Girl Scouts Heart STEM

This week there was a super cool event celebrating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). Girl Scouts and the New York Academy of Sciences hosted a panel discussion called "Girls Heart STEM" to review results "from a new study conducted by the Girl Scouts on girls' attitudes and awareness of careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

According to the Girl Scout Research Institute study Generation STEM: What Girls Say about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, 74 percent of girls — and even higher percentages of African-American and Hispanic girls — say they’re interested in the so-called STEM fields of science, technology, math, and engineering. The trick is to break professions into their component parts. Girls who are interested in STEM want to know how things work. They like solving puzzles and problems. They want to understand the natural world."

 

From the Girl Scouts blog, here are the keys to successfully fostering and supporting girls' interests in STEM:

• Engagement: Having an orientation to the sciences and/or quantitative disciplines that includes such qualities as awareness, interest and motivation.
• Capacity: Possessing the acquired knowledge and skills needed to advance to increasingly rigorous content in the sciences and quantitative disciplines.
• Continuity: Institutional and programmatic opportunities, material resources and guidance that support advancement to increasingly rigorous content in the sciences and quantitative disciplines.

Girls also live blogged and live-Tweeted from the event - very cool!

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What We're "Pinning" This Valentine's Day

 We found some REALLY cute Valentine's Day craft and recipe ideas for your tween to make, and we "pinned" them to our board on Pinterest. Our favorites include the tinted milk hearts, the roasted potato hearts, and cinnamon heart rolls. Today we made meringue hearts and pink marshmallows for teacher gifts.

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Tweens Date By Text

We were fascinated by an article in this week's Wall Street Journal about the dating habits of tweens. Apparently entire relationships start, live and end via text message - and it's not an isolated occurrence: half of the older tweens surveyed (ages 11 to 14) say they've had a dating relationship. The few dozen tweens we spoke to this week confirmed the study findings: that this trend is a norm in their schools. One girl said, "Girls in my school do this to say they're in a relationship, but they never actually go anywhere."

While exploring dating is a cultural norm in middle school, MsTwixt does wish that the 1950's notion that having a boyfriend somehow validates a girl's worth would get with the times already.

Do you know if your tween "dates"? And if so, does s/he have a virtual or in-person relationship? Given that texting often figures in tween relationships of any kind, do you monitor your tween's texts? One tip: have all family members dock their phones at bedtime in a central location in your house - it will cut down tremendously on the late-night text sessions and mean more shut-eye for your kid. For other tips on developing a family technology policy, view our Women in Media interview here.

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Facebook's New Timeline Feature: What You Need to Know to Keep Your Tween Safe

Facebook will automatically be updating all profiles to their new Timeline view next week (February 16, 2012 according to their website). What this means is that your "Wall" will be displayed as a "Timeline".

The biggest change from a privacy standpoint is that while any post on Facebook stayed on Facebook forever, someone had to really search hard to find older photos and posts (and while college is a while off for tweens, most college admissions offices DO search applicants' Facebook profiles - and photos of indiscretions or questionable behavior have staying power). The Timeline feature now includes a "sort" feature by year (on the right side of the page), and this makes finding those old photos and conversations MUCH easier.

 For an example of a Timeline you can see Mark Zuckerberg's Timeline below:

There are two important things you need to do to keep your tween safe (And while we all know that Facebook does not permit anyone under the age of 13 to join, many tweens have. Or, if you have a family Facebook page as we do, you'll want to look at these directions too.):

• Check your Privacy Settings (after you've logged in, click the arrow next to "Home" and select "Privacy Settings" from the drop down menu)
• Scroll down to "How Tags Work" and click on "Edit Settings"

• Select "Maximum Timeline Visibility" and choose your privacy setting; you can see that we opted for "Friends" - meaning that only our Friends can view the posts we're tagged in. You could also choose "Custom" and then "Only Me" for maximum privacy

• Click "Done"; you'll revert to the Privacy Settings Screen
• Select "Limit the Audience for Past Posts" and click on "Manage Past Post Visibility"
• You can opt to "Limit the Audience for Old Posts on Your Timeline", and this will mean that old photos and posts can only be seen by your Facebook Friends and not by the public at large.

For more tips on the new Timeline, check out this article in PC World - it has some of the best, most clearly written tips I've seen on the topic.

