Learning to code before learning to read? Kids as young as kindergarten have been learning the basic skills of programming at Sunset Elementary School in Brentwood.
At the school Thursday it may have looked like the students were just playing computer games.
“Find that part of your code and debug it so you can find out what you did wrong,” said computer lab teacher Matt Hollowell to a group of kids.
But in reality, they're controlling the game: learning how to code it.
“We’re playing Minecraft,” explained third grader Joey Veinbergs, “and we’re having lots of fun."
“It’s so awesome!” exclaimed kindergartner Deepika Bala.
The students used blocks with different directions and actions assigned to them. They dictated where their character can go. They worked in pairs, each kindergartner assigned to a third grader, to solve puzzles and make it to the next level.
“If you watch the students in the room, how many times they point at the screen, they’re teaching each other how to solve problems,” Hollowell said. He added Sunset teachers have been most excited at how the game helps develop important problem-solving skills.
The blocks have java script under them. And choosing the right ones means students like Deepika and her partner, third grader Ashley Grace, have been learning the basics of programming.
“If I think about it going right or left I’ll get through it (the level),” Deepika said.
“You have to get through all these creepers and you don't want to bump into them or they'll explode,” Ashley explained.
It's a school-wide effort at Sunset Elementary this week where they’re participating in a national initiative to focus on computer science.
They’re learning to develop coding skills as early as possible.
“This just allows our students to expand their universe and actually realize they can control the computer and not just play by the rules that someone else wrote,” Hollowell said.
The kids were enraptured with the assignment until the last minute of class.
“Because I like to play!” said kindergartner Adam Kingsbury.
And their teachers said it's just one more way to learn important skills to set them up for life, no matter what they want to be.
