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(Unit 2) Topic 3: STEM in the Early Childhood Program

2 Clock Hours of Early Childhood Education

What is STEM for young children?

​Topic 3 Page 2

STEM is curriculum focusing on Science, Technology, ​​​Engineering, and Math.  ​

STEM focused classrooms intertwine the subjects of STEM curriculum with other disciplines such as literacy and art.

The goal of STEM instruction is for students to become comfortable and more knowledgeable with science, technology, engineering, and math concepts to benefit them and the world that they are a part of.

Young children are constantly experiencing STEM concepts in their daily lives by playing and discovering the world around them. It is important to be mindful of this daily STEM play and support it as much as possible.

​Many school-age teachers and classrooms have an existing STEM curriculum that aims to teach children the fundamentals of science, technology, and math, but early childhood classrooms tend to shift their focus away from STEM. A typical early childhood classroom will focus on social, emotional and foundational skills such as early literacy and early math concepts. These are very important early childhood skills to teach and can be developed further when combined with STEM concepts. This has the potential to create a very well-rounded approach to learning certain concepts and can be applied to the early childhood programs as well.​

​For some, teaching subjects closely related to science or math can be overwhelming and confusing. For early childhood teachers we often don’t consider STEM related instruction or exposure to be a priority, but it is!

In fact, STEM concepts are a natural part of infants, toddler and preschool development. 

​According to astrophysicist and leading scientific speaker, Neil deGrasse Tyson, the best way to get people interested in STEM fields is to begin allowing their natural curiosities to flourish from the very beginning of childhood. 

(Unit 2) Topic 3: STEM in the Early Childhood Program * Navigation Menu