Resources for a girl in second grade
Q: Hi, You have a really wonderful site. I am the parent of a seven-year-old, second-grade girl who appears to have an aptitude for math, science, and engineering. Her favorite toys are building toys (tinker toys, KNEX, legos, Bionicles), she is fascinated by how things work, she is good at math, and she has scored extremely high on the quantitative and nonverbal (spatial relations) portions of her cognitive aptitude tests. Clearly, she is wired for these activities and enjoys them, too!I would really appreciate any and all advice you have about how to develop and encourage this strength. Although I do see some puzzles and games on your site that would be great for her age group, a lot of material is aimed at kids that are a little older: nine or ten, or middle school and high school. We will play all the games and do all the puzzles that we can, but is there anything else we can do at this age? The school's gifted program doesn't start until later grades, and I think it's more directed at advanced verbal skills. I'm not full of ideas myself, since I do not possess the same ability in math and science. I'm able to help with language skills and reading, but I'm very limited in how to develop math/science/engineering aptitude. Thanks, Pamela
Hi Pamela. It's wonderful to hear that your daughter is very interested in math and science! There are a lot of opportunities out there now, especially for girls, to participate in activities that encourage them in science and engineering. A good place to start will be colleges and universities around your areas. Most schools will have some kinds of educational outreach activities for kids to get their hands on building/designing things or sometimes having an engineering faculty/student come and talk to them. One good website to look at is from the Center for Women and Information Technology at the University of Maryland in Baltimore County (CWIT-UMBC). Here is the link to their resources page. You might find some good programs for your daughter there. Good luck! -Nim
Dear Pamela, I think it is great that you want to encourage your daughter to pursue something like engineering. A major reason that some very qualified girls don’t consider engineering is that they don’t know anything about it, but the best way for them to learn about it is generally from their parents. There may be some math or science programs that you can find in your area, maybe at a university as Nim suggested. Girl Scouts may also have some great resources for you, or you might enjoy some of the games and activities on Cyberchase. The only thing I would caution you against is pushing her too hard. One mistake that some people, especially women, tend to make is to think that you have to be in the 99th percentile to be an engineer, and they put too much pressure on themselves. Good engineers generally explore their world because they enjoy it (as it sounds like your daughter does). Doing puzzles of any kind, reading, exploring, and just learning to love learning are the best things she can probably do at this point. Good luck. -Simil
A thought on helping your daughter flourish in her science and engineering like interests: many older students who are very good at and interested in these fields seem to have challenges communicating their ideas and discoveries to others, be it through verbal or written communications. In college, the emphasis was to create the non-stereotypical engineer who could present in front of others and work in groups with other people. It helped, but college is too late to create good communicators. One of the best things my Dad told me in about second grade, was just to keep writing, no matter what came out or how atrocious the spelling, just keep writing. I remember he said that by the time I grew up either the 'word processor' would be able to spell correctly or I could hire an assistant to figure it out. Luckily, there is spell check (because the way I spell, I wouldn't be able to afford a full-time spell checker!). Also at my company, there is a technical edit required on all documents (thank goodness!). A key differentiator for me and others in college throughout my career has been the ability to communicate in addition to the ability to work on science and engineering type problems. To me, the ability to communicate in combination with my engineering background has created a wealth of opportunities.
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