As a professor in the field of education, I thought I'd add a little more information for parents who are interested in how to implement some STEM ideas but in a healthy, balanced way that doesn't add more or take away anything from their Charlotte Mason style homeschool. As Sonya mentioned, we need to be wary of who is pushing educational trends and what their goal is. She states that the government has had a steak in pushing STEM in order to increase student interest and aptitude for a perceived need for future jobs in that field. Pearson and other big curriculum companies also benefit from new surges of interest in the educational philosophy du jour. Insecurities about being left behind (and pressure from parents who want what they perceive to be the best for their child) lead school districts to continually purchase new curriculum. Pearson needs to keep creating new needs if they want to make more money. Toy companies jump on these new ideas as well to push STEM-related toys that parents believe will make their kids smarter. How can they resist? Additionally well-meaning professionals in the field who have a passion for STEM can push their own wishes (ex. I wish I had more opportunities and I want others to have them) at the expense of a balanced curricular approach. So, that being said, is there any good that can come from this educational idea? I think yes. How can we spread a wide feast that provides opportunities for utilizing problem solving and scientific inquiry? One way is through play. A common phrase you'll hear those in the STEM field use is they were "playing around with an idea". Children (and adults) need time to play around with things and approach ideas from multiple angles. Lots of new toys and too many activities leave little time to come back to something again and again to look at it in a new way. Older kids benefit from play too. Premade STEM-in-a-box kits are typically not very useful. They do all the thinking for your child. However, open-ended materials like blocks, LEGOs, magnatiles, etc. are great for your budding engineer. Another tip is to let your child explore how things work. Don't throw away your old toaster or radio when it's finally time to get a new one. Supervise your child and while it is unplugged let them take it apart and mess around with it. Taking things apart and (if they want to) putting them together again are great opportunities for learning. This idea of approaching STEM subjects through a problem-solving lens can be applied in mathematics, particularly with older students as they begin to use formulas. Start with the word problem (or the situation) instead of the equation. Say, "Let's pretend we are going to put a new fence up around our backyard. What information would we need to collect before we decided how much to purchase?". Talk through all the variables. The color of the fence may be important for aesthetic purposes but it won't influence how much you need to buy. The height of the fence wouldn't impact that either. But the length and width of the (presumably rectangular) yard would be very important. Then you introduce the formula for perimeter- P=2(l+w). Were there any variables you didn't consider in the formula? Was there one that you thought might be important but wasn't included? Talk about why. Charlotte Mason style nature studies are fantastic for a hands-on approach to science. One way to deepen your child's scientific thinking is to utilize some of Harvard's Project Zero questioning. I like starting with young children using the thinking exercise "I see, I think, I wonder". First go through what they notice using their senses on a particular object in nature. Then hypothesize why it may be happening. Finally, ask wondering questions. For example, "I see that the grasshopper has long legs that look almost like a triangle. I think they're angled that way to help him jump. I wonder where his ears are." This is a great starting point for cultivating curiosity, prompting further research, and training the habit of full attention. The same line of inquiry can also be used in art study! I would actually recommend it because it gets students into the habit of looking closely and asking questions in various aspects of their life. In fact, the importance of art has been recognized within the STEM educational research community and the new acronym STEAM (science, engineering, technology, art and math) has replaced STEM in most academic research. In summary, you don't need a fancy curriculum or an expensive product to teach STEM and in-fact your student will probably do better without them but there are some ways that we can approach what we are already doing to further encourage the problem-solving and creativity skills that any scientist, engineer, mathematician (or even artist or literary scholar) needs. Hopefully this was helpful. :)
Stem is useless professor. These things existed before STEM and so did play. Kids do not need you to tell them to play, they do that. That is very controlling to control what someone plays with or encourage them to play in a certain way with something so that you can think you are turning them into engineers. There is no use for stem.
