Attitudes to science and math are shaped in the early years and carry through to the teenage years (Archer et al. 2019) and the attitudes of adults can directly influence children's attitudes towards STEAM experiences. Educators are often uncomfortable and lack confidence in providing STEAM experiences, which can result in young children not being afforded opportunities to develop a love of STEAM areas. If you are one of those educators who is struggling with providing STEAM experiences in your practice or you are looking to enhance the everyday Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and design, and Mathematics experiences available in your early learning and child care centre, then this three-part STEAM series is for you! We invite you to join us to engage in lively discussions and fun, hands-on experiences that support STEAM in early learning and child care centres.
The first session in this series will consider what STEAM is and what this can look like in an early learning and child care setting. Educators will have opportunities to reflect on how they can integrate STEAM into a variety of program areas that support and encourage inquiry-based learning. Educators will have opportunities to Mess About with materials that they can utilize to provide STEAM rich early learning environments and the links to Tinkering.
