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Estonia To Teach Programming In Schools From Age 6

Posted by Soulskill on from the hook-them-early dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With the launch of the Raspberry Pi, computers are becoming affordable again for the younger generations. Now what we need is kids learning about computers in greater detail, including what the hardware is inside the box, and how to create rather than just use software. Estonia looks to be the pace-setter in this regard, and has just announced that it is introducing computer programming learning for all children attending school. By all, I mean from grades 1 through to 12, meaning children as young as 6 will be writing their own code and producing software. The program is called 'ProgeTiiger' and is being introduced by the Estonian Tiger Leap Foundation as a pilot scheme to some Estonian schools this year. Next year the program will expand, adding programming groups for older kids who want to carry on activities outside of the classroom. Eventually it looks as though ProgeTiiger will become just another standard part of the curriculum, just like math and language studies are."

3 of 307 comments (clear)

  1. Great Idea! by Coolhand2120 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can't honestly say I've endorsed a whole heck of a lot of ideas from Estonia, but this is a great idea. I only wish I could travel back in time and encourage my teachers to teach me and my piers programming at age 6. Then I'd probably be able to figure out this compiler error I'm getting right now.

    But seriously, I hope that the U.S. adopts a similar program ASAP.

    1. Re:Great Idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'd stick a serrated knife in my own rectum before I let my child learn to program instead of playing with other kids or learning sports.

  2. Re:Age 6 is a little bit too early, methinks by ShoulderOfOrion · · Score: 4, Funny

    They would be if Perl was their first language...