@@ASmith-jn7kf The acronym STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Like any field of study each is a way of categorizing a body of knowledge, skills, and the way we interact with the world. Each of these areas of life (for example mathematical principles or scientific theories) exist whether or not we teach them. You cannot teach all that there is to know in any one of these areas and that isn’t as important. What is more important is teaching children how to engage in certain ways of thinking and viewing the world- identifying patterns, quantifying, making an informed hypothesis, etc. It’s hard to say that all of a field of study is useless. It’s part of our everyday lives beyond those who are just working in science or mathematic-related fields. In regards to play being controlling, I think you miss my point. Scientists didn’t invent play but many scientific discoveries came about through playing with ideas. We want to provide our children with a wide range (or feast) of ideas and a myriad of opportunities to engage with the world in new and interesting ways. We’re not telling our children how or what to play just providing them with the opportunities, resources, and language. Hope that helps to clarify. :)
I really appreciated this video, especially your reminder on the importance of developing a whole person in education. I loved what you said about how not everyone could thrive in STEM! I would have probably failed school had I been put in one of the STEM schools! STEM is something near to my heart though. My oldest son has always been very interested in how things work, and as a preschooler he would fix things around the house for me that I couldn’t fix myself. So since he was very young, my husband and I have made a point to buy STEM toys for his birthday, books with STEM projects and activities, supplies for him to make things, etc. He’s 12 and wants to be a mechanical engineer, and we are happy to nurture that aspiration. That being said, providing him (and our other children) a well rounded education is a big priority, and a Charlotte Mason education really affords that. I love what you said about Leonardo DiVinci. I did not know about all he had accomplished. For our family, we do school work and homestead chores early in the day, and our children’s free time is for exploration in the areas they have of interest. I think it’s so important to take notice of our children’s natural abilities and interests, and to feed those, because they can be great at those things.
Hello. I need to ask a question about scripture memorization but the video has com. Tur. Off. My question: My kids love to memorize everything using music or rythm... they memorize it really well but is that appropriate? Will they forget it with time? I noticed if they forget the rythm, they also forget the words. But just occasionally if we don’t go over it enough. Thank you so much!!!
Hi Debora. Learning to music or rhythm can be beneficial sometimes (there are still little rhymes I remember from my childhood) however it sounds like you are finding that if they are not remembering the rhythm, they do not remember the words which means memorization has not happened. I would encourage you to practice Scripture memory work however is best for your family.
As a professor in the field of education, I thought I'd add a little more information for parents who are interested in how to implement some STEM ideas but in a healthy, balanced way that doesn't add more or take away anything from their Charlotte Mason style homeschool.
As Sonya mentioned, we need to be wary of who is pushing educational trends and what their goal is. She states that the government has had a steak in pushing STEM in order to increase student interest and aptitude for a perceived need for future jobs in that field. Pearson and other big curriculum companies also benefit from new surges of interest in the educational philosophy du jour. Insecurities about being left behind (and pressure from parents who want what they perceive to be the best for their child) lead school districts to continually purchase new curriculum. Pearson needs to keep creating new needs if they want to make more money. Toy companies jump on these new ideas as well to push STEM-related toys that parents believe will make their kids smarter. How can they resist? Additionally well-meaning professionals in the field who have a passion for STEM can push their own wishes (ex. I wish I had more opportunities and I want others to have them) at the expense of a balanced curricular approach.
So, that being said, is there any good that can come from this educational idea? I think yes. How can we spread a wide feast that provides opportunities for utilizing problem solving and scientific inquiry? One way is through play. A common phrase you'll hear those in the STEM field use is they were "playing around with an idea". Children (and adults) need time to play around with things and approach ideas from multiple angles. Lots of new toys and too many activities leave little time to come back to something again and again to look at it in a new way. Older kids benefit from play too. Premade STEM-in-a-box kits are typically not very useful. They do all the thinking for your child. However, open-ended materials like blocks, LEGOs, magnatiles, etc. are great for your budding engineer.
Another tip is to let your child explore how things work. Don't throw away your old toaster or radio when it's finally time to get a new one. Supervise your child and while it is unplugged let them take it apart and mess around with it. Taking things apart and (if they want to) putting them together again are great opportunities for learning.
This idea of approaching STEM subjects through a problem-solving lens can be applied in mathematics, particularly with older students as they begin to use formulas. Start with the word problem (or the situation) instead of the equation. Say, "Let's pretend we are going to put a new fence up around our backyard. What information would we need to collect before we decided how much to purchase?". Talk through all the variables. The color of the fence may be important for aesthetic purposes but it won't influence how much you need to buy. The height of the fence wouldn't impact that either. But the length and width of the (presumably rectangular) yard would be very important. Then you introduce the formula for perimeter- P=2(l+w). Were there any variables you didn't consider in the formula? Was there one that you thought might be important but wasn't included? Talk about why.
