Computational thinking is increasingly considered a critical skill for the 21st century along with reading, writing, and arithmetic. Our programs will help parents prepare their young ones for a digital future that is increasingly driven by big data and AI.

In our programs, we focus on family bonding while equipping parents with knowledge and skills to nurture their children with computational thinking skills.

Computational thinking can be defined to include a set of skills needed to analyze a problem in a way that helps people deal better with such problems and if needed to be better prepared to use computers to solve problems.

Targeting parents with children aged 4 to below 7 years old, our programs provide parents with the knowledge and skills to be educators to their own children in nurturing computational thinking skills.

In our programs, we cover computational thinking that is contextualized against thinking skills in general.

As you can see from the chart below, there is an overlap between the area of thinking skills in general and computational thinking.
 

In general, most experts and writers agree that computational thinking covers the following 4 elements:

1. Decomposition (break down problems into parts)
2. Pattern recognition (identifying similarities and differences between each part)
3. Abstraction (recognizing relevant information and ignoring irrelevant or non-critical information to simplify the problem identification and solution)
4. Algorithm (these are steps and rules needed to follow in order to achieve the same desired outcome every time)

In our programs, we cover computational thinking that is contextualized against thinking skills in general.

As you can see from the chart above, there are elements of computational thinking that overlap with the elements of thinking skills in general.

Computational thinking is not the same as coding or software programming. Computational thinking can be done without any computer screen or devices. Computational thinking provides the foundation for young learners to learn coding in the future.

Our advice to parents - nurturing computational skills among preschoolers should not be done in isolation. Neither should you overly focus on computational thinking simply because you want your kids to be ready to be more IT-savvy.

It must be developed as part of a child’s holistic development covering: (1) motor skills development (2) language and literacy (3) numeracy (4) social and emotional development (5) aesthetic and creative expressions (6) discovery of the world.

Our program provides the knowledge and skills for parents to nurture computational thinking skills of their preschoolers without any special equipment. Using everyday situations such as having a meal, travelling to school or walking in the park, this guidebook guides parents on how they can carry out these activities to nurture computational thinking skills while promoting family bonding.

As the world we live in deepens in the use of technology, young children need to be prepared for the digital future which is increasingly driven by big data and artificial intelligence. Nurturing computational skills in the school system is becoming increasingly mainstream just as basic thinking skills have been around for decades.

In our programs, we nurture computational thinking skills that are contextualized against thinking skills in general.

In our program we do not narrowly focus on the 4 main elements of computational thinking only. We cover all key process skills in thinking skills in general.

To nurture thinking skills among preschoolers, educators in general focus on the preschoolers’ foundational process skills to:

1. Observe
2. Collect and sort information (or data)
3. Compare and contrast
4. Identify similarities and differences
5. Classify and categorize
6. Spot patterns
7. Sequence (events)
8. Analyse

1. Infer
2. Inductive and deductive reasoning
3. Identify errors
4. Understand relationship and connecting the dots

9. Verify - true or false
10. Evaluate
11. Predict

With these basic process skills, the child can be nurtured to be better able to:

1. Form concepts
2. Investigate a matter (for example cause and effect of things or problems)
3. Solve problems
4. Make sense of things
5. Make better decisions
6. Generate new ideas or solutions (part of creative thinking)
7. Communicate with others to achieve an objective

Thinking and Intelligence

Thinking is not the same as intelligence. As Edward de Bono, the leading pioneer in the direct teaching of thinking, points out:

“The relationship between intelligence and thinking is like that between a car and the driver of the car. A powerful car may be driven badly. A less powerful car may be driven well. The power of the car is the potential of the car just as intelligence is the potential of the mind. The skill of the car driver determines how the power of the car is used. The skill of the thinker determines how intelligence is used."

Process Skills in Thinking

There are specific concepts and techniques in teaching thinking skills that you as a parent can share with your child. In our program, we equip parents with the knowledge and skills to nurture thinking skills that cover the ability to:

1. Thinking analytically through comparison & contrasting; sorting, classifying & grouping; combining and using analogies.
2. Understand cause and effect of things and events and knowing the sequence of things or events, ordering information, checking reliability of information; making predictions, hypothesizing.
3. Recognize patterns & relationship between separate parts and the meaning & implications of each part and the whole.
4. Think creatively out of the box, not simply accepting conventional norms & generating new ideas (however odd they are) - kids must have the inquiring spirit to be good thinkers.
5. Challenge assumptions and critically examining the basis of decisions, drawing conclusions, weighing pros and cons.
6. Considering all options, all points of views, tolerating divergent thinking, distinguishing facts from opinions.
7. Plan strategically & decisively, monitoring goals; choosing course of actions.
8. Solve problems - defining problems, understanding key drivers, thinking of different solutions.