While high school graduation might seem miles away for a class of early childhood students, the STEM skills they develop in elementary school have profound and lasting impacts.
STEM in early childhood education is critical since STEM-related skills influence students’ future academic performance and cognitive and social development.
Why does STEM matter in early childhood?
Why is STEM important? Beyond content knowledge and future career preparation, science, technology, engineering, and math skills help students think critically, problem-solve, and interact with the world around them. And it’s never too early for STEM, even in early grades like kindergarten, first grade, or second grade.
Research on early STEM education
But why is STEM important in early childhood education? Research shows that students who have not been exposed to STEM in early education are likely to fall behind. The American Educational Research Association found that 62% of kindergarteners with limited exposure to science continue to struggle with science in elementary school and perhaps throughout their educational careers.
The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) emphasizes that early childhood students should learn science and engineering practices to foster curiosity and exploration while laying the foundation for K-12 science learning.
The Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education also notes the importance of STEM in early childhood education, finding that early learning promotes social-emotional development and STEM-related thinking, including critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving. Early education also contributes to gains in later education, supports literacy and language development, and benefits students from all backgrounds, including English language learners.
Benefits of STEM in early childhood education
What are the benefits of a STEM education? When students get hands-on experience in STEM, they reap many rewards beyond academics.
Enhancing problem-solving skills
When students approach a new STEM concept, they naturally encounter challenges that require critical thinking to consider various solutions. Even the youngest students gain practice breaking down tasks, evaluating potential answers, and persisting through trial and error.
Encouraging curiosity and creativity
Children are explorers. STEM learning taps into their natural curiosity and encourages children to invent and explore unique solutions, fostering creative problem-solving skills. This creativity is particularly evident in engineering tasks, where there is often no “one right way” to solve a problem.
Engaging with science and technology helps kids brainstorm and be open to new ideas, which supports innovation in the long term.
Developing collaboration and communication skills
During investigations and STEM activities, students practice communicating to explain their ideas and reasoning, which makes them better prepared to discuss complex ideas later in life. Many STEM projects involve group work, which teaches early childhood students how to collaborate, listen, share ideas, and respect different viewpoints.
Building foundations for the future
Early STEM exposure can spark a lifelong interest in science, technology, engineering, or math, giving children a head start on critical skills and interests that may lead to careers in high-demand areas. Many jobs students will hold haven’t been invented yet, but STEM-related skills, like problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication, will help prepare them for ever-adapting roles.
Integrating STEM into the early childhood classroom
The importance of STEM is clear, but how can teachers realistically incorporate STEM practice into their classrooms when the day is already jam-packed with content requirements? Here are some ideas to try!
Activities that foster early STEM learning
Outdoor exploration
Literacy-infused science practice
Building kits
STEM center stations
Field trips
STEM guest speakers
Sensory bins
Problem-solving games
Activities that naturally engage students in science and engineering practices
STEM bulletin boards
Group discussions
How Science4Us supports STEM learning in the early years
While it can first look intimidating, teaching science and early STEM doesn’t have to be scary! Supplemental tools help make elementary STEM instruction less stressful and more effective.
ExploreLearning Science4Us combines science with literacy and math-integrated experiences to introduce students to Inquiry, Physical Science, Life Science, and Earth & Space Science.
28 content-rich modules include thousands of online and offline activities that can be completed in as little as ten minutes, perfect for centers, small groups, or whole-group instruction. Teachers can incorporate five to ten minutes of Science4Us at the beginning of the day, before or after lunch, during indoor recess, or even right before dismissal!
Jenna Mercury, a former educator and product consultant for ExploreLearning, spends countless hours visiting elementary school classrooms and connecting with educators worldwide each school year. We asked Jenna: How can busy teachers make space for early STEM education?
“We don’t think twice about supporting math concepts, such as counting and place value, or literacy concepts like phonics and sight words. Let’s maximize our time in the early classrooms by also integrating two more essential skills easily taught through STEM: critical thinking and problem-solving. During a short Science4Us ‘Engage’ lesson, students are asked to reason, compare and contrast, and even use literacy and math skills such as listening to stories or drawing shapes.
STEM education is often misunderstood, including the fact that it can be overwhelming for students and teachers, that it takes too much time or money, or that it’s best to teach the basics first and then integrate concepts later. Science4Us takes all the steps to ensure both student and teacher success through easy-to-implement, short lessons with simple materials already found around the classroom.
STEM is not an advanced concept. It can be taught to any age group in fun and dynamic ways. Science4Us makes it easy to sprinkle in STEM every day!
-Jenna Mercury, Consultant
M.S.S.Ed. K-8, Lesley University
Effective STEM instruction
Using lessons built around the 5E Model, Science4Us helps students develop foundational science knowledge using interactive games, songs, fiction and nonfiction stories, virtual notebooks, hands-on science experiments, and more.
In a third-party evaluation involving over 250 students in grades K-2, researchers found that students who used Science4Us had significantly higher confidence in doing science and significantly higher content knowledge than a control group. Science4Us also created positive STEM learning experiences, with 80% of students reporting the program made them enjoy science more.
