Fazreen Razeek wrote this 2018 list of ten tips for parents and teachers who want children, and girls in particular, to grow up confident with technology. Below it, a 2026 update adds federal degree data and the national computer science framework to help families and schools put the tips to use.
What every parent and educator should consider in raising kids as technologists
Some schools around the world are still lagging behind when it comes to integrating technology education into their curriculum, as well as their approach to teaching.
This just means that parents, as well as teachers, must be proactive and continuously seek ways to improve their children’s technological literacy. They must seek activities related to computer science and programming.
Here are some tips every parent and educator should consider in raising kids as technologists.
1.) Look for activities focused on computational thinking, not coding
Computer science includes topics such as programming, technology systems, design and prototyping processes, and technological literacy.
To us, the real goal of computer science education is to help kids develop computational thinking skills which they can then apply in different subjects, learning environments, and everyday contexts.
2.) Know the difference between coding and programming
Coding can be a great activity if it is taught in the context of logic, pattern recognition and problem-solving. Unfortunately, this is often not the case as most teachers focus on specific programming languages and teach coding as a technical skill. Programming languages evolve and many are becoming obsolete. Some believe that coding will be the next blue collar job.
3.) When possible, look for activities taught by teachers, not volunteers
It is time to shift to computer science education for primary school children which are defined by appropriate pedagogy, didactics, teaching approaches, and classroom management strategies. This means that whenever possible, computer science education should be developed and taught by qualified teachers.
Raising Girls as Successful Technologists
4.) Different Types of Play
From early on, ensure that girls are exposed to a mix of different types of play. Teach them how to design, make, build and program with tangible objects such as building blocks, LEGO, and Do-It-Yourself and robotics kits. We have observed that girls come to our programs with weaker designing, prototyping, building and programming skills than boys because they have not had enough exposure to these types of activities.
We have observed that children from low-income neighbourhoods also lack these skills. This lack of exposure limits the quality of the solutions girls develop and undermines their confidence to present ideas and push back against more confident, dominant boys.
5.) Practice in Assembling Things
Provide girls with lots of practice in assembling things, following written instructions such as recipes, everyday items, replacing conventional technology, and configuring new devices. These activities pave the way to understand computer science concepts such as systems, algorithms, commands, and sequence while helping them become comfortable with decision-making, trial and error, troubleshooting, handling failure and persevering. One good example is changing light bulbs.
Here are some questions to ask your kids: What wattage is best? What shape of lightbulb is best? Should we purchase a dimmable LED light or a normal light bulb? Is a dimmable LED light worth the extra cost?
6.) Electronic Devices
7.) Technology in the context of Interest
Discuss technology in the context of the interests and hobbies of girls and boys. For example, sensor technology is used in all kinds of sports and performing arts activities. Discuss how Hawkeye ball-tracking technology is used in tennis matches or how sensor technology is used by fencers and runners to track performance and enable ballerinas to ‘paint’ beautiful art.
8.) Female Technologists
Teach girls (and boys) about female technologists and their contributions to society. Too much popular discourse around technology focuses on male tech entrepreneurs. Children, especially girls, need to learn about women such as Grace Hopper, Margaret Hamilton, Ada Lovelace, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson and others who have and are making major contributions to the development of key technologies.
9.) Computer Science or Programming Activities
10.) Propose Computer Science
Our most important tip for parents, lobby for computer science and technological literacy to be integrated into formal primary school curriculum. This will ensure that all girls receive technology education in a mixed gender context.
How to encourage kids in computer science: what the data and the framework say
Parents and teachers who want to encourage kids in computer science often ask where to start and whether the effort matters. Fazreen Razeek’s tips above answer the first question with specific home and classroom activities. This section adds two sources that help with the second: federal data on who earns computer science degrees, and the K-12 Computer Science Framework that many states use as a guide.
Why the tips about girls still matter
The National Center for Education Statistics tracks bachelor’s degrees awarded in computer and information sciences in Digest of Education Statistics Table 325.35, which runs through the 2020-21 academic year. In 1983-84 women earned 37.1 percent of those degrees, 12,023 of 32,439. By 2009-10 the share was 18.1 percent, and by 2020-21 it had recovered only to 21.9 percent, or 22,953 of 104,874 degrees. The number of women earning the degree fell from 12,023 in 1983-84 to 7,179 in 2009-10 and then rose to 22,953 by 2020-21.
These figures describe college degrees, not what happens in elementary school, and they do not explain why the share fell or why it has recovered slowly. They do show that the gap Razeek writes about has lasted a long time and has not closed on its own. The tips address the early years: different types of play, practice assembling and disassembling things, technology connected to children’s interests, and women technologists as examples. Razeek also writes that the organization behind the article has observed that girls often arrive at its programs with less experience designing, building and programming than boys, and that children from low-income neighborhoods lack these skills too. That is an observation from those programs, not a measured national finding, and families should treat it as a reason to offer the same chances to everyone.
What a shared national framework adds
The K-12 Computer Science Framework was developed by the Association for Computing Machinery, Code.org, the Computer Science Teachers Association, the Cyber Innovation Center and the National Math and Science Initiative, working with states, districts and the computer science education community. Its stated aim is to move computer science from a subject for the fortunate few to an opportunity for all, and to prepare students to be computationally literate creators who are proficient in the concepts and practices of computer science. The framework’s goal supports Razeek’s first tip, which asks families to look for activities built on computational thinking rather than coding alone. The latest edition of the State of AI and Computer Science Education report, the 2025 edition from CodeAI (formerly Code.org), is described at advocacy.code.org/stateofcs, and parents can use it to check what their own state offers.
Coding is not the same as computer science
Razeek’s second tip separates programming, which includes analysis, problem-solving, algorithm generation and testing, from coding, the writing of the actual instructions. The distinction gives parents a useful test for any club or app. They can ask whether children are asked to design a solution, try it, find what went wrong and explain the fix, or only to copy lines of code. Razeek’s concern that programming languages evolve and some become obsolete is a reason to prefer activities that teach the reasoning behind the code, since that reasoning carries over from one language to the next. The K-12 framework’s emphasis on computational literacy points the same way.
Using the tips this month
- Ask the school what computer science instruction exists in the elementary grades, who teaches it, and whether it includes more than coding. Razeek’s third tip favors qualified teachers over volunteers where possible.
- At home, choose open-ended building, taking apart old electronics and following written instructions, the activities in tips four through six, before buying any product.
- Connect technology to what a child already likes, as in tip seven’s examples from sports and performing arts.
- Show children women who built technology. Razeek’s tip eight names Grace Hopper, Margaret Hamilton, Ada Lovelace, Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, and a library visit can turn each name into a story.
- If the school offers nothing, bring the question to the school board with the framework’s goal in hand, which is tip ten’s advice to lobby for computer science in the formal curriculum.
Teachers looking for more on why computer science belongs in the core curriculum can read the edCircuit article Why Computer Science Should Be a Core Subject in K12, and the STEM education guide covers the wider subject area.
Further Reading
- HuffPost – Raising Low Tech Kids in Silicon Valley Part II And a Year Later
- EdTech – Technology Can Give All Students a Voice
- The Atlantic – The Futile Resistance Against Classroom Tech
Related reading
More on STEM and STEAM Education