For more tips on keeping your tween safe online, check out our interview on Digital Literacy in the Women in Media Journal.

Full disclosure: MsTwixt does maintain a Facebook page.

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To Get Her There: Girl Scouts' Campaign for Girls' Success

An amazing new campaign kicked-off today: To Get Her There. It's a massive effort by Girl Scouts to empower and encourage girls so that they succeed. A central idea is that when you help a girl, you help society overall; that leadership is a birthright of girls.

From their website:

• The problem: There's something seriously stopping girls from reaching their full potential. What's stopping girls today? Negative influences surround girls' lives, including peer pressure to not stand out, a lack of role models and mentors, unhealthy images in the media about beauty, and even bullying from their peers. If this current cycle of discouragement continues unchecked, millions of girls won't reach their full potential as leaders in our society.  It's time we create a supportive environment that helps pave her path to success. We all have a role to play to get her there.
• A solution: When girls succeed, so does society. We know that the greatness inside her hasn't gone away. It's just not being realized. This generation of girls deserves to lead tomorrow's boardrooms and courthouses and run our hospitals and technology start-ups. But she might not get there, unless we create the environment needed to support her. All of us have a role to play in helping girls achieve their full leadership potential. Get informed here, and then learn how you can participate, speak up, and invest in girls to create change.

I was most struck by this quote from Girl Scouts CEO Anna Maria Chavez about what happens to girls in their tween years: "Why is it that a girls' desire to lead is strongest when she's 8 years old, but then diminishes by half when she is 16 years old?"

The To Get Her There website includes a video series about "Who got YOU there?" - interviews with several successful women about "Who helped you get to where you are today?" and "How can we support girls to reach their full potential today?" Their answers are enlightening.

(Full disclosure: MsTwixt is a Girl Scout troop leader in Washington, D.C. for three troops and has been a troop leader for nine years - so yes, I have a stake in this.)

Find out how you can get involved here and watch the LiveStream address here.

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Thin Mint Lip Balm!

We stumbled across these fun lip balms in Girl Scout Cookie flavors! Made by Lip Smacker, these look and smell yummy. In fun flavors like Thin Mint, Samoa (chocolate and caramel), Trefoil, and Tagalongs (peanut butter and chocolate).

Available at Claire's $3.50/each or $14.00 for a Party Pack of 8

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A Zany Bike from LittleMissMatched

We don't normally post about contests or sweepstakes, but this one looks fun: LittleMissMatched (purveyor of those crazy socks sold in sets of three - our fencing tween is OBSESSED) has designed a custom zany-print bike that they're giving away to one lucky tween. It looks like there's no purchase required - all you have to do is subscribe to their email list. This would be a fab bike for spring!

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A Braces Care Package

Our eldest tween got braces on yesterday - oh the drama! MsTwixt recalls being excited to get her braces when she was a tween because it was a rite of passage into teenager-hood. Alas, our tween was/is traumatized by the event.

To help ease the pain, both literally and figuratively, we ducked into our local supermarket and put together a quick care package (for whatever reason, it hadn't occurred to me to anticipate this drama). Her orthodontist warned us that the first few days would be quite sore, so soft foods would help. Here's what we included:

• Ibuprofen (for the pain)
• A magazine (to hopefully distract her a bit)
• Foods her orthodonist said she could eat:
• Smooth ice creams with no nuts or candy (her favorite are the Starbucks flavors) - we covered their tops with freezer tape labeled "For braces ONLY" to ward off her siblings (and her dad)
• Applesauce
• Pudding cups
• Yogurt cups
• Lip balm (to help soothe some very chafed lips)
• Disposable toothbrushes like Wisp (to ensure she can still make it to class on time after lunch)
• Balloons in her favorite color sporting big smiles with braces

Other items that would be great to include: straws, a stuffed animal with braces embroidered on, dental wax, special orthodontic toothbrushes, orthodontic dental floss, and a travel mirror.

The care package brought a smile back to her face - mission accomplished! 

The list of foods she should avoid was long, so we're researching options for substitutes that she can enjoy (e.g. Pirate's Booty instead of popcorn at the movies) - PLEASE share your tips for braces-safe food swaps!

