Design Squad (Global and Latinx)
Design Squad Latinx Educator Training (obsolete)

part 2: design squad latinx

Kids and Funds of Knowledge

As a club leader, you play a vital role in supporting your club participants to discover, value, and apply their funds of knowledge. But how should you go about this?

One main approach you can take to support kids with their funds of knowledge is through questioning. Ask questions that invite your club members to reflect on their funds of knowledge throughout the modules and engineering activities. For instance, while introducing an engineering activity, you might ask kids to consider if any of their funds of knowledge could be applied to the challenge at hand.

Questions to pose to your club might include the following:

  • What funds of knowledge do you have that you can apply to this engineering challenge?
  • Where have you seen this engineering concept in your community?
  • Think of the funds of knowledge of your family and community members. Do any of those funds relate to this challenge? How can we apply them to this engineering challenge?

TIP: Reinforce the concept for kids by making explicit references to funds of knowledge in your questions and responses.

In addition to questioning, as a club leader we encourage you to model the process of identifying and sharing your funds of knowledge. For instance, during an engineering challenge to create a sturdy home that can weather storms, a club leader might share their own lived experiences with storms and their effect on homes.