The Importance of Teaching Computational Thinking at an Early Stage
Najla Almissalati is the founder of opens in a new windowShe Codes, a social enterprise that empowers women with the knowledge and skills to become self-reliant.
opens in a new windowE-kids and “Coding for Children” is one of She Codes’ projects that aims to engage Libyan children in meaningful projects. The program introduces coding and computational thinking skills to Libyan school children from an early age. Having witnessed first-hand how young minds react with unbound enthusiasm towards learning coding and technology, and seeing how their newly trained teachers became so highly motivated and equipped with the required knowledge to carry out the “Coding for Children” program in their schools, has inspired Najla to take this work to the next level. Their mission in this program is to inspire and empower the next generation, also teach them hard skills, foster other skills, like problem-solving, creativity, collaborations, and most of all, giving them the chance to effectively develop critical thinking skills.
According to some studies, the teaching of Computer Science in primary education can improve assessment results in math and literacy, therefore, children will be giving all the tools needed to come close to the world of coding, programming, science, and other fields related to STEM, how to build their own laptops using KANO.