Early Learning Project
I’m worried about the emphasis on academics in preschool curricula and the “pushdown” of primary school curricula into early childhood. Is the sudden interest in science, engineering, technology, and math another example of that?
I agree that “pushdown” of primary school curricula into early childhood is inappropriate, but I believe that the current interest in science, engineering, technology, and math has emerged from other sources. Specifically, recent research has demonstrated that math and science curricula in many preschool classrooms are out of sync with children’s development. In many of these classrooms, the emphasis of the curriculum is primarily on teaching children to write and decode print. However, in recent years, neuroscientists have found that the ability to make letter-sound associations develops much later than had earlier been believed. On the other hand, neuroscientists have discovered that even very young children are developmentally capable of mastering advanced math concepts, such as division. Teachers can help young children acquire mathematical concepts related to numbers, sets, and geometry by helping focusing on important math concepts as children engage in teacher- and child-initiated, hands-on, playful experiences.
Technology is one of the important areas of science included in the Illinois Early Learning Standards; however, in my experience, preschool teachers do not often consciously plan for experiences in this area. This is unfortunate given that young children are often interested in technology, such as machines and the tools that make them work. We live in an age of electronics, and the importance of technology in our society is only likely to grow. Therefore, it is important for young children to become comfortable with it. Thirty years ago, preschoolers would have pretended to dial on a rotary phone as they engaged in play in the housekeeping area. These days, preschoolers pretend to text, use pocket calculators, and talk on cell phones. This type of play reflects the fact that electronics are part of young children’s everyday world. Given their experiences, it seems logical that young children would be interested and comfortable in learning about technology through play.
The issue is not whether technology and engineering are appropriate topics for young children’s learning. The issue is how they should be taught. The pushdown of teaching methods used with older children is not appropriate. An MIT professor of mathematics, Seymour Papert (1980), used the term constructionism to describe the way that children develop understanding of space, time, and causality as they build mechanical/electronic objects in their play. Marina Bers (2008), a former student of Papert’s, has demonstrated that young children can construct understanding of technology through active, self-directed play with robotics. She stresses that it is important to teach technology through projects that are personally meaningful or interesting to the child and suggests teaching them a simple design process that includes (1) identifying a problem, (2) brainstorming a solution, (3) constructing a model, (4) testing and evaluating the design, (5) redesigning, and (6) sharing the results with others. Children share their progress on their projects when they meet periodically in technology circles. The teacher shares new technical information as questions or needs make the information relevant. Teachers who are curious about how implementing an engineering project works in a real classroom may be interested in reading a description by teacher Megina Baker in Bers’ book Blocks to Robots (2008). Megina provides a helpful description of how she implemented a project on aquatic creatures with kindergartners in which each child engineered a LEGO representation of an aquatic creature with moving parts. Science and math concepts, such as measurement, weight, and balance, arise naturally when working on engineering projects such as the creation of the LEGO aquatic creatures.
- Baker, Megina. (2008). The engineering design process in a kindergarten study group. In Marina Umaschi Bers, Blocks to robots: Learning with technology in the early childhood classroom (pp. 53-59). New York: Teachers College Press.
- Bers, Marina Umaschi. (2008). Blocks to robots: Learning with technology in the early childhood classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.
- Papert, Seymour. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas. New York: Basic Books.
Many of the boys in my preschool seem naturally drawn to science, technology, engineering, and math activities. Can you suggest ways that I can get more girls in my classroom interested in these activities?
Unfortunately, many (but not all) girls and boys think of the block area as a place where boys play, primarily with transportation toys. It is important for teachers to develop strategies that will help change this stereotype.
