How Can I Get My Child Interested In STEM?

Children are naturally curious. In fact, children are capable of understanding science,  technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects before they’re even a year old.  But, like other concepts, STEM skills need to be intentionally developed as a child grows.

Children are capable of complex thinking skills prior to being able to speak, but different  types of play are critical to develop skills related to STEM fields. These skills include  questioning, analysis, and curiosity.

Unfortunately, many children in the U.S. aren’t getting the play and stimulation they need  to develop these critical skills. 

Up to 40% of American children aren’t ready for kindergarten and only 34% of kids in  Grade 4 were proficient in science on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. 

These numbers don’t reflect the child’s interest in learning. According to the National  Research Council, children have developed their own ideas about the social, biological,  and physical worlds and how they work before they enter school. Educators, including teachers and parents, can develop these ideas by taking the child’s  thoughts seriously,listening to the child, and building on what they already know and are  able to do. But why is it important to get your child interested in STEM in the first place? Isn’t it enough  for a child to goto school and learn about STEM fields in class?

Setting the Stage for a Successful STEM Education

STEM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.  Although your child learns about science and mathematics in school, STEM isn’t a single  educational program or subject.

General STEM subjects are often included throughout your child’s school curriculum, but  programs inengineering and technology are lacking. It may not be until middle or high  school that your child learns about engineering and technology. Researchers say that an early education in mathematics and other STEM fields can  improve a child’s learning abilities and narrow the gaps between children’s educational  achievements. By making STEM interesting to a child at a young age, you can improve  their chances of greater success later in life. Since 1990, employment in STEM fields has jumped from 9.7 million to 17.3 million, or  79%. And, compared to non-STEM occupations, those in STEM occupations earn up to  26% more on average. Unfortunately, adults may curb or even crush the enthusiasm a child has for exploring  STEM fields. This is often done in one or more of three ways including fear, disapproval,  and absence. When a child is afraid of new things, they’ll stay in their comfort zone and be unwilling to  explore the world around them. This effectively crushes their curiosity.

Disapproval such as biases and attitudes can also keep a child from exploring and  developing STEM skills. In fact, disapproval is one of the top reasons why there are so  few women in male-dominated areas of STEM.

Only 14% of those in the field of engineering and only 15% of those in computer science  are women. Compare these numbers to the 47% of those in life science and 75% of  those in healthcare that are women. 

Because these areas of study are often lead by men, girls are often pushed to stop  developing STEM skills and to turn to other areas. Even those who don’t receive  disapproval may be affected the absence of an invested and caring adult or role model. A caring adult provides a sense of safety to the child to explore new things. It also gives  them the ability to share their discoveries, thereby giving them the positive reinforcement  they need to continue making those kinds of discoveries. How can you be a caring adult to your child and cultivate their curiosity and other skills  that would get them interested in STEM?

Stimulate Your Child’s Curiosity With Science

 One of the best things about getting your child interested in science is that  there are many different kinds of activities you can do together that are not  only fun but also simple. Here are a few activities you can do with your child to get them invested in science from a young age: Explore the great outdoors. You don’t need to be a fan of camping to teach your child about the great outdoors. Kids love to explore and you can find plenty of things to teach them about right in your own backyard. From grass to water, soil to rocks, there are plenty of natural materials they can learn about.
Let your child safely interact with animals. Some animals don’t do so well with
small children, but others are kid-friendly. Consider teaching your child about the
biology of your family dog, the fish at their doctor’s office, or the sheep at your local
petting zoo.
Encourage your child to ask “what” questions. You may be tempted to  encourage your child to think about science by asking “why” questions, but this isn’t always the best idea. “Why” questions can give the impression that there’s a
right or wrong answer, which can keep them from wanting to answer at all.  Instead,encourage your child to ask “what” questions such as “What happened  here?” and “What have you changed?”
Give your child four ways to play. There are four different types of play   that can help to boost your child’s science skills. These include pretend play,  exploratory play, guided play, and free play. Pretend play is when your child uses their imagination and exploratory play is when your child can experiment  and take things apart. Guided play is when you, an adult, interact with your child,  and free play is when an adult isn’t involved.
Conduct fun experiments with your child. Some science experiments your child
can’t do on their own. The good news is that they’re fun and simple to do together.
Consider making a lava lampwith your child, creating a leak-proof bag, and even
walking water.

Teaching Tech Through Technology Activities

 Technology activities are activities that help children learn how to use technology  to solve problems. They teach kids how to use technology for logical and helpful  reasons rather than just to socialize and have fun.

