The educational roles between parents and their children have been reversed, according to Fisher-Price research, with kids ‘out-teching’ their parents.
Despite mums and dads traditionally educating and assisting their little ones, in the case of coding, children are the ones in charge, teaching their parents everything they have been taught at school.
Sixteen per cent of young children can already use logical reasoning skills on the computer, while 13 per cent can organise digital content and 18 per cent know how to store digital content.
Dragging and dropping visual blocks of code, manipulating content and debugging simple programs are other skills frequently demonstrated by children under eight, but which most parents will be unfamiliar with.
The study indicates 28 per cent of parents believe their child is already proficient at using websites and other internet services. In addition, 16 per cent of children aged 3-8 can use child-friendly programming languages and 13 per cent can create a simple program of their own.
As researchers discovered, 55 per cent of parents think education has changed so much since they went to school they find it harder to help their own children with their school work. However, two thirds of parents say the new curriculum will encourage their children to think creatively and accurately, while 68 per cent say it helps children to be logical and independent.
A spokesperson for Fisher-Price, launching its new pre-school learning toy Code-a-Pillar, said: “British children are among the most advanced when it comes to their knowledge of computing and coding.
“The UK paves the way in terms of including coding on the curriculum – and parents certainly believe this is a positive step in education for their children. Mums and dads are quick to recognise the benefits of their children learning coding at such a young age.
“With a large majority of parents saying the new curriculum will encourage their children to think creatively, logically, and independently. Parents also believe that learning coding and programming will benefit children in later years when they start job hunting.”
