Last weekend highlighted two points for me. Probably more than two, but the others don’t fit under a title combining programming and patchwork. You might think it’s an odd combo, but strangely there is a link. Me!
Regular readers to this blog will know that I am a craft and family blogger. What you may not know is that I’m also a computer programmer. This weekend, I discovered that my son didn’t know either!
As a professional and a parent, I am loving the change in the national curriculum for computing. We have a real shortage when it comes to fresh talent entering the work place. Eldest has really got her teeth into it since starting secondary school. Most parents of tweens in the UK, may have heard of Scratch. Maybe even Raspberry Pi and Python. As tools for learning programming, I like that it teaches logic and problem solving in a fun environment. Not forgetting oodles of creativity.
(Couldn’t help smiling that someone has been rummaging through my ribbon drawer and made a bookmark!)
Youngest encountered J2Code last week. A junior version of Scratch. He LOVES it. When he loves something, he shares (read: nags and nags until I sit down and listen). So I sat down with him, while he showed me what he could do.
I resisted. Honest. I’ve taught programming. I know when to step in. I resisted until he reached that point and then I added a few more lines to his program. Just to show him what else he could do.
Son (7 years old): “You’re really getting the hang of this.”
Me: <pause>”You know that’s what I do, don’t you? I’m a computer programmer. I write code to make computers do what I want them to do. (or more likely, what my clients want them to do.)”
Son: “No. I forgot you had a job. “
<the breeze caused by cloth being whisked off mirror, brushes my face>
(Finished quilt top. Ready for next stage)
I guess it’s easier for him to see my patchwork, knitting and baking. He can pick them up. He can watch me change raw material into something useful, but how would he see my programming. Not quite so tangible. Am I failing to show my daughters too? They have all seen me working. I work from home, but my screen must look like gibberish. Not work, as they know it. I need to rethink. Am I the role model that I thought I was?
So. 10/10 for the way computing is being introduced and taught in school. 1/10 for me failing to show that I’m not just about cupcakes. (Not that there is anything wrong with cupcakes. I just want my children to see that I can do both. And so can they.)
I suspect this is true of all children. I knew what my mum did at work because she was a teacher but my dad, not a clue. I knew which company he worked for but not much more than that, even now!
I guess a lot of what we do as grown-ups is a mystery to the children, if they even think about it.
My son loves Scratch, but I do feel I need to make more of an effort to introduce my older daughter to it – she has just started secondary school and seems to have fallen through the net. Whilst my son has been learning Scratch at primary school she never had the opportunity. Am considering Raspberry Pi as a Christmas present…. PS I used to work for a software company too but it’s only since I’ve started working in a primary school that my kids seem to know what I do!
I’d be really surprised if your daughter’s school doesn’t use Scratch. She should be getting some programming lessons, as I understand it, so maybe later in the year. Like the Rasberry Pi. Feels more like going back to basics, which appeals to me as someone who started learning to program before windows meant something other than a glass of pane held in place by timber.
fascinating how kids view their parents and probably how we viewed our own :0)
Too true.
Wow by missing out website info it let me post!!!!!!!!
Oh. I know a few people have had trouble commenting. I wonder if this if the problem.
It’s error’ed me out for such a long while 404 access denied and I never thought to try not including website
Just tested filling in the website box and get this
Server Error
403-Forbidden:Access is denied.
You do not have permission to view this directory or page
using the credentials you supplied.
Thank you for leaving the error message. 🙂 I’ll look into it over the weekend. Be good to sort this one out. 🙂