These activities can include weather technology, science equipment, computers, and more. You can help your child learn more about technology and how they can  use it in the following ways: Cut out shapes with scissors. There are several shapes drawn on a piece of  paper.  How can your child get these shapes out? By carefully using a pair of children’s  scissors,  your child can learn how to use technology to cut out different shapes from the  paper.
Build a house of cards. By building a house of cards, your child can learn about what holds the cards up (friction) and why they might slip or fall. You can also  conduct experiments with the cards. For instance, would using baby powder on  the cardsincrease or reduce friction? Sprinkle baby powder over the cards to see how it changes your ability to stack them. Try adding small weights like coins, too.
Play logic games. Fun brain teasers, puzzles, and logic games can help your  child develop greater problem solving skills. They’re learning about different ways  to solveproblems, both physically and mentally, which can help them develop  solutions to similar problems later in life and in other activities.
Take a picture of a block structure and have your child replicate it. This is a visual exercise in technology where your child uses replication. They’re able to  look at thestructure in the picture, analyze it, and determine which blocks go where to problem solve and build the structure themselves.
Create a scavenger hunt with a map. Kids like scavenger hunts, but you can makethe game that much more educational by using a map. Your child can learn how to usethe map to find different locations, where the objects are relative to their  spot, and how to get to them.

Entertaining with Engineering: Learning How 

Things Work

Your child has learned how to use technology to solve problems, but now it’s time  they learn about why that technology solves their problem. Engineering is crucial to  teach your child at a young age because they won’t be exposed to it until their later  years in school when their interest in STEM may have already been crushed. Here are a few ways you can get your child into the interesting and entertaining  world of engineering:  Teach them about levers and pulleys. Levers and pulleys are some of the first  things you’ll learn about engineering as a child. They’re also some of the most  simple types of engineering projects to make and learn about. Consider introducing  your child to gears, wheels, and pulleys. Then make a pulley system with your child  using string and a spool.One of your child’s smaller toys can be used as a weight.
Plan and design a structure with blocks. In the previous section, we mentioned an activity where your child looked at a picture of a block  structure and replicated it using their own blocks. Now, have your child  design their own structure on a piece of paper with the blocks they have.  Using their own instructions, have your child build the structure they’ve  designed.
Build a ramp. Like building with blocks, help your child design a small  ramp structure for one of their toys. This works best for small remote  control cars. With a ramp, you can not only design and build the structure  but you can also determine which heights and angles work best for the ramp.

Don’t Miss Out On Math Activities

 Many children don’t like math when they get older. This is often because  mathematics can be challenging. Unfortunately, math’s difficulty can often  cause children to become frustrated and believe they’re not good at the  subject even if their grades are fair.

You can help to curb this frustration and make math more manageable  using certain activities to stimulate their problem solving skills. Here are  a few math-centric activitiesto give your child’s skills a boost.
Baking. Concepts are always more fun when you can see the end result.  Through baking, you can teach your child the importance of counting and using the right measurements of certain ingredients to bake a cake,  cupcakes, or cookies.
Pretend play with monetary value. Pretend play is great for math activities.  Have your child pretend to be a cashier or a waiter/waitress and you pretend  to be a buying customer.Have certain objects set up for the game with specified prices. Your child can then sell anitem to you and give you change or add the  prices together.
Play addition and subtraction games while waiting. Oftentimes, your child  will want to play a game with you in the car or while you’re waiting for food at a restaurant. Rather thanplaying the classic I-Spy, consider playing an addition and subtraction game. Take turns soyour child feels on equal ground  with you in terms of problem solving. Not only will this helpyour child with their own math skills, but it can also keep your mind sharp as well. You never know  when your child will ask a hard question! It’s never too late or too early to help your child discover a love for STEM. The  earlier you encourage your child to embrace their natural curiosity and wonder  about the world, the easier it will be to create a positive attitude about STEM and forge their foundational skillsfor future STEM success.
You can keep your child involved in STEM by engaging them in everyday  STEM activities like cooking, buying food, building with legos, and more.  Do fun experiments, go exploring,and visit museums that encourage your  child to learn and grow.  Whether or not your child decides to go into a STEM career later in their  life, they can use the problem solving skills and techniques they learn through STEM activities and conceptsin every aspect of their lives.  After all, the goal of STEM isn’t to push your child toward any one career but to get them ready for the future lives they want to lead.


Repost with permission from Stem  https://www.dinolite.us/blog/how-can-i-get-my-child-interested-in-stem/