Surely parents have heard a lot about STEM education in the media, newspapers, and television. STEM education has developed since the 2010s in many advanced countries around the world. And in Vietnam, STEM has been widely applied in schools in recent years. So what is STEM? How can parents apply STEM to their children's education? Let's find out in the article below.
What is STEM?
STEM is an English term abbreviated from four words: Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths. Currently, this method also adds an art subject called STEAM.
STEM is an educational model with an interdisciplinary approach. Instead of learning each subject separately and discretely, STEM integrates knowledge from many different fields, combining theory and practice, training multi-dimensional thinking, helping children thoroughly understand the origin of the problem. by feeling, hearing, seeing, and doing with hands.
What is the ideal age for children to approach STEM?
The question many parents ask is when should children access STEM education methods? According to Dr. Diana Wehrell - Grabowski, CEO of Mobile Science Education Consulting Company, the ideal age to start teaching STEM to children is preschool age. Because at this age, children are curious and like to explore everything around them like natural scientists. And learning through play and discovery will be very beneficial for children's development.
Besides, children are only really interested in things that interest them. If you teach what children are not interested in, it will be difficult to be effective. Meanwhile, STEM has a great advantage in creating excitement for children with lively lessons, associated with practice, real-life experiences, and group work.
Advantages of STEM in preschool education
STEM overcomes the limitations of traditional educational methods. Children can smoothly apply theories into practice through research activities and practical experiences. STEM education method is applied in teaching by many schools because of the following outstanding advantages:
Access to many subjects
Instead of learning separate and discrete subjects, STEM allows preschool children to approach subjects with an interdisciplinary model through practical applications. Thanks to that, children not only acquire knowledge in many fields but also apply it vividly in practice.
Improve children's problem-solving ability
STEM emphasizes the formation, development and improvement of children's problem-solving skills. In each lesson, children are placed in a real-life situation, finding solutions to solve problems related to the specialized knowledge they have learned.
Creative learning
STEM focuses on learning and developing creative thinking for children. Children have the opportunity to become scientific inventors, finding ways to apply the knowledge they have learned to solve problems they are facing.
Ways to apply STEM to children's education methods
Create conditions for children to explore nature
Any child has a passion and interest in discovering new things in the natural world. Parents can apply STEM to teach their children with simple activities such as showing children the change between day and night, flowers blooming from pretty little buds, the movement of the wind, and the evolutionary process of life. frogs...
At the same time, parents should not forget to share with their children what they observe with "why" and "what" questions to help children develop their thinking and creative abilities.
Learn and play with STEM/STEAM toys
STEM toys are researched and developed based on modern STEM education methods. Children can explore the world around them and learn many useful things through the most natural way: PLAY. Parents should buy LEGO Education robot toy sets for their children, perform experiments with STEAM toys Crystal growing sets, Make your own soap, Solar powered assembly toys - Vehicles and boats, or interesting archaeological toy sets...
With the above basic information, we hope to help parents better understand STEM education methods. From there, apply it properly and effectively when educating your children, help them develop intelligence, and be fully equipped with the necessary skills to confidently and steadily move forward in the future. Don't forget to follow Mykingdom's " Handbook " section to learn more useful articles.
