WHY WE LOVE STEAM?

Childhood is an important time in a child's development; What a child learns now can make a difference when integrating into future educational settings.

• Science encourages children to be curious and investigate their environment. While facts are important, children need to begin by building an understanding of the basic concepts and how they apply to the world they live in. Children can do this through teacher enhanced exploration and experimentation.
• Technology can begin by using simple tools like crayons and rulers. As children master those they can move on to more complex ones such as: microscopes and computers. Young children are surrounded by technology on a daily basis. This technological era is rapidly progressing. These activities help prepare a child for their future and the types of skills they will need in their everyday lives.
• Engineering is about finding out how things work and are built and why. It includes recognizing problems and devising and testing solutions. Children naturally take part in engineering activities on a daily basis through their love of building and creating.
• Art encourages creativity, individuality and process development. It allows children to illustrate concepts they are learning. Children use art as a way to express their identity and ideas. Art helps to strengthen fine motor muscles and develop better hand eye development.
• Mathematics deals with so much more than numbers, it includes other concepts like patterns, shapes and organizational skills. Math helps children make sense of the world around them, both physical and social. Children are naturally inclined to use math in these ways: "He has more than me!" or "It's too big to fit in here." Teachers can cultivate this natural response by carefully planning a variety of experiences with mathematical ideas in mind.