Features

Special report: Integrating STEM in your curriculum

When providing STEM learning opportunities, how can early years settings harness both children’s innate curiosity and their everyday resources, asks Meredith Jones Russell

The revised EYFS gives free rein to practitioners when it comes to implementing science, technology, engineering and maths, or STEM, skills as part of learning.

Jean Piaget said children naturally act like ‘little scientists’, exploring the world through experimentation and investigation.

With this in mind, when building a STEM-friendly learning environment, practitioners can rely on children’s natural curiosity, says Phil Armstrong, head of regional development south at Early Excellence.

‘It’s all about building on the fascinations children have about the world, and discovering what makes things tick, be it natural or man-made, and capitalising on that,’ he explains.

‘For most of us, that is about deepening our understanding of the potential of what we already have in our environments, rather than creating something new.’

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