Playing Is Educational

I don’t want my daughter to get caught up in the false “girls are bad at math” stereotype. Girls are just as intellectually capable when it comes to numbers as boys, but girls’ interest in math tends to fall off in the eighth grade. This is a large reason why although women are in the majority on college campuses across the nation, only around 20 percent of university women pursue degrees in math, science, and engineering.

To combat this crisis, I’m doing everything in my power to make math fun for my daughter. This is a challenge because I am part of the group that lost interest in math when I entered high school. Still, I’m doing my best for my daughter by playing arithmetic games with her, taking her to science exhibitions, and conducting our own experiments at home. I also try to be mindful of my language around her; avoiding saying things like ‘math is too hard!’ or asking her father to figure out the numbers for me.

Piecing together elaborate jigsaw puzzles is one of my favorite pastimes. I can literally spend hours at a time sorting through blue pieces of sky to put together. Kids pick up on everything, especially things that their parents do.

My daughter, now age three, wants to be just like her mom. On several occasions she has tried to help me solve my puzzles by handing me pieces and saying, “Do these go here?” To make her feel more included, I bought her educational puzzles that are more age appropriate. I cleared space on my jigsaw puzzle table so she and I can work on our puzzles side by side.