STEM education in kindergartens!
As many future jobs will be based in STEM fields, and in order to spark children’s interest in STEM, it is important to introduce scientific phenomena to children in a fun and understandable way, starting from early childhood.
Scientific research (Eshach & Fried, 2005, Worth, 2010) emphasizes the importance of science in the kindergarten curriculum, primarily in the development of positive attitudes toward science, as children naturally enjoy observing and learning about nature. These studies suggest that early exposure to scientific phenomena leads to a better understanding of scientific concepts that will later be formally learned and that the use of scientific language at an early age positively influences the later development of scientific concepts.
They believe that children can understand scientific concepts and think scientifically, adding that science is an effective tool for developing scientific thinking, i.e., it can be a rich context in which children can use and develop other important skills and attitudes for learning.
Therefore, it is understandable that our association expanded its Educational Program to the preschool age group, especially after numerous inquiries from preschools across Croatia.
The eight-hour education we conduct consists of two parts. The first part addresses the theoretical background of this field: how STEM originated, why it was created, and what its role is in education, especially in kindergarten.
After this, there is practical work on various STEM experiments. All experiments involve simple equipment so that educators can conduct experiments with their kindergarten groups. Through the conducted experiments, educators learned how to guide children through scientific research and the basic principles of scientific work with children. The inspiring work with the entire group also sparked numerous ideas for new STEM experiments and research projects that educators can carry out in kindergartens. All of our previous educational sessions have received the highest ratings from educators, and we encourage other kindergartens to engage in STEM education in their institutions!
Bulunuz, M. (2013). Teaching science through play in kindergarten: does integrated play and science instruction build understanding? European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 21 (2), 226-250.
Worth, K. (2010). Science in Early Childhood Classroom: Content and Process. Retrieved on 15.11.2013, from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/beyond/seed/worth.html.