Why Is Coding Important For Our Kids?

Why is coding so important? What are its applications? Why are many countries putting more effort in including coding as part of educational syllabuses? What future career options will it open up for our children?

Our children are born in the digital world. However education systems have not been keeping up with the speed of change in the digital age. Recognizing this, many countries already started to include computer science as a compulsory course in children's education from 2011. They incorporate this with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and focus on equipping children with computational thinking skills.

If you are thinking of introducing your kids to computer science to expose them to programming, there are many ways to do it. One of the easiest ways is to send them for holiday programmes and workshops that teach kids to code and program their own games and applications.

Before sending them to a coding workshop, here are some basic facts you should know about coding.

What Is Coding?

Coding is telling the computer what you want it to do using different languages like Python, Java, C++, and more. Learning to code help kids understand the world around them, teach them new problem solving skills, and most importantly, it’s fun!

Why Is Coding Important In Education? 

Coding is everywhere. It is used to create every app on smartphones, websites, and everyday gadgets we use to simplify our lives. In this app driven world, people are relying more and more on mobile apps and computers to get things done.

Not only that, many other gadgets, household equipment, kitchen tools, etc. rely on coding to power up and perform.

It is not an exaggeration to say that coders are the architects and builders of the digital world we now live in. 

Programming has become a basic literacy for the digital age. Children are now encouraged to learn computer programming at a young age because those who learn to program early will develop a deeper and more complete understanding of the logic and computational thinking skills necessary for programming.

Coding will help kids to:

• Understand how technology works
• Improve on their patience, concentration skills, and capacity for detailed work
• Develop analytical, logical, and computational thinking skills

A programmer needs to understand complex instructions in order to code, be able to write lines of code and problem solve in detail because even a small mistake can affect an entire program. Kids who learn to code early will develop all of these essential living skills.

Future Jobs And Career Possibilities For Those Equipped With Coding Knowledge

Programmer, IT Analyst, Software Engineer, these are the few job options that immediately come to mind. However, in a digital world increasingly powered by computers and various applications, knowledge of coding is useful in the fields of medicine, journalism, banking and finance, newer fields like web and game development. You will need an understanding of programming and coding in almost any field. In other words, coding is the future language of business. Every field now contains positions that require expertise in technology. An employee that knows how to code will surely be an asset to any company as more and more corporations transform themselves digitally.

So How Can I Expose My Kids To Coding?

Coding is not a fad; it is now an essential skill for the younger generation. So how do you expose your kids to coding? If you want to stay ahead of the loop, you can start your kids with coding courses and computer programming workshops this coming school holidays. Still not sure? Then attend the free demo class on computer programming organized by KidoCode. The free trial class is on weekdays (Tuesday – Friday) and every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) at KidoCode at Solaris Mont Kiara. The demo class is 3 hours long and will provide good exposure for kids and parents who have the passion in learning computer programming.

Click here to read more about the FREE Computer Programming Class For Kids And Teens. Parents are welcome to learn together with their kids.

Courses Offered

KidoCode offers courses in Mobile App Development, Electronics & Robotics, Web Development, Game Development, and Python programming combined with IGCSE Mathematics for kids & teens age 6-18. By using a dynamic kind of system which follows the students’ abilities, they will be creating their own learning paths basing on their level of knowledge.

Schedule now for a FREE Trial Class in this link: KidoCode Free Session

Schedule For Free Trial Class
Oct 20 – 23 – 11am & 3pm
Oct 25 – 30 – 11am & 3pm
Nov 1 – 6 – 11am & 3pm
Nov 8 – 13 – 11am & 3pm
Nov 15 – 20 – 11am & 3pm
Nov 22 – 27 – 11am & 3pm

Venue: L-2-3A Solaris Mont Kiara, Jalan Solaris, Off Jalan Duta Kiara, 50480 KL Malaysia
Contact: 03-64110968

Fun At The Opera - A Bilingual English and Chinese Story Book For Kids

Fun at the Opera
by Susanna Goho-Quek
Bilingual: English/ChineseThis book is rated 4.67 on Goodreads

Have you ever been to a Chinese opera? The colourful characters with their graceful dance movements complementing the drama being played out on stage is an amazing sight to behold. Sadly, modern kids these days do not have a chance to experience these dramatic roadside shows. Sometimes you catch glimpses of it in movie theaters in short scenes which include a Chinese opera but that is it.

This book gives you a chance to introduce this form of art to children by telling it from a children's point of view. It tells the story of a family of kids preparing for an exiting night out to watch their Ah Khor (elder brother) perform at the Chinese Opera.

They wash the car, dress up in their best clothes and sit with Por Por to watch the opera. They even get to go backstage to try on the costumes. What fun! The illustrations are done in colourful watercolour, just right to depict the vividness and vibrancy of the opera.

At the end of the book, real behind the scenes photos are included to showcase an actual real life Chinese opera.

