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stefoodie
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| Posted: April 23 2008 at 11:12am | IP Logged
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Our 11-yo has expressed interest in becoming an engineer like Dad. So I'm thinking our plans for high school for him may be a lot different from what we did for our dd.
Any suggestions? I'm thinking of enrolling him in Kolbe so his sched/course load is more rigid.... but I'm really just compiling suggestions right now.
Your help is much appreciated!
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stef
mom to five
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Kristi
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| Posted: April 23 2008 at 9:47pm | IP Logged
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There was an article in the Wall Street Journal in March about teaching engineering to kids. My dad sent me the article, but I can't locate it right now and I can't seem to locate it online.
There's this web site that I haven't really looked through much and doesn't Lego do some cool engineering stuff? Just a couple suggestions. 
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Kristi
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Betsy
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+JMJ+
My husband and I were talking about this last night. This is the list that we came up with....
1. You son should get good exposer to Chemistry, Physics and Calculus. A community college would be great for these, imo.
2. If your son knows what kind of engineer he wants to be it would be great for him to get as much "hands on" experience as possible. This isn't necessary, but from what we have seen that engineer that came off the farm fixing tractors and his rebuilding his own car are fading away. Mose American engineers are very tech savvy but don't have the knowledge of how things work. For instance, if your son wanted to do mechanical engineering, I would recommend some summer work at a local auto repair shop, Caterpillar dealer, large equipment rental place that might repair machines, etc. to get any hands on experience. If he was interested in electrical, maybe working with an electrition, etc.
3. Lastly, I would work as much as you would any other student on good writing skill and communication. The stereotype of engineers being poor at these skills and not needing them is long gone. My husband does a lot of college recruiting and he is constantly amazed at how some student can have 4.0 gpa but can interview, or communicate well. My husband also comments how in industry, people who can communicate well are promoted so much more than the "smartest" people.
4. I would throw this out their too. I think more so than other fields the college that you choose helps determine where you might work or at least the general area of the country that you might work. It's helpful to know what are the major companies that recruit at that college for engineer...to get an idea if this are the fields/areas that would be of interest. For instance, I went to college out of state in Michigan. I didn't realize until I was a Senior how tied in my college was with he automotive industry. Not that this was set in stone, but my greatest opportunity for jobs were in the Detroit area working for the Big Three or auto related company. For most people this is what they wanted (and what I ended up doing), but I was from out of state and it took me away from my family, etc.
Well, I am sure their is are a lot of ways to approach this but here is my 2 cents!
Betsy
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guitarnan
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Betsy's point #3 is excellent. My father is an engineer and he says that finding engineers who can really write well is hard. Any aspiring engineer who can write clearly and speak well will have an advantage. Sometimes this means overcoming professors' own standards ("Just get it on paper; I don't care about complete sentences.").
Math and science courses are important, definitely. Physics is a must. With labs.
Finally, be sure to check the entrance requirements for your local university's engineering department. This will tell you how many years of each subject your son will need to complete during high school.
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Nancy in MD. Mom of ds (24) & dd (18); 31-year Navy wife, move coordinator and keeper of home fires. Writer and dance mom.
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Stephanie_Q
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As an engineering major, I have to second almost all of what Betsy wrote. Especially her second point. In my experience, the best engineers (and engineering students) are those who have "real world" knowledge of what they are designing. This comes more into play as he gets older and is looking for part-time employment, but while he is young really let him have fun taking things apart, reading about how things work and doing a lot of hands-on constructive play with erector sets, electric circuits, pulleys, small engines, etc. Those who had a solid grasp of Physics seemed to do the best.
Also, in addition to the importance of communication skills is the importance of financial skills. I was amazed at how much time I spent writing proposals, invoices, and "balancing the budget" for each project.
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Stephanie dh 6.01
dd 6.02, dd 8.03, ds 3.05, ds 12.06 at Catholic school.
dd 12.09 at home.
Baby boy due 10.13
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5athome
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| Posted: April 25 2008 at 10:14am | IP Logged
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Lego robotics would be a great experience if you have that in your area. I would also check with any nearby universities about enrichment programs. The university near us offers a summer weeklong math camp for advanced 6-8th graders that is fabulous. Once they complete it, the children can also come back again as a "teacher's aide" type situation. There are also some engineering summer programs, etc.
The engineering dept where my dh works oftentimes cautions using community college courses in math/sciences -- especially if you are trying to use them as transfer credits. I would say a strong math background is most important. Also, as mentioned previously, strength in writing and expression is such a plus. At the university working in an engineering lab, lots of grants and papers need to be written so those skills will be greatly utilized.
I think the best advice is to just do exactly what homeschoolers do best - create a well rounded student who uses their own initiative and is self motivated. Have a variety of extra curricular activities. The engineering dept will provide them the math & science they need to succeed in the program as long as they have the basic building blocks. My dh went to medical & engineering school with kids who were undergrad poetry majors/history majors/etc. - although this applies to a graduate program I think it is equally appropriate to an undergrad engineering program - a well rounded student who enjoys learning will be an attractive recruit and ultimately a successful student.
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Margaret
ds '93, dd '96, ds '99,
ds '01, dd '04, ds '06,
ds '08
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Kristi
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| Posted: April 25 2008 at 8:45pm | IP Logged
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Stef,
I found the Wall Street Journal article. It is from March 13 and was titled "Reading, Writing ... and Engineering. These are the web sites the article listed:
Engineering is Elementary
Project Lead the Way
Stuff That Works!
Infinity Project
Children Designing & Engineering
Engineering is Elementary and Stuff That Works looks more feasible price-wise for homeschoolers. For example, Project Lead the Way says it would cost a high school ~ $75,000 for four years and a middle school ~ $50,000 whereas Stuff That works is $17 per teacher guide. I just included all the links thinking that they may lead to other resources or may offer smaller scale ideas for parents wanting to implement engineering in the home. Good luck!
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Kristi
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stefoodie
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| Posted: April 25 2008 at 10:42pm | IP Logged
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Thank you, all, this helps a lot!! Tho' dh is an engr and is already teaching him a lot of the real life stuff this is exactly the stuff we need to make sure he is well-prepared.
You gals are awesome, as always!!
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stef
mom to five
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4Real Forums : High School Years and Beyond
Topic: Engineering Prep?
