Start from scratch learning coding at school or at home

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Childcare experts and academics around the world pretty much agree on one thing - kids should be taught coding as early as possible. Knowing this, the first question that arises is that even if the child wants to grow up and become a doctor, should he be taught coding ? The answer is yes. Another question is that these days even ChatGPT also writes the code , then is there a need to learn coding ? The answer is yes.

Because learning coding is not just for a career in IT.

For example , when a cardiac surgeon is performing open heart surgery on someone, if a new defect is discovered in the patient's heart , they must be able to make immediate changes in their surgical procedures.

All doctors learn to do this through experience and study , but a child who has understood the concept of coding at an early age can make decisions with more stability , more understanding and more clarity than others in any field .

What more is needed for success in life ?

A program called ' Scratch ' , or say a programming language, can be helpful for that . Scratch is designed to introduce coding concepts to kids from a young age - in a way that they understand and have fun.

Scratch originated in America , but its use continues to expand. You will be happy to know that even in schools of our country , Gujarat, children are being taught using ' Scratch ' . Although it is okay for children for whom all this is completely new , it is natural that teachers and parents are also confused about the use of ' Scratch ' .

Keeping that in mind , I have thought of giving this article about ' Scratch ' while the exams are still on . This article is not for children , but for teachers and parents. If reading this article makes you want to dive deep into ' scratch ' , it will take you some time to understand it properly. The original ' Scratch ' is easy to use , but pay close attention to why it is useful for children.

Get ready now and ' scratch ' the kids on vacation !

fku®zøk fu M¢u[ yk¾hu þwt Au?

Scratch is a coding language developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the world famous for technology education. With the help of which children can prepare small digital stories , games , animations etc. that can be seen on the screen by arranging whatever they see on the screen .

But before talking more about scratch let us understand what is coding itself ?

Computers , smartphones etc. which we use everyday are ultimately machines. How can they understand what we said ? For example, if we open WhatsApp , type a message in a group and send it, how can the WhatsApp program ' understand ' that the message is to be sent to all the people in the group ?

The answer is coding. Devices like computers cannot understand human language. Hence, for ' communication ' between computer and human, instructions must be prepared in a language that the computer can understand.

Well-written code converts human input into numeric sequences that a computer can understand. Based on that, the computer follows our instructions.

The operating system in a computer or smartphone and the various programs and applications that we use in all of them have precisely written code at their core. A variety of programming languages ​​have evolved to write this type of code. Each of them mostly uses certain types of text and symbols , figures etc. If we look at the code behind what we see on the screen, we will understand nothing!

The Scratch program is specially designed to teach the concept of coding to children aged 8 to 16 years. However, it can be used by people of any age. Scratch is a completely free program and is available in more than 70 languages ​​in addition to Hindi and several other Indian languages. Scratch is currently used in more than 200 countries of the world.

Scratch can be used directly in the browser or downloaded to a computer. If you want, you can also use it in the smartphone app. But it will be easier to use on the big screen of the computer.

M¢u[Lkku WÃkÞkuøk fuðe heíku fhe þfkÞ?

The Scratch program is very easy to use. We can only visit its website ( https://scratch.mit.edu/). Go to or download the app ( Scratch, Scratch Foundation) . The fun is on the big screen of the desktop. If you want to use a language other than English like Hindi, then go to the bottom of the page and select the Hindi language. If you open Scratch in PC, you will see three parts on the screen. On the left you will find different types of codes in the form of small blocks. A blank screen will appear in between , in which we can drag the code block from the left panel. In the right part , we see the result of the code in the middle part. Clicking on the code block arranged in between will take that action to the right.

þYykík fuðe heíku Mknu÷e çkLku?

As written above, Scratch is easy to use , although the order in which the various code blocks should be placed in the code area will be confusing at first.

First of all, it is necessary to see what results can be obtained from coding with blocks in Scratch - what animations , stories , games, etc. can be made. For that go to ' Explore ' section in Scratch's header menu. Here you will see small stories , animations , games etc. created by different users of Scratch with the help of Scratch , so that you will get an idea of ​​what is possible in Scratch. (Scratch also works like social media , your program files can be saved to the device or shared with other users.

Then go to the ' Ideas ' section in the header menu. Like here you will find a program where a child can write his name and animate it in various ways. Clicking it will download a PDF of the order in which the code blocks should be arranged to prepare the project. Similarly, if you download the Educator's Guide, you will be able to know the various stages of how children can learn in this program school.

If you have selected a language like Hindi to use Scratch, it will read various aspects of the program in Hindi but the PDF guide discussed here will be available in English only. However, all the steps will be explained in very simple language.

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Remember that the original purpose of the Scratch program is not to teach children coding completely but to introduce it and especially to bring them the various benefits of coding from an early age. Actually coding in the IT field is done in various programming languages ​​based on text instead of blocks. The main benefit of Scratch is that it develops children's imagination and reasoning. Since Scratch is coding using blocks, it cannot proceed if the blocks are not arranged in the correct order. Hence children can learn coding or programming in logical steps. Learning coding concepts in this way has many benefits…

Coding education in sports

We all have a complaint that now even the children do not get the smartphone out of their hands. When children are still really children, they mostly watch small games or videos of animated stories or songs etc. on the phone. As a parent or teacher , you can sit with the children and direct them to learn how to create all the things they love.

Scratch is generally considered useful for children aged 8 to 16 , but a program has also been developed for children aged 5 to 7 called https://www.scratchjr.org/ , in which young children can create their own interactive stories or games.

Creative Thinking

Instead of children just watching games or animated stories , the idea of ​​how it all happens can only turn them towards creative thinking. By setting up different characters , backgrounds, etc. in Scratch , by arranging blocky code in the right order, small stories can be created out of it. To do that , first of all the child has to think of a story! What will the character say , how will he walk , what will he think , how will a new character be added to the story... while thinking about all this and coding them with blocks... in the whole process, the child understands the concepts of storytelling , designing , animation etc. More than just coding , the development of imagination and thinking is a bigger advantage.

Logical thinking

Having a good imagination doesn't just mean being imaginative. There is a difference in both. Scratch is not just about running the horses of imagination , it is about shaping what is thought according to the right steps. For that, commands have to be given with the help of blocks , but if there is no proper logic in it, the blocks will not be arranged. So when we start using Scratch, if we have an idea of ​​a specific result in mind, it can be realized only by arranging the blocks in the right order as needed , not randomly. Creation will happen in the game , but it will have a different effect on the mind - what to do causes problems and what to do to move things forward is a lifelong learning!

Problem solving

In today's world, problems or challenges are everywhere , the lack of people who can solve them. A problem can be solved better and faster by a person with better cognitive skills . It means that a person who can see , understand all aspects of the information at hand , can also check its impact on each other , can add the essence of past experiences to it and can think of ways to move forward can solve the problem.

Well-designed , thoughtfully designed games or video games can also develop such skills. In Scratch, children learn all this, first with help and then as they progress on their own - automatically.

Preparation for real coding

Block-based coding in Scratch is very different from text-based coding in the real world. It's like playing a future civil engineer building a building with Lego blocks , but the goal is the same - understanding the basic concepts in the game.

A child who has experience coding in Scratch may find it easier to understand concepts such as variables , data types , lists , arrays , loops , operators, etc. when learning text-based coding. If the child doesn't want to grow up and go in that direction , what's wrong with him enjoying games creation with various benefits instead of just playing games ?