Little Folks are Cranking Code in Estonia

This is a great article that discusses the decision in Estonia to start teaching Computer Science in first grade.  I think Estonia has hit a home run.

I have been working with my sons’ elementary school classes for the last 3 years and have taught both classes how to write basic programs in Scratch.  They can all use loops, ifs, variables, and lists to make games and class projects.  It was cool to see many of them use Scratch to create their end of year projects last year.  I am positive that many of the students in these classes will consider a career in Computer Science as they all feel very confident about the subject.  Having working on numerous math concepts with my sons, I also feel these students now view mathematics in a totally different way after learning Computer Science concepts at an early age.  Working with students when they are in the early grades is very important as it helps to reach them before they develop any bias towards a subject often perceived as difficult.