Talking to kids about terminal illness is hard, as being truthful about what it means is certain to bring pain to children. However, just like some of the other difficult parenting tasks (e.g. sleep training or leaving a child with a babysitter for the first time) it is a necessary part of raising healthy and independent future adults. Here are some tips for talking about terminal illness with children.

Normalize It

Death and dying are a natural part of life, and it is helpful to make children aware of that concept from an early age. Certainly, there is no shortage of children’s books and movies that reference death in some way or another. Having a conversation about it when it pertains to a fictional character (Bambi’s mother, for example) is a great way to talk about it before it becomes personal. When it does become personal for them, having that context that as painful as it is, it is normal, will help them make sense of it.

Tell them what they need to know

The amount of detail kids can absorb will vary by age and developmental level, but it is important to give children the information they need to understand what’s happening with their loved one. Research has indicated that children who have dealt with a parent with a terminal illness felt they were not given all of the information they needed, and that rather than protect them from stress, this created more anxiety for them.

Be honest

Be honest about what is likely to happen, and don’t be afraid to answer their questions with total honesty, even if that means saying “I don’t know.” Children need to be able to trust not only the information they are given, but the person giving it.

Sources:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-nowinski-phd/parents-terminal-illness-_b_1187097.html

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/naturalwonderers/12-mistakes-parents-make-when-talking-to-kids-about-death-part-i/

Teaching Your Children Cultural Acceptance

By Victor Jung

On October 3, 2017

In Parenting

In spite of the fact that we are living in the 21st century, heartbreaking issues such as racism, bias, and cultural discrimination are still alive and very much pervasive throughout many communities across the United States.

Although it sometimes feels like an insurmountable feat, it is possible — though not easy — to diminish the reach and effects of racial injustice, inequality, and discrimination. However, it is important to note that this change does not begin on a large scale. Quite the contrary, the very root of eliminating such harmful behavior begins in your own home by establishing a standard of openness and acceptance with none other than your own family.

With this fact in mind, let us take a deeper look at how one can teach their child — or children — cultural acceptance.

Get out of your comfort zone. In spite of our integrated and diverse population, Americans still seem to gather together in homogenous — or seemingly homogenous — communities, as that is where they feel they best fit in.

However, in order to teach your children about the fundamentals of diversity and cultural acceptance, it is imperative that you take them to a new place and allow them to experience a different way of life. This could be achieved by bringing them on your next trip abroad, where they can try new foods, meet new people, and witness that the American culture is not the only one on this planet.

Or, if your children are still relatively young, you could easily take them to a museum that highlights a particular culture or group of people. Allow them to discover different artifacts, see the faces of people who look different than they do, and hear the stories that are rooted in another culture’s history.

Teach your children to celebrate others. Once your children have been exposed to cultures different than their own, it is imperative that you take the time to thoroughly answer the onslaught of questions they have likely generated. This process will improve their abilities to understand who others are in terms of race, family composition, and even physical ability — all while aiding them in confirming their own personal identities.

The most important point to drive home throughout this time is that others being different from oneself is not only totally acceptable, but ought to be respected and celebrated. This can be enforced not only through your words, but through supplemental children’s books as well.

People of certain races, abilities, and familial backgrounds may face obstacles that your children might not, so be sure to point that fact out and ensure they know that they could make life a little bit easier on someone else by treating them fairly and with kindness — no matter how the rest of the world may perceive them.

Remember their true role model(s). No matter how old your children are, there is nothing more influential in their lives than your presence and efforts. By keeping that fact in mind, you will ultimately hold yourself to a higher standard, as opposed to enforcing the age-old adage, “Do as I say, not as I do.”