I have been in and around the construction industry all my life. I love watching the Discovery Channel's invention shows and how things work. I am glued to my TV when the History Channel has airplane shows. Engineers have alway been my idols. It really didn't matter what area of Engineering they were into. So, back to my question...
A good friend of mine has a 7 year old son that is demonstrating what I strongly see as natural engineering skills. I have always loved taking things apart to see how they work. This boy is actually able to put things back together. Something that I still have trouble doing. He builds his own bike ramps, carefully adjusting the angle to achieve just the right trajectory. I could go on...
How do I help? How do his parents help? How can we identify his talent and steer him in that direction in a way that will maintain his enthusiasm? Are there pitfalls we should be aware of? As he grows older, what elective school courses are recommended? Are there games?
2007-04-29 08:49:57 · 6 answers · asked by terterryterter 6 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
In addition to looking for engineering summer camps for students (which are usually geared at high school or junior high students), the best thing is to encourage. There is no point in trying to drive him to engineering, no matter how good his natural talent might be. Let him build and experiment, but he should be allowed to do so when and where it interests him. If bike ramps is his "thing" don't force him into model rockets or try to get him to do advanced math to "prove" his designs. I think you've already defined a potential talent, but ultimately the rest will be up to him.
I don't know of any engineering board games or video games (they even sound a bit too boring to me), but the best thing would be to keep him supplied with the materials he needs and perhaps a library card. My interest in engineering started with a love of airplanes. I read history books and build models. Perhaps the advanced Lego sets or some other building block type of thing might be of interest. Just don't push to hard and make him hate it. Seven-years-old is still too young to worry about earning a living.
As he grows older a strong foundation in good math and science skills should be encouraged. I personally think that hands-on skills are often overlooked in favor of text books skills. The engineers I admire most have a good balance of both. Text book engineers tend to be focused on the theory even overlooking common sense at times. Hands-on people tend to careless about optimizing a design (strong and cheaper) and more focused on simply having something that works.
2007-04-29 09:06:13 · answer #1 · answered by Mack Man 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I see "Lego" mentioned in a great answer above - yes that's the first thing that came to mind. For a boy so young that's a great toy to let him have fun and not push so hard. It might have led me into mechanical. This is for the "hands-on" skills, and sounds like the boy is already better than some of my colleagues and myself.
The analytical skills may come later I think.... Computer classes and science projects he should see in elementary school. In highschool there may be drafting classes (I did in 9th grade), when you start to work on the 'drawing board', other electives, etc. Then come more math and physics if he goes down that road.
2007-04-30 03:27:39 · answer #2 · answered by pj_gp18 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Look in your area for Science/Engineering Camps for the summer. Also, check at local Universities and Colleges... they may have something.
2007-04-29 08:54:22 · answer #3 · answered by Cathy K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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2016-12-29 16:59:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Let him become accustomed to reading and solving algebra word problems. This is the first step to becoming a good problem solver and ultimately to higher math and physics.
2007-04-29 11:22:42 · answer #5 · answered by DuckyWucky 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Second or third grade is a good place to start. Just make sure that you guys don't push him so hard that he burns out on you.
2007-04-29 11:12:39 · answer #6 · answered by gatorbait 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