Children change and develop quite a bit in their youth. But there are some personality traits that will likely stay constant throughout their lives. From confidence to a love of problem solving, these traits could help you predict the professions your child will excel at.
If you want to find out if those consistent traits spell a future as a computer programmer, these six signs should do the trick. If your child exhibits any of these criteria, you could be in for a tech-focused future.
Enjoys Team Projects
Contrary to the popular stereotype that being a computer programmer means you’re a socially challenged introvert, many of the best programmers have excellent communication skills and love working with cross disciplinary teams.
Tomorrow’s job market will require that developers excel at working with others and have the ability to explain complicated concepts to other people, teams, and departments.
Likes Solving Problems
Computer programming involves solving problems. It requires patience and persistence, and kids who inherently enjoy solving problems may gravitate to it.
Does your son or daughter enjoy discussing ideas and inventions that could solve a problem or improve something in their lives? Does your child enjoy puzzles or strategy games? If so, this could be an early indication of a nascent computer programmer.
Loves Making Things
Computer programming is inherently creative, and children who love making things may be well-suited for it. While making things in the physical world is constrained by physical materials and space, computer science projects are limited only by the imagination.
Does your son or daughter enjoy creating things, drawing, and designing? Has he or she expressed interest in taking coding or game design courses? Does she discuss new ideas for new mods in Minecraft that would make the game different, fun, and exciting? These interests can all be encouraged and developed through a number of free and paid online courses or local enrichment courses in your community.
Self Teaches Instead of Being Taught
One of the biggest struggles in computer science education is staying ahead of the curve and teaching practical, real world content. The rapid pace of technological advancement makes this challenging, and most programmers realize quickly that they must become adept at teaching themselves through experimentation and trial and error.
Many successful coders also become excellent researchers and gain valuable information on community forums in order to solve problems.
Very Detail Oriented
Detail-orientation is an essential trait of many successful computer programmers. Programming languages can be unforgiving, and even in simple programs many small details must be analyzed, digested, and executed.
As programming becomes more complex, it involves multi-step procedures and functions with many dependencies. Having a mind that processes details can be very helpful.
Loves Computers and Technology
This might seem quite obvious, but in order to have a bright future in computer science, students should enjoy working with computers and technology.
Does your son or daughter have an interest in learning how games, apps, or other technologies work and share things that they like, dislike, and even propose changes that would make it better? These might be some sure indicators that your child could have a bright future in computer programming.
David Dodge is the founder and CEO of CodaKid Online Kids Coding Academy. He is a former game designer for the Sony Playstation and PC, and the software architect of Tutorware.