STEM in early childhood education
It’s easy to talk about all of the careers that require a STEM education, but what does it look like for our youngest learners?
In an interactive classroom setting intentionally designed to provide brain-building experiences and hands-on exploration, our students are free to discover, grow, and excel. Our teachers provide support when needed, offering guidance and assistance with new ideas, skills, and in facilitating interplay between children and the environment.
Our STEM world continues outside of the classroom, with multiple age-appropriate playscapes and yards, garden space, a makerspace for experiments and projects, and a multipurpose room for communal meals and special events.
Nurturing curiosity
“Why?” is a staple in the toddler vocabulary, and at Kepler STEM School, we encourage them to never stop questioning and discovering the world around them. Additionally, exposure to descriptive vocabulary and sensory words (hot, freezing, bumpy), comparison words (bigger, higher, fewer) and attribute words (color, shape, size) give them the voice they need to explore.
What does this look like in the classroom?
Science
Making predictions based on observations
Describing the world around them
Asking questions that lead to discoveries
Using technology to explore
Technology & Engineering
Planning and creating solutions to problems they encounter inside and outside of the classroom
Combining objects in new and innovative ways
Testing and revising solutions
Viewing “mistakes” as new opportunities for creation
Math
Pattern & Shape awareness
Spatial awareness - movement, position, and direction
Counting - basic addition and subtraction
Measurements - basic distance, time, size, and volume
STEM jobs—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—are projected to grow to more than 9 million between 2012 and 2022.
-U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration
Examples for STEM careers:
Agricultural and food scientists
Biological scientists & technicians
Chemical engineers
Aerospace engineering
Geological and petroleum engineers
