How and Why to Integrate

STEM into Early Childhood Education

Click here for the report Click here for the report

What We’ll Talk About Today

What is Early STEM, and why is it

important?

The Roles of:

Parents & Teachers

Connecting Learning

Research & Policy

The Culture

Discussion

What is early STEM?

Learning to Learn

Fostering

Curiosity

Encouraging

Exploration

Tinkering

Trial & Error

Figuring out how things work

Pretending

Weaving holistic

understanding

Well-designed STEM Experiences

Representation and communication

are central to STEM learning.

Children need adults to develop their

natural STEM inclinations.

• Preschool math skills predict

later academic achievement

more consistently than early

reading or attention skills.

• Income-related inequalities in

STEM understanding start

before kindergarten and, for

many, this gap is never

bridged.

• Well-designed STEM

experiences translate to gains

in executive function and

language skills.

Parents & Teachers

Parents & Teachers

Many parents and teachers experience

anxiety, low self-confidence, and

gendered assumptions about STEM

topics, which can transfer to their

children and students.

Recommendation: Engage Parents.

Support parent confidence as their children’s first and most important

STEM guides.

Develop high-quality programs and resources that promote family

engagement in STEM.

Parents & Teachers

Teachers in early childhood

environments need more robust training,

professional development, and

resources to effectively engage young

children in developmentally appropriate

STEM learning.

Recommendation: Support teachers.

Revamp pre-service and in-service STEM-related training and

supports for early childhood teachers.

Make high-quality early STEM resources and implementation

guidance available to practitioners.

Parents & Teachers

Resources

Professional Development Info:

• Foundations of Science Literacy

• ECSTEM Conference (annual)

• PBS STEM Alive

Curriculum Info & STEM Activities:

• Ramps & Pathways

• STEM from the Start

• Young Scientist Series curriculum guides

• PEEP and the Big Wide World

• Boston Children’s Museum: STEM

Sprouts

• Science is Simple: 250 Activities for

Preschoolers, by Peggy Ashbrook

Peggy Ashbrook’s NSTA blog The Early Years

Interactive: Open-Ended Question

Think about your experiences with professional

development around STEM:

In what areas have you received enough information

and support to use in your classroom and develop as a

STEM teacher?

In what areas are you not receiving enough information

or training?

Please use the chat box to share.

Connecting Learning

Connecting Learning

Parents and technology help connect school, home,

and other learning environments like libraries and

museums to support early STEM learning.

Immersion in this web of STEM learning leads to

STEM fluency.

School

Parents

Technology

Museums

Libraries

Recommendation: Connect learning.

Support and expand the web of STEM learning

Charging Stations available to children.

Connecting LearningSchool

Parents

Technology

Museums

Libraries

Resources

• Bedtime Math app (and website)

• PBS Parents Guide to Early Math and Science

• PBS Elementary STEM Resource roundup

• The Afterschool Alliance

• First LEGO League

• Science museums near you

• Community of STEM Librarians

• Boston Children’s Museum: STEM Sprouts

Interactive: Chat Questions

Do you know of any “charging stations” in your community

that help children gain access to STEM experiences?

How do parents and teachers find out about these places?

Does technology play a role – or could it?

Please use the chat box to share.

Research & Policy

Research & Policy

Research plays a critical role in influencing classroom policies, but

research is not always aligned with practitioner needs and realities.

Recommendations:

Develop more Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships that engage

practitioners as partners throughout the process.

Develop and support a research agenda that informs developmental

trajectories, effective resources, and best practices.

Research & Policy

STEM education policies will benefit from greater:

• Alignment (the coherence of policy expectations and the tools used to

implement those policies, such as assessments, curriculum, and

teacher training )

• Continuity (connections across grade levels), starting with preschool.

Recommendation: Build a sustainable and aligned system of high quality

early learning from birth to age 8, with standards that explicitly address

STEM and align with K-12 standards.

The Culture

The Culture

People have preexisting assumptions about STEM learning:

• o it is for older students

• o children should learn other topics first

• o it is only important for those who excel in these areas

STEM Education is not culturally neutral.

Recommendation:

Use insights from communications

science to build public will for and

understanding of early STEM learning.

Interactive: What will you do next?

Given what you’ve heard about culture and communicating, do

you want to do anything differently?

What would you like to bring back to your school or teacher

colleagues that you may have learned from this webinar?

Please use the chat box to share.

Resources

STEM Starts Early (see Appendix B)

FrameWorks Institute: Making the Case for STEM Learning

Discussion

Some of this material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1417878. Any opinions, findings, and

conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National

Science Foundation.