In early Spring I traveled to beautiful Sunnyside Washington to introduce early childhood teachers of Inspire Development Centers to STEM practices and content. During the two day STEM training 50 School Readiness Liaison and Early Head Start Teachers were introduced to foundational principles of STEM education and content appropriate for early childhood classrooms. The second day of training introduced the School Readiness Liaison Teachers to STEM explorations that can be incorporated in Family STEM programs and at home. Throughout the two-day training teachers were actively engaged in conducting inquiry-based STEM explorations from building with recycled materials to conducting STEM explorations outside, water science, incorporating affordable and meaningful technology, incorporating children’s literature within STEM lessons, journaling for preschoolers, and more. It was a great group of dedicated educators who will go onto share what they learned during the training with their students and their parents, making a positive impact on the children of the Migrant Workers and the community. Check out some of the photos taken during the two training.
Tag: youngengineers
STEM Explorations for Young Children
Looking for ideas to incorporate STEM practices and content within your early childhood through the primary-level classroom. Check out the following photos of VPK and Kindergarten students conducting hands-on STEM investigations as they rotate through a dozen or so STEM-based exploration centers. Children were free to explore a dozen STEM exploration centers of their choice and spend as much or as little time as they chose. Children had the opportunity to build dimensional structures with recyclable materials, code with simple robotics, explore electronics with Snap Circuits and Circuit Conductors, build a model robot, explore unique states of matter, test out an earthquake table, build with bricks, build ramps with paper tubes and marbles, use levels and draw in the block center, tinker, take household gadgets apart and more. Each of the centers helped to develop and strengthen 21st-century learning skills as well. The following photos and video provide a wide-array of STEM-based exploration centers that are age-appropriate and manageable. The following photos and video are from a recent STEM-based program I conducted for a local school for VPK and Kindergarten students. [envira-gallery id=”1568″] [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvRLomlZstQ[/embedyt]