All posts by NerdMom

Homeschooling, Homeschoooling, STEM

Kids, Engineering, and DiscoverE

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DE_logo_Tag_Horizontal_ShineEngineers make the world go round! It sounds like a broad statement but I believe it is true. If we want to be competitive with the world as far as technology and innovation, we need more students to go into engineering in college. But engineering isn’t a single, isolated subject per se but a way of thinking and a ton of different fields! The challenge exists of how to introduce kids to engineering and the very many fields that encompasses! So I was really excited to hear about DiscoverE and what it is doing to introduced people to engineering!

With many kids the idea or concept of engineering as a field (or fields) much less the idea it is something for them, never crosses their mind. And even those kids who have some idea of engineering have no idea of the expanse of engineering. I was just talking to my 10 year old daughter today about engineering. She said that she didn’t want to be an engineer because she doesn’t really want to just program. Like that is her only engineering option! That is why hearing about the things that DiscoverE is doing  and the awesome activity ideas they have on their site is so exciting to me!!!

They have things like the Future City competition where middle school students create solutions to modern problems with city model (think Stark expo in Iron Man;). And to make it fully relevant they have a Facebook page tied to the competition!

elogoGIRLdVDiscoverE also sponsors Girl Day on February 20, 2014! While we don’t have enough students going into engineering overall, the amount of girls who going into engineering is abysmal! Girl Day is an opportunity to have events that are aimed at girls to show them what all engineering can be to them. And this is one of the few times they won’t have to swim through a sea of boys to experience it all! It kicks off with #GirlDay2014 #STEMchat on February 19 at 9 PM Eastern in honor of  Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

DE_logo_Eweek_horizontalBut I have to say my favorite thing that DiscoverE is Engineers Week!! DiscoverE actually use to be the Engineers Week organization. This year Engineers Week is February 16-22, 2014. This holds a special place in my nerdy heart. It is Engineers Week activities that introduced me to the computers that would become my passion!

By high school I knew I didn’t want to go to law school and I loved math but I didn’t want to teach. So I was looking at engineering but the only form of engineering I was familiar with was civil engineering and that just didn’t grab me. I had friends whose parents were civil engineers and buildings was just not my passion. So I was contemplating politics or engineering and I went to the engineering open house at Fresno State  for Engineers Week. I saw the concrete canoe project and the solar car and they were cool. As I was standing outside looking at the solar car the Dean of Engineering (Dr. Shaw) came up to me and asked me what interested me. And we talked for a bit and I talked about how much I loved planes and he asked how much computer experience I had. Well, I had been exposed to computers but not really allowed to mess around on them much. He urged me to explore them and told me how integral computers are not only to life but also designing things, like planes. Seeing some of them at work convinced me and I never looked back!

I ended up at Fresno State majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. I even did grant research for Dean Shaw 1 semester;).  I served in the Society of  Women Engineers and helped in 3 different years of Engineering at the Mall. I loved showing the kids what all engineering could be! We would have tin foil boat competitions and clay towers every year. They would see the mouse that was programmed to find its way through a maze. Sometimes they would even go for a ride in the solar car. It is a great event that can make kids see the endless possibilities of engineering, math and science.

While I never finished my degree I still love computers and engineering! And I can say, being exposed to what all engineering could be while I was in grade school has changed my life for ever.

So do your kids know what all engineering is or could be? Be honest, do you? Check out DiscoverE and their Facebook page. Check out the activities you can do with your kids and take your kids to some activities. Expose your kids and they may find their passion and their future!

(This post has been sponsored but trust me, these words and this passion is all mine)

Contesting Monday

Contesting Monday 2/3

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So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you!

Contesting Monday

Contesting Monday 1/27

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So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you!

Food, Gluten Free

Delectable Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

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gfree chocolate chip cookies
Going gluten free has had some downsides but great chocolate chip cookies made from scratch isn’t one of them. Seriously, these cookies are so good that many haven’t known that they are gluten free! And you don’t need a mix to make them so they are cheap to make them. The flours are 2 rice flours you can get cheap at any Asian grocery!

I make them ahead of time in a triple batch and freeze them as dough balls. Then bake them off fresh to get the best texture and shape.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

1 1/4 cups White Rice Flour
1/2 cup Sweet Rice Flour
1/4 cup Cornstarch
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cup (or 1 1/2 sticks) Softened Butter
1/4 cup White Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
2 Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
1 bag (about 2 cups) Chocolate Chips

Process

Cream butter then add both sugars and cream together in a consistent mixture. Then add the eggs 1 at a time, followed by the vanilla. In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients together with a fork. I don’t feel sifting is needed (because all the dry ingredients are already very light) but mixing them together is a must! Then slowly blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by adding the dry ingredients in small batches. Due to the powder like dry ingredients, there will be a little blowing of flours no matter how careful you are. So be prepared to wipe it up when you are done;). Then blend in the chocolate chips.

You can bake these immediately at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes but they tend to spread. To give these gluten free cookies a great shape and texture I recommend scooping them out and freezing them before baking them. Then you bake them frozen at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes.