One strategy is to watch for opportunities when technology may be useful to the girls and then suggest a science, technology, engineering, or math activity as an option. For example, if we pretend that a group of girls are engaged in a project on babies and want to build a nursery, a teacher might find many opportunities to introduce science, technology, engineering, or math activities. If the girls wanted to build a baby swing, the teacher might suggest the option of attaching a motor to the swing that could be triggered with a lever. If they wanted to build a wooden playpen for the baby, the teacher could help them to measure wooden dowels and use carpentry tools, such as a coping saw, c-clamp, and hand drill to make the bottom and the rails. (The amount of help provided by the teacher would likely vary based on the development and experience of the children involved.) If the girls wanted to make a stroller, the teacher could show them how to attach wheels to an axle. If they wanted to decorate the stroller, the teacher could encourage them to develop a design that incorporates patterning. The idea here is that once these girls have learned to used these tools and processes, they are likely to decide to use them in the future without teacher prompting. If the teacher is a female, the children are also able to see a female who is comfortable using woodworking tools for construction.
In the example above, the teacher incorporated technology into play in which the girls were already highly engaged. Another strategy is to combine some of the girls’ favorite classroom materials with materials that lend themselves to science, technology, engineering, and math activities. For example, the small doll family that is typically used in the dollhouse can be moved to the block area. Pictures of buildings or environments that are of high interest to the girls could be displayed on the walls in the block area. Pictures of girls or women engaged in construction can also be moved to the block area. Props for pretending to measure, mix, and cook could be added to the sand table. A drawing program, such as KidPix, could be added to the computer. Woodworking tools and materials such as sandpaper, soft wood, and a variety of glues, hammers, and nails can be added to the art area. Different types of small block sets can be added to the manipulative area. By mixing materials associated with science, technology, engineering, and math across centers, teachers can reduce stereotypes that may prevent girls from learning important scientific and mathematical concepts.
My preschool has no funds for science kits and special materials. We do have blocks and a sand table. Are there ways to use these in teaching science?
Blocks and sand are open-ended materials and hold countless possibilities for helping children learn about science, technology, engineering, and math. The key is to educate yourself about (1) the concepts and processes that can be taught, (2) the methods that are likely to support learning, and (3) the methods for observing and documenting children’s interests and current understanding of math and science concepts so you can use the information to provide the child with experiences that will present possibilities for further discoveries and inventions.
Blocks
As children stack blocks higher and higher, they learn about gravity. As they look for methods to support their constructions, they begin to explore forces of tension and compression. As they handle and create with blocks of different shapes, they learn about patterning. Constructing with unit blocks helps young children develop a beginning understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Teachers can support children’s growing understanding by providing adequate room for block play and by providing space for preserving structures that are in process. By carefully observing and documenting children’s block play, teachers can plan to scaffold children’s growing understanding by providing additional materials, asking provocative questions, and acknowledging children’s discoveries.
To learn more about supporting children’s block play, consider reading Building Structures with Young Children (2004). Chalufour and Worth, the authors, provide a wealth of in-depth information about methods for supporting children’s in-depth investigation of building structures with blocks. For example, they recommend teaching children to draw plans for constructions that they intend to build and encouraging them to sketch their completed constructions to analyze their work.
Sand Tables
Sand tables provide a wonderful place to experiment with fluid materials and “messy stuff.” In addition to pouring, measuring, and weighing sand, as they play, children can experiment with the relationship between the surface for building and materials used in the construction. For example, as they attempt to use the sand to build structures, they might experiment with the impact of adding varying amounts of water to the sand. If the children use blocks to build a structure in sand, they may find that as the structure becomes taller, the sand gives way beneath it, and the construction becomes less stable. They can experiment to see if they can increase the stability of their structures by changing the shape of their structure or by adding different media such as soil, rocks, and gravel. The teacher can enrich this activity by adding blocks of various sizes and materials. She might also add a level to the sand table accessories and show the children how to use it to determine if their building surface is level.
Another activity that might help children develop science, technology, engineering, and math concepts would be to encourage them to experiment with containing and moving water in the sand table. Taking a field trip to see a natural body of water, such as a nearby lake, pond, river, or stream, could provide a kick-off for such a study. The teacher could also show the children images of dams and various bodies of water. She could invite them to experiment with building dams, streams, and lakes in the sand table. Children are likely to discover that sand will not hold water for very long. The teacher could then ask the children why real lakes and streams don’t soak into the dirt. She could then provide the children with materials to use to experiment with designing dams and creating rivers and streams, such as clay, soil, and leaves. Similarly, the children can experiment with different tools for moving water, such as cups, eye droppers, basters, funnels, and syringes. They might also examine the plumbing in their school or center and then experiment with water and different sizes and shapes of plastic pipe in the water table.
