12. Using Computational Thinking 

You have read 11 stories. Each one taught you a concept through a character who was dealing with a real problem. Fern, Sophie, Pokey, Midnight, and the rest of them are not the only ones using computational thinking. We are using it, too, without even noticing.

This chapter is different. There are no stories here. It is just me telling you where computational thinking shows up in your real life.

In everyday life

We use at least five concepts before we even leave for school:

• Sequencing is our morning routine. We do things in a certain order. If we skip a step, the whole morning goes wrong. 
• Patterns show up in our sleeping routine. Parents wake up late on Sunday. That is a pattern. Once you see it, you can predict it.
• Decomposition is how we make a schedule. Instead of worrying about the whole day, we break it into parts. Each part is small enough to actually do.
• Conditions run our day. If it is a school day, wake up early. If homework is done, we can play. If not, not yet.
• Abstraction is what we do when we tell our parents about school. We don’t tell everything; we tell them what matters.

How to Self-Learn School Subjects

First, decompose the subject into big topics and smaller parts. Then, sequence them: what needs to be learned first before the next part makes sense? Use abstraction to take the most important bits from books and make short notes you can actually remember. For English, use patterns to remember how words sound and how they are spelt.

How to Teach a Younger Sibling

Decompose what you want to teach into tiny pieces. Sequence them in the right order, making it a game if you can. Observe a pattern in how they learn—where do they get stuck? Then, use loops by practicing with them every day.

How to NOT Get Tired at School

Decompose what “tired” actually means. Usually, it is one of these four “bugs.” Once you debug the cause, the solution is obvious:

How to Be More Mindful

Use patterns to find out when you get mindless. Is it always after lunch? During a certain subject? When you are hungry? Once you find the pattern, debug it. What is actually causing it? Fix the cause, not the symptom.

How to Have More Fun and Play Pranks

Decompose your prank idea into steps. Use functions to give a secret name to a series of steps that only you and your friends understand. Finally, observe a pattern in people’s reactions so you can replicate the funniest ones!

These are just the ones I have found so far. Once you start looking, you will find computational thinking everywhere. It does not end with this book. It starts here.