Falling in love with science, the sy-STEM-ic way! By Roopa Pai

                                                                            

                                                          

What is the scariest word in the English language? If the level of its scariness is decided by a word's power to make otherwise reasonable, clear-headed and intelligent adults blanch, in broad daylight, I would proffer a short, 1.5 syllable-long one - MATHS (or, as it has become fashionable to call it now, math).

There! I've scared you now, haven't I? Sent your mind screaming down some particularly dark childhood rabbit holes redolent of chalk-dust and your math-teacher's body odour, into soul-destroying places you'd sworn you'd never revisit? If I haven't, you are one of that rare species - a 'natural', a brain, a Ramanujan.

 Or at least that's what most people would say. But a lot of other people, including me, would beg to differ. You don't have to be a genius to figure math out, we will counter, and you aren't a duffer if it doesn't speak to you. All of us, we will insist, are born with mathematical ability - children can tell which piece of chicken or which portion of ice-cream is bigger (the one the sibling got, of course!); Teenagers, even those who ostensibly hate maths, know how to divvy up their allowance to buy the things - clothes, shoes, concert tickets - that they really want ('But that's because I know where the best sales are happening, that's all!"); and most of us buy cars based on the all-important 'kitni deti hai'. In other words, we are all naturally good at, respectively, comparison, calculating discounts based on percentage 'off', and calculating mileage.

When this is the case, what spawns this extreme and paralysing 'math anxiety' that so many of us seem to have? There are many factors involved. One, the fact that math isn't taught in the most fun way possible at the early childhood and primary level - it is always treated as a 'serious' subject, dealing with numbers rather than concepts! Two, the fact that it is somehow more acceptable in society for English speaking children and adults! To say 'I can't do math - it's beyond me' than it is to say, for instance, 'I can't read English, it's beyond me'.  Three, the fact that there are several 'scientific studies' that the media likes to regularly put out, which apparently confirm that math ability is inborn - if you are not born with it, you can never develop it. (This in spite of the fact that there are enough scientific studies that say exactly the opposite, that math is a learned skill like anything else, and that you get better at it with hard work and regular practice.)

The latter two factors combine to create the most dangerous one of all - a lack of motivation and self-belief that asserts itself at the first sign of difficulty with math. The thing is, if children don't believe they can get better at math, well, they usually don't. And it's easy to believe you are not a 'math person' when a parent is saying the same thing about herself and when scientific studies back up your 'feeling'.

And that's why it is so important to make STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) books part of early childhood reading. By approaching mathematical and scientific concepts through stories, a route that all children - and adults - connect to at the most visceral level, STEM books ensure that the mental barriers to these subjects that may come up in later childhood are effectively nipped in the bud. By introducing children to the everyday applications of these subjects rather than the theory behind them, STEM books spark interest, curiosity, and a belief that studying those subjects  could be not only a useful but joyful enterprise.  They present children an alternative point of view that most of the world will not - that math can be just as creative as art, that science can be just as engaging as WhatsApp, that it can be as much fun to make a miniature car as it is to race one in a computer game.

Convinced? Great! Now then, where can you find some great STEM books for your kids (and yourself), by Indian authors, in English (or an Indian language of your choosing), lushly illustrated in all-colour by some brilliant illustrators, in the comfort of your home (it's all online) and free to download and print? You need look no further than Pratham Books' brilliant initiative, 

www. storyweaver.org.in. 

Here are ten fun Storyweaver STEM books to get you started on a wonderful journey. Ready, set, know!

·        Ammachi's Amazing Machines by Rajiv Eipe

·        How Old Is Muttajji? by Roopa Pai

·        How Far Is Far? by Sukanya Sinha

·        The Fascinating Fibonaccis by Shonali Chandy Chinniah

·        Dum Dum-A-Dum Biryani by Gayathri Tirthapura

·        Bonda and Devi by Roopa Pai

·        One By Two by Maya Bisineer

·        Sister Sister by Roopa Pai (Set of 4)           

·        A Helping Hand by Payal Dhar

·        Where Did Your Dimples Go? by Radha H S

(Children's writer Roopa Pai got her degree in Computer Engineering, which is probably why science in some form makes an appearance in most of her books. She is the author of over 20 books, spanning the gamut from sci-fi fantasy and pop science to philosophy and economics. Her national bestseller 'The Gita For Children' won the Crossword Popular Award for Children's Writing last year, 2016.) 

Check out  Roopa Pai's books :
 The Gita : For children (Hachette)
What if the earth stopped spinning?(Red Turtle)
How old is Muttaji?(Pratham Books)