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Planting the Seeds of STEM at Home


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My husband and I are polar opposites in almost every way imaginable. While opposites definitely attract in our case, we got together in the first place because of one of the few things we share in common: a passion for learning.

We both agree that were we to win the lottery (challenging considering we don’t buy tickets, I realize), one of the things we’d most want to do is go to school to master a whole new subject matter or two. Given the luxury of time and unlimited resources, my husband would definitely want to study engineering, and I really just want to be good at math again like I was in Grade 12. (I aced my provincial exam and promptly began an Arts degree and developed a math phobia.)

We are striving to raise our children to share our love of learning and be intrinsically motivated to pursue their education. Our new mini library of STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics—titles from DK Books is keeping our son engaged and excited about topics ranging from coding to bacteria as he and his Papa read together every night before bed.

The best way to get your kids interested in learning is to share your own curiosity with them. While geared for children, all of our DK titles have taught my husband and me a ton of things we didn’t know (or had long since forgotten).

Our favourite title so far is The Bacteria Book. This book has been revolutionary for my son—proof of the power of knowledge! For as long as I can remember, this kid has refused to take off his socks. Even in bed, he absolutely had to have socks on, even if it was ridiculously hot in his room. When he got to the page in The Bacteria Book about fungus and learned that they thrive in warm, humid places, he resolved to always sleep without socks.

Look mom, no socks!

He even goes barefoot around the house until it’s time to go out (like his mother, he doesn’t like to be sockless in his sneakers).  He now makes it a point of pride to encourage people to remove their socks and avoid fungi.

I’ve heard that if we want our kids to be successful in their careers, they need to learn to code. This is definitely not something my husband nor I are equipped to teach them. In fact, considering how much my personal livelihood relies on computers, I understand shockingly little about coding. I’m actually pretty jealous that I’m on twin bedtime duty while Papa and Cub are reading Find Out! Coding together.

One of the things Cub has learned from this book is that the first computer programmer was a woman, Ada Lovelace. Considering that “women … are still underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science (STEM) fields” according to Statistics Canada and pretty much any lay(wo)man you ask, it’s important to me that my kids know that women can and do excel in these domains and that often their historical contributions are overlooked.

A scytale code leading to the next clue in a treasure hunt (hidden near the iPad)

Find Out! Coding also inspired Cub’s Papa to use a coding technique used by the ancient Greeks as a clue in a treasure hunt he concocted. A “scytale” is a way of scrambling a message so that it can only be unscrambled if the recipient has the exact same sized cylinder (in our case a marker) that was used to create it. As soon as Cub saw the rolled paper and the cylinder, he knew what to do to decode the message!

Ask my husband his greatest regret in life, and it might just be that he didn’t become an engineer. He seriously considered going back to school for engineering, but with our first baby on the way it was simply not realistic. His not-so-secret dream is that one of our children will study engineering … and How to Be an Engineer is helping him get the ball rolling early! His current rallying cry for our son whenever they undertake an activity is, “And what to engineers do?” (Response: “They plan ahead!”)

They’ve already completed two engineering-related experiments from the book. They built a gumdrop tower (in our case, Swedish Berries because they’re more thoroughly enjoyed afterwards) to test whether a structure built of squares or of triangles would bear more weight:

And the winner is … triangles!

And they used milk and vinegar to make plastic:

We’re not even halfway through the book yet, and I have to admit that I never considered how vast and impactful the field of engineering truly is!

We’ve got two more books on our “to read” list, and I’m sure we’ll enjoy them just as much. How to Be Good at Math will hopefully help ease my own anxieties about helping my kids with math homework. (Mind you, that math homework is going to be in French, so that’s a whole other kettle of poisson for me to deal with.) Then, Find Out! Energy will hopefully answer all the questions Cub has about lightning and perhaps inspire him to remember to turn off the light when he leaves a room!

