Early Childhood Active STEM Learning: Lessons Learned
In 2017, 100Kin10 encouraged all 280+ of their diverse network partners to devise “moonshot” ideas that answer a crucial question to improve STEM education: How should we support teachers to create active STEM learning environments for young students across the country?
In response, 10 projects led by 18 organizations across the country received Early Childhood STEM Learning Challenge Grants to help make these moonshot ideas reality. The grants were structured to be flexible, allowing grantees to continuously adapt their approach as they learned from achievements -- and just as importantly, failures -- resulting in transformative work.
These organizations have identified core challenges in their work with students, teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders; developed hypotheses of how they might improve active learning in pre-K through 3rd grade; and implemented unique, experimental projects, gaining insight and finding success through their projects.
For organizations who seek to increase or improve active STEM learning in early childhood, these grantees have some hard-won advice to share. As one grantee put it, “These are not finished lessons that we’ve learned - these are rocks that we’ve hit! There will always be rocks, and you’ll always hit them - but now we know a little better how to deal with them.”