My daughter has little interest in making things or in the trades. She likes to read and wants to write. Although she's gifted in both math and science.
My son is absolutely nuts about making stuff. I've got a basement workshop and I've gone over proper use of hand tools with him and he's got free run of the place. No power tools yet unless I'm with him, and no stationary power tools yet at all.
He can decide what he wants to do when he's older, but I'm going to make sure he considers the trades.
Our middle school has an amazing band program. One of the best in the state. But if you choose to take advantage of the outstanding band program, you can't take the electives like industrial arts and home economics. They don't call them that, but those electives really look pretty good too. There's a robotics one, and wood shop, and metal shop, and cooking. You rotate between all of them, or you can do band.
I suppose if my son winds up taking band, he can still always putter in my shop at home.
For his birthday last month, one of the gifts we gave him was a bunch of random lumber.
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