If you’ve got a budding STEM-lover at home, or you’d like to grow one (see what I did there?!), then check the STEM-tastic Summer Reads DK Books has to offer!

Which STEM subject area do you wish you knew more about?


Comments

  1. 1

    I am very interested in the math book you mentioned. I started school for engineering then switched to arts, partially because of that pesky math. I am still very interested in engineering though and would love for my kids to be as well. Thanks for the chance!

    Reply
  2. 2

    I wish I knew more about Science. Specifically abiut himan biology. But I would love to enjoy that engineering book with my nephew.

    I feel like your milk and vinegar comment was a cliff hanger and o just need to know how it works!

    Thanks For the chance!

    Reply
  3. 4

    I’d love the. Chance to win! I would definitely be able to use these books with my girl guide unit. As a leader I struggle with teaching Stem especially the engineering component of STEM. I’d love the coding book as that is some5hing I don’t know about. Thank you!

    Reply
  4. 5

    I would love to get my son interested in engineering. I was enrolled in an architect program before switching to social work and miss the blueprints and plans. I would love to direct his creativity to building and engineering and show him the magic of building and help him build on his math skills. Thank you!

    Reply
  5. 6

    Definitely the coding!! I have a math degree and this still is an area that I don’t understand…so important to help our little ones be successful in the world they will be a part of!

    Reply
  7. 8

    I too look forward to teaching our daughter all about STEM subjects! I’d choose DNA – I’m a mining engineer & software engineer by training and a mechanical engineer by trade, but I’ve always been interested in the study of DNA.

    Reply
  9. 10

    My grandson went to a camp to learn about coding and he loved it. I would also like to learn how to code too and this book sounds perfect.

    Reply
  10. 11

    Learning more about energy and how things move would be the most exciting in this house

    Reply
  11. 12

    Anything science related haha. I was terrible at it in school but I loved the experiments. I showed my almost 2 years how I could make green out of blue and yellow and his little mind was blown, I was a cool mommy for the day.

    Reply
  12. 13

    I wish I knew more about coding. Heck, I wish I knew anything at all about coding! It will be an important thing for my son to learn and I’d like to be able to help him with it one, day but I’m pretty sure he’ll be the one teaching me.

    Reply
  13. 14

    I wish I had more information on coding. It is so important today and I feel quite out of the picture as i have never had any courses on at in my past studies. I hope it is not to late to learn about it a so i can keep up with everyone.

    Reply
  14. 15

    I wish I knew more about coding. I had taken a course in university and hated the subject. It is an important subject for my daughter to learn and it would be great to learn with her.

    Reply
  15. 16

    I wish I knew more about Engineering! I think STEM is very important for all of us, not just kids.

    Reply
  16. 17

    These look like great books! I’m a biomedical engineer, but I would still like to be better at coding. I don’t use it in my day to day job and it’s a lot like learning a new language, if you don’t use it you forget it. I also find learning about the brain and the plasticity of it incredibly interesting.

    Reply
  17. 18

    I’d love to know more about Genes and DNA. I’m a structural engineer so most of the math and structure engineering I’ve been involved with quite a bit, so I’d love to learn more about a completely different subject! Plus, it’s something that I think my son should learn too!

    Reply
  19. 20

    At some point I’d like to properly understand calculus. It’s actually really cool and I love all the real life applications of it. Unfortunately grade 12 calculus was just not my time.

    Reply
  21. 22

    I would have to say specifically civil engineering. I think it would be fascinating to see a project such as the design and construction of a bridge or airport through to completion.

    Reply
  22. 23

    I wish I knew more about coding. I keep hearing it’s going to be necessary skill in the future.

    Reply
  24. 25

    These books look so wonderful. Both my husband and I are engineers, but sometimes its hard to make that sound exciting if that’s what you do on a daily basis. Very intrigued by the milk and vinegar experiment. I think the topic I would most like to learn more about is science, but particularly human biology (like metabolism). I have three nephews who would love these books right now, and who ideally can pass them on to my daughter in a few years.

