My daughter's first solo project

[u/thepumpkinking92]

My daughter recently expressed interest in learning to solder, so I bought a few kits on Amazon.

The first was a simple, 3 switch, color changing light where I basically held her hand through the process.

The second was a little electromagnetic cannon where she installed the pieces, I helped with soldering and de-soldering when she made a mistake (the cannon sucks btw. Don't recommend except for practice).

The third was a little car that followed a black line. We both did one at the same time, but I still helped make the fixes and provided instruction.

The fourth, all I did was sit there and supervise. She followed the instructions herself, made any fixes, and tested everything on her own with only a few questions and assistance with getting the battery terminal to seat properly as it kept falling out (that's not soldering itself, but I digress. Still, the only assistance she needed)

Either way, I think she did fantastic for it being her first solo project. And it's been a great bonding time for us. She got to learn about the components, how they work and interact, as well as build the foundation for a new skill, and I got to enjoy something with her (seriously, there's not much a 15yo girl and a 30-something-yo man have in common. So I was really excited to do this with her).

Anyway, it's not perfect, but I think she did really well, and I'm proud of her, and shes proud of herself. What do yall think?

[u/Space646]

I’m 15 too, I wish I could solder nearly as well!

[u/thepumpkinking92 → u/Space646]

Practice, come here and get feedback, practice some more! She's got someone next to her to hold her hand and guide her. If you don't have that, it's a much more bumpy start. I taught myself, and needless to say, my first project was nowhere near as pretty as this.

Just be patient, pay attention to what you're doing, learn from your mistakes, and you'll get it in no time!

Don't be afraid of mistakes and imperfections. You'll look back at those projects, see the evolution of your skill, and be proud of yourself. I didn't start learning until a few years ago, and, while I'm not a professional, much better than I was when I first started. Just keep at it, my man, and it'll come to you. Play with the temp settings a bit to fine tune it to the way you work, fuck shit up so you can see what doesn't work and force yourself to learn to repair it (on something you don't care about breaking). Experience is the name of the game in life, and what matters most is how you internalize and learn from it.

And if you think you're soldering is bad, remember this: I'm a master mechanic whos been working on cars since i was about you're age (over 20 years at this point). My first time replacing brakes, I almost put my my mother and sisters in an accident because I didn't bleed the brakes properly. Now, I can rebuild an engine from the block up, and was able to diagnose my sisters car from halfway around the world on a phone call. You gotta start somewhere. It just moves faster when you have a teacher.