I make these 3 batches at a time and scoop them all out onto a cookie sheet and pop them into the freezer. Remember you don’t need to leave much space because you are freezing them and there isn’t any spread in that;). I then put them  into single baking servings  portions in quart freezer bags. I find 14 cookies are a good batch for us. Then I store them in the freezer and bake as needed.

These seriously pass for cookies full of gluten;)!

 

 

 

As Seen on TV, Homeschoooling, Smart Living Strategies

Teaching Goal Setting to Children

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Goal settingJanuary, it is the months of resolutions! And no plan, hope or goal seems to fail like a resolution. So for the most part, I don’t believe in resolutions but I do believe in goals. The difference? A plan!

Goal setting doesn’t come naturally to most people and needs to be taught. So why not set up kids for success by teaching them goal setting?

Goals can be long term or short term but the approach is the same. Since we are talking about kids lets aim for short term goals! Once they get the emotional payoff they will use goal setting to achieve more and more!

1) Come up with a goal!
2) Put it through the dream test! What do I mean? Are there any reasonable steps at all that can help you achieve your goal? Wanting to be taller isn’t a goal but a dream. You can’t really do much about your height.
3) List 1 step you can take tomorrow to work towards your goal. Just start with 1 but it is something you can do almost immediately!
4) List 2 more steps that you can take to achieve the goal.

If you go much further with young kids you will overwhelm them! Help your kids practice goal setting with you. Maybe once every month or 2 ask them to give you a list of 3 goals with 3 steps each. When they start out resist the impulse to criticize the goals. They may seem a bit wonky but remember, they are kids;).

That is what we did here in the NerdFamily for New Year’s. Goals do not have to be complicated either. Here are some that my kids did.

NerdBug (12):
Goal: Beat Adventure Mode in Plants VS Zombies
1) Take time to strategize before playing
2) Ask for advice from siblings
3) Try different techniques every day

NerdPie (10):
Goal: To write in my diary every day
1) Set aside the first 30 minutes of room time for writing.
2) No mp3 player if I don’t write in the first 1/2 hour
3) I will sit on my bed until I write.

Nerdster (8):
Goal: Be stronger
1) Run
2) Exercise more often
3) Play minimum video games

NerdPud (6):
Goal: Time with God
1) Go to my room
2) Sit down
3) Pray

Their goals may not be what I would have chosen (and I could lead them into some goal choices) but they are theirs! Allowing them to set goals also really reveals what is going on in their heads and hearts too. So it is a double parenting win;). Go get your kids to set some goals!

Contesting Monday

Contesting Monday 1/20

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So here is the deal. If you are hosting a giveaway or have a post about someone’s giveaway just leave a link. Make sure this link is to the giveaway post itself and not just the blog or it will be deleted. If you listed it last week but your giveaway is still open, list it again! Also your link must be to something family friendly or it will be deleted.

So now you need to add your giveaways and go enter some giveaways! Let them know that Contesting Monday sent you!

 

tech

Whirlpool and Innovating the Future

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2014-01-08 10.46.12A huge component to large CES booths are always a look to the future and Whirpool gave us a variety of leaps into the future!!!

First, we jumped to the next generation of appliances with connected appliances. These are appliances that are connected to each other and you by direct communications and by app. So the dryer will know what kind of load it is receiving from the washer and how to treat it. But better thank that will be the app connectivity. Imagine being able to check while you are out and see if you (or your kids) remembered to actually turn on the dryer! Or as you are heading home start the dryer again to know out wrinkles. It could be so cool!

2014-01-08 10.47.32But better than that is the look 5 to 10 years into the future with the interactive cook top! This will be built on their induction stove top so it is already a smooth surface. So you will place a pot and use your hands to circle it in order to it turn it on. All your social media will be tied together to you can tweet, manage your Evites and Facebook all while standing front of the stove top! You can do more than just access your recipe but also go through each step and have it integrated into the stove top. So you will have a to do list created with you starting with the ingredient list that will be verified by your refrigerator.  Even Pinterest will be integrated so you can look for inspiration for recipes that may not already be in your recipe box!

First off the whole idea of innovation leading to this level of my life being integrated into my appliances. Secondly, I love the smoothness of the interactions!!! Since it is an induction stove then you touch it because it is cool. So I could set up a kid who is learning how to cook without as much risk as burning themselves because only the area with the pot will be hot. And they can have the recipe built in so it will give them reminders when it is time to do the next thing.

Needless to say, the innovations that Whirlpool wants to bring to our appliances can be more than convenient. It can change our lives!!! Whirlpool is doing innovation right! And I had so much fun checking out the innovation that they are bringing! I enjoyed it so much I got to take part in a video! Thanks BlogHer and Whirlpool!

 

 

  • Since Whirlpool 20/20 is all about a future focused on you, we, want to hear your ideas for it. Leave a comment below telling us your idea for the future for your home and be entered to win a $1,000 grand prize.

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