Charlotte Mason style nature studies are fantastic for a hands-on approach to science. One way to deepen your child's scientific thinking is to utilize some of Harvard's Project Zero questioning. I like starting with young children using the thinking exercise "I see, I think, I wonder". First go through what they notice using their senses on a particular object in nature. Then hypothesize why it may be happening. Finally, ask wondering questions. For example, "I see that the grasshopper has long legs that look almost like a triangle. I think they're angled that way to help him jump. I wonder where his ears are." This is a great starting point for cultivating curiosity, prompting further research, and training the habit of full attention. The same line of inquiry can also be used in art study! I would actually recommend it because it gets students into the habit of looking closely and asking questions in various aspects of their life. In fact, the importance of art has been recognized within the STEM educational research community and the new acronym STEAM (science, engineering, technology, art and math) has replaced STEM in most academic research.
In summary, you don't need a fancy curriculum or an expensive product to teach STEM and in-fact your student will probably do better without them but there are some ways that we can approach what we are already doing to further encourage the problem-solving and creativity skills that any scientist, engineer, mathematician (or even artist or literary scholar) needs. Hopefully this was helpful. :)
This was very encouraging! Thanks for sharing!!
Stem is useless professor. These things existed before STEM and so did play. Kids do not need you to tell them to play, they do that. That is very controlling to control what someone plays with or encourage them to play in a certain way with something so that you can think you are turning them into engineers. There is no use for stem.
@@ASmith-jn7kf The acronym STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Like any field of study each is a way of categorizing a body of knowledge, skills, and the way we interact with the world. Each of these areas of life (for example mathematical principles or scientific theories) exist whether or not we teach them. You cannot teach all that there is to know in any one of these areas and that isn’t as important. What is more important is teaching children how to engage in certain ways of thinking and viewing the world- identifying patterns, quantifying, making an informed hypothesis, etc. It’s hard to say that all of a field of study is useless. It’s part of our everyday lives beyond those who are just working in science or mathematic-related fields.
In regards to play being controlling, I think you miss my point. Scientists didn’t invent play but many scientific discoveries came about through playing with ideas. We want to provide our children with a wide range (or feast) of ideas and a myriad of opportunities to engage with the world in new and interesting ways. We’re not telling our children how or what to play just providing them with the opportunities, resources, and language. Hope that helps to clarify. :)
Thanks that was helpful 😊
I really appreciated this video, especially your reminder on the importance of developing a whole person in education. I loved what you said about how not everyone could thrive in STEM! I would have probably failed school had I been put in one of the STEM schools!
STEM is something near to my heart though. My oldest son has always been very interested in how things work, and as a preschooler he would fix things around the house for me that I couldn’t fix myself. So since he was very young, my husband and I have made a point to buy STEM toys for his birthday, books with STEM projects and activities, supplies for him to make things, etc. He’s 12 and wants to be a mechanical engineer, and we are happy to nurture that aspiration.
That being said, providing him (and our other children) a well rounded education is a big priority, and a Charlotte Mason education really affords that. I love what you said about Leonardo DiVinci. I did not know about all he had accomplished. For our family, we do school work and homestead chores early in the day, and our children’s free time is for exploration in the areas they have of interest. I think it’s so important to take notice of our children’s natural abilities and interests, and to feed those, because they can be great at those things.
There is so much wisdom in this video! Thank you!!
Great video and I never looked at it like that , thank you !
Couldn’t agree more! Thank you for the clarification ❤️
Thank you for sharing this. You break it down well.
Very true! I love how you laid it out
I love the reminders you shared here.
Excellent!! Thank you🤍
Thanks dear, for a riminder.
Hello. I need to ask a question about scripture memorization but the video has com. Tur. Off.
My question: My kids love to memorize everything using music or rythm... they memorize it really well but is that appropriate? Will they forget it with time? I noticed if they forget the rythm, they also forget the words. But just occasionally if we don’t go over it enough. Thank you so much!!!
Hi Debora. Learning to music or rhythm can be beneficial sometimes (there are still little rhymes I remember from my childhood) however it sounds like you are finding that if they are not remembering the rhythm, they do not remember the words which means memorization has not happened. I would encourage you to practice Scripture memory work however is best for your family.
Fantastic