There are many, many more experiences that could be provided in the block area or in the sand and water table. However, regardless of the materials, concepts, and processes with which the children are experimenting, it is the careful observation and response by the teacher that will help the child move to more advanced levels. Our classrooms include diverse learners with a range of ability, interests, and experience. When planning effective learning experiences, teachers use their knowledge of child development and the learning style, previous experiences, and interests of the individual child, as well as the concepts and processes that can be learned. This information helps the teacher to make an educated guess about what the child is thinking and to provide the experiences that will help him or her discover the next step. Staying one step ahead of the children is one of the most interesting challenges of teaching!
- Chalufour, Ingrid, & Worth, Karen. (2004). Building structures with young children. St. Paul, MN: Red Leaf Press.
It seems to me that children are too interested in technology and will use computers, cell phones, and such on their own. Do we need to be including lessons about technology during our already crowded preschool time?
Technology is not limited to hi-tech electronic devices such as computers and cell phones. In fact, technology is so interwoven with our everyday world that we take it for granted. For example, televisions, doorknobs, cheese cutters, rubber bands, water faucets, toilets, light switches, garbage disposals, irons, pliers, can openers, masking tape, and Velcro are all technology. Technology such as spray bottles can help us manipulate water. Pulleys can help us manipulate heavy solid objects, and technology such as pumps can help us manipulate gases. Children who understand how to make use of technology are better able to experiment and manipulate their environment. Adults can facilitate this ability by providing meaningful, hands-on experiences for children that help them learn ways to use both high- and low-tech tools.
A number of people in my family are professional engineers. Their activities seem pretty abstract and cerebral to me, a non-engineer. I’m having a difficult time imagining engineering activities that are developmentally appropriate for young children. Can you give me some ideas?
Engineering activities can be incorporated into the existing classroom learning centers. For example, a crane with a working pulley can be added to the block area. Children can use eye droppers to collect, move, and mix watercolors. A pump and plastic tubing can be added to the water table so that children can use them to move water. Construction toys, such as an end loader with moving parts, can be added to the block area so children can use them to move materials from place to place. A variety of gears can be placed in the science area, and children can be challenged to arrange them so that one gear can move others. Manipulatives that connect via magnetism can be added to the manipulative area. In addition, science activity books, such as Discovery Science: Explorations for the Early Years by Winnett, Rockwell, Sherwood, and Williams (1996), provide ideas for developmentally appropriate hands-on activities that incorporate engineering concepts.
- Winnett, David A.; Rockwell, Robert E.; Sherwood, Elizabeth A.; & Williams, Robert A. (1996). Discovery science: Explorations for the early years. Menlo Park, CA: Innovative Learning Publications.
Can a daily calendar time serve to reinforce math concepts in preschool children?
While preschool teachers often acknowledge that most young children are not developmentally ready to understand the time concepts that are represented in a calendar, they often attempt to use the calendar as a vehicle for teaching math concepts. However, providing individual hands-on experience with concrete materials is a more effective way to help children understand math concepts. When the teacher asks questions and guides the child’s exploration of the materials, the math experience is even more effective. To read more about alternatives to calendar time, read Calendar Time for Young Children: Good Intentions Gone Awry (Beneke, Ostrosky, & Katz, 2008).
- Beneke, Sallee; Ostrosky, Michaelene; & Katz, Lilian. (2008). Calendar time for young children: Good intentions gone awry. Young Children, 63(3), 1.
Why is there a sudden emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math in early childhood? Isn’t this simply another fad we’re being subjected to?
