My daughter once broke the "family computer" trying to install "Barbie Dress Designer". In the late '90s, we had a relatively high-end computer with a reasonable hard drive but the kids had A LOT of software. When the installer told her there wasn't enough hard-drive space, she went looking for applications they didn't use and since "we never play win98", she deleted that folder. The computer was soon upgraded to WinXP and the kids had were provided with unprivileged accounts.
This unfortunate Barbie story has a happy ending ... my kids developed a fearlessness when using computers which is precisely what I'd hoped. Next spring my daughter will finish a combined undergrad/masters degree in Biology (she's a molecular geneticist) and switch universities for a doctorate program. She's had no problem understanding the general logic concepts involved in computer programming including a rigorous course in bioinformatics (using Python).
So how do we go from Barbie to CS? I'd say skip the Barbie completely, but if that won't work in your household, then temper it with equal time on nerdy pursuits. And if you ever run into the "Barbie Dress Designer" software? Buy stock in hot pink Inkject cartridges ... it will empty them at an amazing rate.
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My daughter once broke the "family computer" trying to install "Barbie Dress Designer". In the late '90s, we had a relatively high-end computer with a reasonable hard drive but the kids had A LOT of software. When the installer told her there wasn't enough hard-drive space, she went looking for applications they didn't use and since "we never play win98", she deleted that folder. The computer was soon upgraded to WinXP and the kids had were provided with unprivileged accounts.
This unfortunate Barbie story has a happy ending ... my kids developed a fearlessness when using computers which is precisely what I'd hoped. Next spring my daughter will finish a combined undergrad/masters degree in Biology (she's a molecular geneticist) and switch universities for a doctorate program. She's had no problem understanding the general logic concepts involved in computer programming including a rigorous course in bioinformatics (using Python).
So how do we go from Barbie to CS? I'd say skip the Barbie completely, but if that won't work in your household, then temper it with equal time on nerdy pursuits. And if you ever run into the "Barbie Dress Designer" software? Buy stock in hot pink Inkject cartridges ... it will empty them at an amazing rate.