In My Tribe
You’d think I would ‘get it’. I was the kid who loved the Godfather from way too young an age. I’ve read every bio about Frank Sinatra I could get my hands on. An italian inventor discovered something first and didn’t get credit? I was all over it.
Why, because I’m Italian, and it mattered to me. I wanted to know about my tribe, know that others before me in my tribe had done great things.
But I didn’t equate what that would mean to my daughter. I never understood the need for her to do the same thing with her tribe, girls.
I get it now. She loves to hear about women who have done great things. Even better, girls. She is an athlete and loves to see women’s soccer or basketball, especially at the college or high school level. And recently when tpt (Twin Cities Public Television) launched the SciGirls show, I knew she’d pay attention. SciGirls hits two tribes for her, the show is based in Minneapolis, put on by Minneapolis Public Radio, which is where we live. And the SciGirls are a group of upper middle school to high school girls, who love doing math and science, or more appropros, STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math). Each episode deals with a particular storyline, and a set of four girls typically meet up with a woman in the appropriate field who helps guide them to either solving a problem or simply learning about a new thing. The SciGirls have gone on archaeological digs, learned about pollution, and how to build a movable model for a parade (teaching them to start with prototypes), to name a few. It is a terrific show.
We’ve also discovered Danica McKellar’s Books on math. These books, with titles like “Math Doesn’t Suck” and “Hot X – algebra” are meant to demystify math and make smart ‘cool’, especially for girls. If you recognize Danica, she was Winnie on “Wonder Years” which was a great show when I was growing up. Well, Danica went on to major in math graduating summa cum laude from UCLA. She has devoted herself to helping young girls succeed in Math. While the anecdotes sometimes are too girly for my daughter, e.g. stories about shopping or boys aren’t my daughters thing, Danica takes a casual in tone yet serious in learning approach to math that has resonated at our household.
I recommend both the show SciGirls, and the books by Danica. Just as important, I recommend you pay attention to whether your kids will learn more and be more interested if you can point out members of their ‘tribe’ who have come before.
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