Jobs for kids: here, now, and in sci-fi futures
In a Berkeley study, 4-year-olds outperformed adults at problem-solving that required unexpected moves. What if each engineer played with a couple of young kids to work though tough design challenges? #JobsForKids: Scout of Unlikely Possibilities.
A designer dad invited his 5-year-old, and an illustrator mom her 4-year-old, to pass the work back and forth. Deeply original stories, poems, and drawings emerged, reaching worldwide renown. What if art, design, and architecture studios had kid artists on premises? #JobsForKids: Surrealist Artist.
In our upcoming book, Problem-Solving for the Young, we describe the complementary roles of kids and adults in harmonious mixed-age math circles. Here is the table:
| Adults | Children | |
| Ideas | Write ideas down, sort and organize sets of examples, articulate knowledge | Generate diverse, creative, novel, unexpected ideas |
| Mathematics | Maintain consistency of patterns, extend patterns with new examples | Open up and maintain free play, break patterns to create new patterns |
| Process | Organize the process, manage time and tasks, maintain group well-being, nurture | Sense poor management practices, quickly react to dangers (“the canary”), invoke empathy and joy |
| Applications | Connect ideas to many life experiences and examples | Connect ideas to unexpected examples, look at familiar things from new angles |
| Aesthetics | Appreciate order and systems | Appreciate beauty and adventure |
Has your child ever surprised you with a clever solution to a home improvement dilemma?
Is your toddler better at conflict resolution than your whole HR department?
Can you see the future where kids fully participate in advanced, professional, math-rich endeavors?
Send us examples for our new #JobsForKids collection!
Email moby@moebiusnoodles.com or leave a comment.
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