When adults think of STEM, they often relate it to complex mathematical equations, daunting engineering problems, or complex biological processes. And, oftentimes, young children have the opposite thinking. In Teaching STEM in the Preschool Classroom, the authors claim that children are natural and curious explorers of the world – particularly scientific and natural approaches. And, the authors believe that nurturing this curiosity is important in establishing STEM learning habits early on.
Experienced teachers who participate in our mathematics professional development often recognize their former students in the information we present to them about mathematics learning. What tends to be new to them is to learn that particular ways in which students approach a problem or concept say a lot about where students are in their learning.
