Our Kindergarten and Prep-ONE students recently had the wonderful opportunity of being introduced to Dash & Dot robots. Dash & Dot are educational toy robots that make learning to code fun for young children. Used together with tablets, these robots can be easily programmed to complete a variety of tasks, all while teaching children the basics of programming. Over the course of several mornings, workshops were held in our kindergarten and lower grade classes to introduce students these wonderful little robots, while giving them the opportunity to participate in many hands-on activities.
to play the xylophone
Here at the Academy, I had the privilege of being present for two of these workshops and got to see firsthand just how engaging, fun, and versatile these little robots are. The student’s eyes gleamed with excitement as they worked together to make Dash & Dot light up with different colours, move in specific ways, play sounds, and even play songs that the students created! Using a simple drag-and-drop interface on the tablet, students created programs using coding basics like sequencing and loops to control the robots and had a great deal of fun while doing it.
As educators, we are constantly striving to prepare our students with 21st century learning skills, and programming is just one of the many ways that we can do just that! By teaching students coding concepts from an early age, we are instilling in them a curiosity and ability to problem solve and innovate that will carry them through the rest of their lives. Many people may be skeptical about teaching Kindergarten students to code and program, but watching them work together and solve problems during these workshops only proves that with the right tools, not only is it possible for these students to do it, but it is very likely they will excel at it, all while learning and having fun!
while coding his friend Dash
Our Dash & Dot experiences were such a success that we recently purchased many more robots to teach these important programming principles. They will also be frequently utilized within other subject areas and across multiple age groups, to ensure our kids have the best possible hands-on learning experience from a young age . We could not be more excited.
Welcome to Rowntree Dash & Dot!
To see more posts about Science related activities at Rowntree Montessori Schools, click here.
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