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Engineering in early childhood
In early childhood settings both educators and young children solve problems using available materials and an engineering design process. The process is not step-by-step because it looks different depending on the age of the children, the time availa...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Early childhood science education at conferences
When a conference has plenty of sessions about science and engineering learning in early childhood—so many that each time slot has 2 or more such sessions—it shows that preschool, kindergarten, and first and second grade teachers are inter...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Local nature experiences help children relate to other environments
My side of the street is shaded for hours longer than the opposite side which gets full sun for more than 6 hours a day, even in winter. The differences in sunlight affect the plant growth in these “microclimates.” On the “sunny side of t...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Myths about Science, with an early childhood focus
The National Science Teachers Association website has a section for families titled, “Help Your Child Explore Science.” Here’s my adaptation of the “Myths about Science” page in that section, giving it an early childhood focus.&n...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Digital Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom: When is a child ready?
Guest blogger Carrie Lynne Draper shares resources and discusses the use of digital technology in early childhood programs....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Tinkering: How open-ended should it be in early childhood?
The easy answer to this question is “it depends.” It depends on the reason for providing the experience and the particular materials for young children to use. Of course children often set up their own tinkering experiences using materials at han...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Choosing resources for early childhood science learning
Choosing resources for early childhood science learning that are scientifically accurate, developmentally appropriate, and reference research about learning, requires educators to have time to review resources ourselves, or access to reviews by exper...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Engineering in Early Childhood: Learning from conference sessions
One of the conference sessions on engineering I attended at NAEYC quoted children in the title: “Don’t Call Us Kinders, We’re Engineers!” To introduce an engineering design process to children in kindergarten up to second grade, Emily P...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Math is integral to early childhood STEM learning
July has brought my happy place (where the worlds of early childhood educat...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Early Childhood and Lower Elementary Teachers Need to Attend the 6th Annual STEM Forum & Expo
Come join us at the 6th Annual STEM Forum & Expo. It is the event where early childhood and lower elementary teachers need to be. It is a unique event where you will find a great deal of focused ideas on how to engage, nurture, and teach what our...
By Korei Martin
Blog Post
When early childhood educators conference & talk about science education
The National Science Teachers Association’s annual conference brings educators from many places in the world together to build their science teaching skills, science content, reaffirm connections with colleagues and make new connections....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
The Early Childhood STEM Institute
Guest blogger Cindy Hoisington is a Senior Curriculum/Instructional Design Associate with Education Development Center. Hoisington believes that authentic, cognitively challenging science experiences can be transformative for young children....
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Positive environments: Early childhood education conferences
Two early childhood conferences I attended this month, a national conference and a local regional conference, were awash with sessions on science, STEM, and STEAM education. Although science education is my main focus, I enjoy attending conferences b...
By Peggy Ashbrook
Blog Post
Investigating water with Early Childhood educators
“At what age can a child begin science learning?” asked one participant at an early childhood education workshop on investigating the properties of water in a fun, scientific way using observation, documentation and reflecting on that work. The g...
By Peggy Ashbrook