What we like about the book is the fact that it is bilingual. Our kids have to learn 2 or 3 languages in school. So any book that is bilingual or even better trilingual is a positive for us. Kids can read the English version at home when they are younger and re read them in Chinese when their Chinese vocabulary improves after starting primary school or the other way around depending on which is their first spoken language at home.

Here's a short preview of the book.



This book is currently available for our members at a discount this month together with The Castle Library and Hello Cyber Grannie. Click here for more details of this offer.  Read The Castle Library Review here.

The Castle Library by Hayati Hanif And Evi Shelvia

The Castle Library is a beautiful hard cover story book for kids aged 4 to 7 with colourful illustration on thick glossy paper. It tells the story of Lily, the Princess who had everything but was still bored. She could travel the world over. She even went to the moon and back but she was still bored.

One day she discovered the big old library in the castle. It was only when Princess Lily sat down to read the books in the old library that she discovered she could go on the best adventure of all, down rabbit holes and on wishing chairs that took her to amazing places. She also learned about love, friendship, courage and sacrifice.

The story ends with Princess Lily continuing with her travels and filling the Castle Library with books for all kids to enjoy.

This book highlights the joys of reading and encourages children to explore the library. Parents reading this book with kids can point out the magic of reading to spark your child's imagination. Encourage your child to open a book and start reading to go on an adventure from the comfort of your home or anywhere. Teaching your child to love books and reading is giving them a gift for life.

Watch the video below to get a peek inside the book. This book is currently on offer to our members together with  "Hello Cyber Grannie" (a story about family love) and "Fun At The Opera" (a bilingual English/Chinese storybook). All books are for kids age 4-7. The books come with One Free Set of Elephabet Flashcard by Yusof Gajah worth RM10.

Click here to participate in this offer.

Reading - The Path To UPSR Success

Did you know that 75% of the papers kids have to sit for in UPSR in SJKC are language papers and for SK students that number is over 66%?

The following are the papers kids have to sit for in their UPSR examinations.

For SK

1. English Paper 1 (Language Paper)
2. English Paper 2  (Language Paper)
3. Bahasa Malaysia Pemahaman  (Language Paper)
4. Bahasa Malaysia Penulisan  (Language Paper)
5. Maths
6. Science

For SJKC/T

1. English Paper 1  (Language Paper)
2. English Paper 2  (Language Paper)
3. Bahasa Malaysia Pemahaman  (Language Paper)
4. Bahasa Malaysia Penulisan  (Language Paper)
5. Maths
6. Science
7. Bahasa Cina/Tamil Pemahaman  (Language Paper)
8. Bahasa Cina/Tamil Penulisan  (Language Paper)

Although Maths and Science may be broken up into Paper 1 & 2, at the end of the day, they are counted as just one paper each whereas the language papers 1 & 2 are counted as separate papers.

This makes a whopping 4/6 language papers for SK and 6/8 language papers for SJKC/T.

What's clear about this observation is the language papers make up a large part of the UPSR examinations.

When should you start encouraging your child to read?

You should do this as early as you can. Get them into the habit of reading. Read to them. Read with them. Encourage them to read on their own. Inculcate the habit of reading in your child. By encouraging your child to read and nurturing a love of reading in them, you are in fact giving them a gift for life.

The love of reading opens up new worlds to readers, a world of adventure, a world of magic and a world away from what one may experience in real life. 

Start early. Once your child is in upper primary school, his homework load may be so heavy he will have little time to read. So start building that vocabulary early. Don't wait till they are in std 6 to do it. Let them enjoy reading and build up their vocabulary now.

You will find that the upper primary school teachers may ask you to encourage your child to read. Read as much as they can. Read a variety of materials. However, sadly they have little time to build a reading habit during those years due to their homework load. So start early so that they can pick up that habit while they are still young. A love for reading will stay with them for life and is the best gift for any child or even an adult.

Deepavali 2016 School Holidays

When is the school holiday for Deepavali 2016? We still get this question in our Facebook group.

Earlier in February we blogged about this on our blog on Cuti Perayaan And School Term Holidays. I guess it is too long ago so people don't really remember.

This year the Cuti Perayaan or Festive Holidays was set around 17 December 2015 by the Ministry of Education when they released the "TAKWIM PENGGAL DAN CUTI PERSEKOLAHAN TAHUN 2016 BAGI SEKOLAH KERAJAAN DAN BANTUAN KERAJAAN"

According to the circular Deepavali falls on Saturday, 29 October 2016. An extra 3 days holiday has been set as follows:

Group A Schools ( Kedah, Johor, Kelantan and Terengganu)

30th Oct (Sun)
31st Oct (Mon)
1st Nov (Tue)

Group B Schools (all other states)

28th Oct (Fri)
31st Oct (Mon)
1st Nov (Tue)

Since Group A schools have their weekends on Fri and Sat and Group B schools have their weekends on Sat and Sun, that would mean that all schools will be off for 5 days from 28th Oct (Friday) to 1st Nov (Tue).

Now that you have the dates, you can plan your holiday for the festival.