Teacher's Talk
A lot of parents or my friends have talked to me, “It’s not good for children to play computer games.” They always want to control or prohibit their children to play computer games. But I don’t think playing computer games is a bad thing for children’s growth. Because I think playing computer games can keep them thinking, just like when my child plays computer games, he finds that it’s a challenging thing. If he gets rewards through his efforts, he will feel quite fulfilled.
I think while they are playing the game, our parents could be with them and tell them how the game is designed and made. We could tell our kid that behind the game, for example, there is a team who is designing it, there must be a dedicated workshop, it is a special project. For instance, my kid loves playing Roblox, I will tell them that the design, music, and art of the game are all made by a professional team with continuous innovation.
Let them know what it is and how is the behind backstage supporter works. In that way, they will develop their interests in game design, rather than just playing. I will try to learn the game design content and then talk to the children simply. I’m not encouraging every kid who likes to play games to be a game designer when they grow up, but I think when they like to play something, they might switch the hobby for learning and exploring more.
Of course, I have the same idea with all the parents, we must learn to limit the time of children playing computer games. We should take attention to their in-game chat room to care about their social friends, we need to know who they’re talking to, because these people we don’t know in the chat room, and some of them are not kids, our children have possibilities to meet “bad guy”. Thus, we have to communicate with them every time to know who they were talking to.”
Play programming is beneficial for children
“The most important thing for young kids is play. Now most of the children like playing some simple games on the electronic screen, such as a computer, iPad, etc. So it would be great if parents and teachers could inspire them to explore what’s behind the game. Why do we take our kids to science museums? In that way, they can see a lot of high-tech things, what they look like inside, how it works, and how it’s been made. When they know the chips, engines look like, they might think it’s cool.” It’s a similar way to encourage the kid to know the stories of backstage.
A few years ago, I would say that my children could learn programming formally and systematically in high school to prepare them for the CS major in college. However, programming has been developing rapidly in recent years. There are many applications on both apps and computers that can be used to simply understand what programming is. It shows the children how to use code to design different things, such as how the font, the music, or the utilities of a game can be changed. In particular, the design of some interactive games is very colorful and interesting. They are using animation to attract children, let them generate interest.
So I think it’s a great opportunity for kids to start programming at a very young age now. By age seven, when they can sit down in front of a computer and listen to what the teacher says, I think they can begin to learn how to program. Although they are young, they can’t be as professional as adults. But through these studies, they will gradually understand what is behind the computer, so that they have a real understanding and interest in programming. It’s not the same as going to a museum or just watching a video to learn but how to operate on your own. Practice is the best way of learning.”
Switch playing games into playing programming? Welcome to join us in Winter Camp 2020!