There has been increased emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the past decade as a result of concerns about the ability of the United States to compete in a global market. A variety of factors have likely contributed to this increased competition, such as the fall of the iron curtain; increased competition from India, China, and other countries; and fiber optic cable (which has effectively connected most of the world). In response to concerns about our ability to compete, scientists, businessmen, and politicians began to discuss the shortage of candidates for careers in STEM as well as educators qualified to teach them. A national movement developed to find more-effective ways to deliver STEM learning. The National Science Board, which includes experts representing the U.S. science and engineering community, acts as an advisory body to the President and Congress. In 2009, the Board recommended strategies for addressing pre-college STEM education. The recommendations can be found at http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/stem/. One recommendation is that children be provided with an early start in science so that they will be comfortable with STEM concepts later in life. The Board specifically recommends that STEM core concepts and ideas be included in Head Start and other early childhood education programs.
Have you used the scientific method with preschool children—that is, asking a question, doing research, constructing hypotheses, testing hypotheses, analyzing data, and communicating the results? (Has this changed since I learned it along with Sir Isaac?)
I have extensive experience using the Project Approach during the past 16 years. It is an inquiry-based approach to learning that has many components in common with the scientific method. As described by Katz and Chard (2000), the Project Approach includes three phases. In Phase 1, the teacher establishes a topic for investigation. The topic may be one that she has pre-selected, or it may emerge from an unexpected event or previous learning experience, but it must be something about which most of the children in the group are curious. During this phase, the teacher provides the children with many opportunities to reflect on and express their current knowledge and understanding of the topic. The teacher supports the children by recording their current ideas about the topic in a web or list format. The teacher then asks the children what else they want to find out about the topic, and she records their questions. (Depending on the age of the children and their familiarity with forming questions, the teacher may need to help them in this by rephrasing their statements and asking them probing questions.) The questions are recorded as a group list. The teacher will typically ask children to make predictions about the answers to their questions. In this way, they form hypotheses.
In Phase 2, with the teacher’s support, the children conduct an in-depth, firsthand investigation to find the answers to their questions or to test their hypotheses. They make use of reference materials, observational drawing, interviews with experts, and fieldwork. As the children engage in the investigation, they often discover that they have additional questions, and these are added to the list. Sometimes these additional questions are related to the original topic, but sometimes they may lead to an investigation of a new, but related, topic. In the course of the project, the children often construct 3-dimensional representations or models to represent a high-interest aspect of the project topic. As they construct, they must do research through firsthand observation and exploration with the senses, and through exploration of secondary sources such as reference books, photographs, and the Internet.
When they have satisfied their curiosity about the topic of investigation, they enter Phase 3 of the project. In this phase, the children communicate the results or findings of their investigation through a culminating event. For example, they might hold an open house for parents, a presentation to another class, or display documentation and products of their work in a public location. For more on this topic, visit the Illinois Projects in Practice Web site at http://illinoispip.org.
- Katz, Lilian G., & Chard, Sylvia C. (2000). Engaging children's minds: The project approach (2nd ed.). Stamford, CT: Ablex.
There is a program in Detroit (part of the Detroit Pre-College Engineering Program) called "The K-3 Little Engineers," which has been in existence since 2000. It is a 4-year-long cohort program that involves parents and children learning together on Saturday mornings STEM content and for parents, strategies for supporting their child's learning. There is a newer, similar program in Chicago Public Schools now (an NSF ITEST project) called Chi&SE for the same age group. Have you heard about these programs for Latino and African American children underrepresented in STEM fields?
I regret that I am not better informed about this subject. I have searched the Internet and have not been able to find other programs that partner with parents and young children. In fact, I have not been able to locate other programs that work with K-3 teachers, other than the STOMP program at Tufts. STOMP stands for Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program. The program was developed by the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO) at Tufts University. It pairs engineering students with K-12 educators and their students, so they can provide assistance with classroom engineering projects. However, the STOMP program does not appear to have a focus on populations that are underrepresented in STEM fields. The program is open to teachers within a 30 mile radius of the university.
Interestingly, Google engineers, inspired by STOMP, are using LEGO bricks to teach engineering to students at an elementary school in California. You can read about this at http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu/2009/08_1/briefs/01/. A Web page describing the collaboration includes a teacher’s manual and a manual for the engineer-volunteers, both developed by the Tufts STOMP program. You can see this page at http://sites.google.com/site/bishopstomp/.
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