Volume 3: March 2024
Our Developing Computer Science Concepts in Early Childhood – book series – is in production!
I received a fantastic gift on Valentine’s day – that was the day our books; Little Computer Scientists, Little Hackers and Supporting the Development of Computer Science Concepts in Early Childhood: A Practical Guide for Parents and Educators, officially went into production! They’re currently slated for a Fall 2024 release.
Get notified when these books are available for pre-order by filling out this two-question form.
One of our primary motivations for writing this forthcoming book series is to inspire underrepresented groups (girls and BIPOC kids) to develop an interest in, and feel comfortable with, computer science (and technology related) careers. My illustrator D. J. Cools and I asked my students for voluntary input, for the design of our main character; how she should dress, style her hair etc. We poured through hundreds of student responses before settling on Zuri’s design. It is my sincerest hope that all kids can see themselves reflected in the pages of our books.
Zuri character design tests – images by D.J. Cools.
The kids particularly liked the shirt design in the above illustrations, so D. J. Cools made one that you can wear in real life! Get yours here.
The MACUL Conference is really soon!
I’ll be speaking about the forthcoming book series and a plethora of resources related to teaching computer science concepts in early childhood at the MACUL conference on Friday, March 15th. I’d love to see you there!
Additional March Events & Resources
One of my goals (with all of my writing) is to encourage underrepresented groups (those who identify as girls/women, BIPOC folks) to feel comfortable, welcome, and empowered with computer science and technology. These organizations – Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code are both doing really great work in that regard.
I currently run a Girls Who Code club for middle school students at my school. It’s one of my favorite parts of the week! We’re learning Python3 and web design, connecting over the shared interest of learning how to code and of course enjoying yummy snacks. I encourage you to connect with Black Girls Code and/or Girls Who Code to see if hosting a club might be something that works for you, too. You won’t regret it.
March is Women’s History Month! These are some of the Founding Mothers of Computer Science.
Portrait of Ada Lovelace from Wikimedia.
Ada Lovelace is considered by most to be the first computer programmer. She invented the concept of programming before computers even existed. This Kids National Geographic article has good, additional information about her.
Grace Hopper was a U.S. Navy rear admiral, one of the first computer scientists and popularized the term “debugging” (for finding and fixing errors in code) when a moth was removed from the Mark II computer she was working with. This quick video provides a great snapshot that compliments the Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code biography.
Dorothy Vaughan, one of the subjects of the Hidden Figures movie and books was a brilliant mathematician who taught herself and her staff the Fortran programming language. She was one of the women instrumental in helping to win the space race. This is a great animated short about her obstacles, and contributions.
I hope you enjoy these resources! I’m looking forward to sharing highlights from the MACUL conference next time. Until next month!