Computer Programming needs to be part of early education

Saw this today and I completely agree
http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2013/02/27/coding-you-should-learn-it/

Watch it. Yes it is 9 minutes long, but shows how important it is to teach simple programming to everyone. note: not every programming job has those awesome perks... oh to work at google... :-P

I had a computer programming class in High School, taught by a woman who was in the industry and decided to teach computers. It was great! yes our first program was "Hello World" like everyone elses. But it opened my eyes to an industry that I had not thought of. I started college my freshman year as a Computer Engineering Major and did not change it. I knew this is what I wanted to do.

I do not know if I would have chose that major if it was not for the introduction of programming in High School. Really do not know, most likely mathematics.

But yes, introducing our children to computers and programming at an early age is so important. Especially in the classroom.

There are fantastic extra curricular activities for kids to introduce them to the engineering field and into programming - such as FIRST. FIRST is a great program, actually put on by the person who owns my company (Dean Kamen). Kids work with engineers to accomplish a task. It incorporates all aspects of engineering, and they get to compete. I know Nick and my kids will be doing this program and we will work with them! Actually a bit excited to do that with them one day. The lego league (ages 6-9 grades K-3) is only 3.5 years away for Evie! Wow...

And our kids, having two computer engineering parents, will learn to program. I know Nick is so excited to get robot kits and build one with Evie and his son. We are geeks, and will do all those kind of things with kids.

But back to the point of this post, schools do not introduce programming to kids at all. It is up to the child to learn on their own or for the parent to introduce it to their kids.

Really thinking about this, I could see this being a career change at some point for me. Teaching programming to kids. I love what I do and do not want to leave. I love developing medical products. I love R&D! I love working with machines and making them do things.

Update

Yep I am a bad blogger. I know that. I just don't have the time much anymore to sit down and write out my thoughts. It sucks. I hate that I am missing memories. But it is life.

Work is busy. I have a lot of things to get done before I head out on maternity leave. I try not to get distracted at work and focus on what needs to get done. And I have been getting better of not farting around on the computer at home and actually watching TV with Nick. Though lately I have been playing a game on my phone (candy crush).

I have some weekly pregnancy updates to post, just waiting to link up pictures. I have not been very good this pregnancy documenting it. I know I am going to be sad about it. We take bump pictures maybe every 3 weeks. BAD. I just don't want a bump picture of me in my jammies, which are not fitting due to the bump. But I want to get better about documenting, so I need to force myself to.

This pregnancy has been going well. Heartburn started early, around 20 weeks. I take Zantac 75 2 times a day and usually have 2-5 tums a day. I am craving milk again and drink at least 1 large glass of milk a day, usually chocolate. I am loving cereal and sweets, but I always love sweets, they are my downfall.

This kid is definitively lower than Evie was. I feel fingers really low and kicks up high. He is a big dancer/kicker. Much more so than Evie. And he loves to push against the edge of my uterus and make me uncomfortable.

I have braxton hicks every once and a while, but they are not bad. Just means I need to relax and drink more water. But overall my body does not ache yet. I attribute that to going to dancing for birth class. Really, if you have one of those in your area, check it out. It is never too early in pregnancy to start dancing. It helps with all pregnancy aches and pains. And you get a good workout. I was sweating last night!

Names are an issue with this kid. We keep increasing the name list and not removing names. It is over 20 names long. Will be a last minute decision....

Hmm. What else. We have gotten a lot of snow lately and I love it. I don't have to clear the driveway, and I get to play outside with my girl. So what is not to love! I have a nice pair of snowpants that are not working, but pair it with my beBand and they work well! My jacket does not zip well and feel like soon I won't be able to zip it (I only zip it when playing in the snow right now, not worth it to be squished daily!).

I have started to feel the nesting instinct here and there. Starting making the list of what needs to get done before the end of April. It isn't bad. We don't need much stuff for this kid at least!