My daughter is attending STEMful's spring break camp for the preschool age group this week. Their theme is the Lorax, a Dr. Seuss story with ideas on environmental protection, sustainability, industry and economics, etc.
I want to highly recommend this camp - both the teacher (Ms. Arisa) and the methods of teaching are fantastic. I feel like I've seen other places that talk about "sprouting curiosity," but here I can actually see the deliberate teaching method and the learning outcomes. During circle time, Ms. Arisa reads the (challenging) Dr. Seuss book, and along the way, she asks the kids: "Why does the Lorax say he's speaking for the trees? (because trees cannot talk, but they are living beings too)" "What is he trying to tell us? (that trees take a long time to grow)" "What does he want? (for people to stop cutting down the trees)"...and so on.
During activity time, there are several stations for the kids to pick from: playdough with molding tools, magnatiles, and sensory learning. Kids take turns doing self-directed play at each of the stations. At the sensory station, Ms. Arisa taught them the difference in feel between wool and cotton, and how they are made. Later, they took some time to go outside for a walk around the block and Ms. Arisa showed them a coffeeshop, then a laundromat, then a restaurant, asking at each: "What do you think this place is? What tools do you think they use in there?" At another time, they acted out a play based on the characters in the Lorax book, with some kids being the truffula trees, others being the bears and swans and fish, one kid being the Onesler, etc. All along, the modes of inquiry continued: "What does the Onesler want? (to cut down more trees)" "Why does he want that? (because he wants to make money) "How does he make money? (by turn the soft truffula into soft clothes that people buy)"...and so on.
And separately, I thought it was really commendable the way Ms. Arisa balanced out the very assertive boys and the more shy and reserved girls. This of course is one of the fundamental challenges in STEM education for girls - how do you make sure they don't hang back all the time in the context of boys who forge ahead in action and voice. To that goal, I saw her reward those who raised their hand to speak vs those who blurted out answers, etc. She asked everyone to be respectful and to wait to allow their classmates a chance to answer when called on, instead of speaking over anyone or speaking out of turn. I could actually see a transformation in some kids as they became more "accommodating" of those who were slower to speak out or those who were softspoken. Which was awesome.
The only advice I would have for parents of younger preschoolers, if there is time, is to watch the Lorax movie with your child beforehand (the original, not the new hollywood one) to get them thinking about the content. Also make sure you bring snacks or lunch that are easy for the child to open or wield on their own. Kids are distractible at this age and may not eat much as is, let alone if there is friction in packaging or lack of visibility. And make sure your child can get up on an adult potty on their own, can obviously speak up when they need to go, can self wipe and wash hands, etc. as the teachers aren't really in that business, although they can certainly help if asked.
All in all, a great learning experience for this age group, and great way to expand and expose young minds to science. We look forward to more great camps here! read more
