MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Va. – Montgomery County Public Schools have put a greater emphasis on computer programming this school year.
10 News watched Tuesday as second-graders at Margaret Beeks Elementary School completed interactive coding lessons. They programed bots to move in certain ways and reach specific destinations.
The district has put more of an emphasis this school year on this style of learning.
“It's teaching them how to think critically and they're learning to problem solve,” teacher Megan Hawley said.
Many teachers at the school are using coding lessons weekly or even daily, and the students say they enjoy them.
“It's kind of like making a puzzle and sometimes you mess up and you have to fix it,” second-grader Camille Ewing said.
The coding lessons can be combined with other subjects, like history or biology.
Some school leaders say focusing on computer programming with elementary school students can help them learn other subjects. Montgomery County School Board member Mark Cherbaka said research helped convince the district to start using the activities.
“They have found that kids who learn computer science -- their test scores go up in all subjects. I think it teaches critical thinking. I think it teaches logic,” he said.
They believe the lessons not only help kids learn now, but will provide them with an education platform for the future.
“Even if you're not a computer engineer or computer scientist, your work is likely going to require you some day to do some level of programming,” Cherbaka said.
School leaders believe this can expose many young students to computer science who may want to pursue the field as a career later in life.
All elementary schools in the district are using the bots.