    Reply
  25. 26

    Hi and thanks for the wonderful giveaway.The STEM subject area that I know the kids want to know more about is the Human Body!

    Reply
  26. 27

    Both my husband (engineer) and I (actuary) work in STEM fields. We hope our twins share our interests (though totally ok if they dont). I wish i knew more about biology and science. I chose to not take biology in my last year of high school so I could take programming.

    Reply
  27. 28

    I wish I was better at math and engineering. My dad would be thrilled if one of his grandchildren followed him into Engineering!! I was pretty good at math and physics in High school but fell apart in university!

    Reply
  28. 29

    What an amazing system! I am going to keep these in mind for when my littles are a bit bigger! Academics and reading is very important to me and I hope I can harbor a great love of reading in my kids (seems like it’s sticking so far)! I would love to learn more about coding and mathematics for sure. Math was/is a weakness of mine and I am definitely worried when they get to middle school math… Eeek! Amazing giveaway!!!!!!!!

    Reply
  29. 30

    Great book recommendations! Will put these on our birthday wishlists 🙂 Would love the math and engineering books to read with our littles 🙂

    Reply
  30. 31

    I wish I knew more about how we – as humans – work. Clearly didn’t pay enough attention in school 😉

    Reply
  31. 32

    I wish I knew more about chemisty, I think it would help with so many things. food prep. I now find it fascinating

    Reply
  32. 33

    I am sure I will learn lots of things with these books as well. I especially want to learn more about genetics and I’m sure my son would love that too.

    Reply
  36. 37

    I wish I knew more about coding, I definitely am really lacking in that area, I know almost nothing.

    Reply
  37. 38

    I would personally have loved to learn more in engineering. I still hope to maybe go back to school for it someday.

    Reply
  38. 39

    I wish I knew more about coding. I studied chemical engineering because I was good in math and science in high school but I was never exposed to coding until I reached university.

    Reply
  39. 40

    I would like to learn more about math. I was good at math in school, but definitely need to brush up on my skills so that I can help my kids.

    Reply
  40. 41

    These books look so cool! I would love to learn more about coding for my daughter and my students. Looks like fun!

    Reply
  41. 42

    I love the concept of these books! I have an almost 5 who loves learning about animals, so science would definitely be my favorite, but I could definitely stand to learn more about all the subjects!

    Reply
  42. 43

    This is the first time I hear about STEM.
    I would love to get some of the science books for sure… and that germ one sure sounds interesting, I am trying to teach my 4 year old to stop putting her hands in her mouth.

    Reply
  43. 44

    Engineering and coding! 2 areas I know very little about and would definitely be fun to learn with my boys.

    Reply
  44. 45

    I would like to know more about Coding. This book looks like something really practical.

    Reply
  46. 47

    These books look great! Would love to know more about coding, that’s something neither my husband or I have experience in. Also, mechanics, although my husband and father in law are a great resource for this. My 6 year old dismantled a chain saw with his grandfather last week, and told me all about the pin valve – I definitely learned something new that day!

    Reply
  48. 49

    I did make the choice to go back to school for Chemistry in my late twenties – before kids. I had my first during my first years of my bachelor – and I just had my second (2.5months!) in the last few months of my PhD! A bit wacky, wild Koolaid style times! The one STEM field I really wish I had the time for would be coding – but between everything I just dont have the hours to sit down and learn it, It is something I really want for my son though!

    Reply
  49. 50

    Math for sure! I dislike it but I think that’s because I never really got it! My 7yo daughter is a smart child so I would love to get her further involved in STEM areas of learning.

    Reply
  53. 54

    Coding! I would love to learn more about it and with the way my little one is enthralled with how technology works, I suspect this will be a high interest for him.

    Reply
  54. 55

    These book look so great!!!! I wish i knew more about engineering and coding. I have 3 girls so im really always trying to be mindful of the books I bring into our home.

    Reply

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