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Celebrating the Chinese Year of the Dragon With Tweens

We love celebrating Chinese New Year with our tweens - Washington always has a great parade in Chinatown, and it's one of the most colorful holidays to watch (the dragon dance is always a big hit). To help us ring in 2012 as the Year of the Dragon, we asked our very crafty, very creative friends at Club Chica Circle to share a dragon-themed craft with our tweens - and boy, did they deliver! Our tweens have dubbed this as "way cool", and we think yours will too.

Today kicks off the Chinese New Year for 2012, and this is the year of the dragon. But what does that mean? The dragon is an especially powerful and important symbol in Chinese culture. Those born in the year of the dragon are said to be powerful, artistic, intuitive, and lucky.

Chinese New Year is celebrated for 15 days in the Chinese calendar, and is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese culture.

There are many customs and traditions associated with Chinese New Year celebrations. For instance, it is traditional to give red envelopes filled with money to wish good luck, wealth, or happiness. The color red is an especially regarded color and symbolizes luck in the Chinese culture.

The dragon dance is one of the most colorful and exciting events associated with Chinese New Year where dancers hold up dragon costumes and perform in parades and New Year's celebrations. The Chinese New Year dragon dance represents the bringing of good luck and success in the new year.

And on the 15th day, there is traditionally a red lantern celebration or festival where red lanterns are meant to decorate homes, storefronts, and town centers. The Lantern Festival signifies the end of the New Year and lanterns are hung as a symbol of good fortune and prosperity.

In honor of the year of the dragon, I crafted a dragon bracelet perfect for any tween.

Here is what you will need:
Red rickrack ribbon
Heart shaped beads (I used 12 - 6 red and 6 orange)
Thick orange foam (about 5mm thick)
Scissors
Embroidery thread and needle
Googly eyes
Glue
White and black puffy paint

First cut about 12" of rickrack ribbon, and string heart shaped beads on. I alternated red and orange colored beads and made sure they were all going the same direction. The heart shape along the with waviness of the rick rack is a great way to represent the scales of the dragon. Chinese dragons can be very colorful, so don't be afraid to use other colors. Also, because the rick rack is wavy is a great way to keep the beads in place.

On the end where the bottom of the heart shaped beads are facing leave about 1 1/2" and knot the end (this will become the tough of the dragon). On the other end, make sure to leave about 4" of rickrack and knot a loop at the end (this will become the tail and will wrap around the neck of the dragon to create a bracelet).

Cut two pieces of rickrack about 3 inches long. Tie each along each end leaving 2 beads on the outside of each end. This will be the feet of the dragon.

Now, using your scissors, cut two pieces of thick foam about 1" x 3/4" and 3/4" x 3/4". These pieces will create the head and mouth of the dragon with the larger piece being the top of the head. With an embroidery needle and colored thread to match the foam, knot off one end and push the need through the top of the head and connecting it through the smaller piece of foam and all the way through. Then push your needle back through the other side of the smaller piece, up through the bigger piece, connecting the two pieces on one end. Pull through and knot at the end to make tight. Don't worry the knots will be hidden with the googly eyes glued on top.

Glue two googly eyes on top of the bigger piece of foam on top of the embroidery thread knots. Let dry.

With white puffy paint, draw on white triangles on either side of the head for teeth. With black puffy paint, draw on black half circles for nostrils on top of the head. Let dry.

Once the head is completely dry, string the knotted end of the bracelet through the stitched end of the head until the knot sits securely in the middle of the mouth. Trim the rick rack tongue if necessary.

To attach the bracelet, carefully wrap the looped tail end around the dragon head while on your wrist. Make one for yourself of give as a Chinese New Year's gift to a friend!

We hope the year of the dragon brings you all the best of luck and good fortune, whatever culture you are. Happy New Year!

Are you a member of Club Chica Circle yet? You and your tween should be - it's free, fun and fabulous!

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Fantastic Interview With Fashion Blogger Tavi (and Look at Her Room!)

Tween Teen fashion blogger and editor-in-chief (of Rookie Mag) Tavi Gevinson recently did a televised interview with the BBC. It is fascinating to hear her in speak about how she started in fashion and with writing and her take on being the youngest editor-in-chief on the planet. The tour of her room is also incredibly fun - it features a loft bed, vinyl records (SO retro), and the general chaos that comes with a girl's life (glitter, photos, stickers, jewelry, momentos, and the like).

We knew the girl could write - now we can all hear how well spoken she is too.  Perfect timing: New York Fashion Week starts February 9, 2012!

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