Benefits of STEM
What is STEM? Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are the pillars of STEM and it becomes more and more important every day to make sure that children reap the benefits of being educated in it. Why is this important? What are the benefits? Keep reading to find the answers.
Fostering a Growth Mindset
STEM education prompts students to take risks and to experiment. Often times, they will find themselves trying out new ideas, of which some may work and others may not. Through this process, they fail and learn from them as well. It teaches them to persevere and to use their mistakes as a stepping stone to their success.
Fostering creativity
In our world with rapid technological advancements, there are always new ideas and creations. Children in particular have highly active imaginations, and implementing STEM education as play is the perfect way to engage them and foster their creative side.
Teaching Media Literacy
As children navigate Google for new experiment ideas, they will stumble upon many articles that will offer them explanations for their experiments. As they feed their curiosity, they will read those articles and will start to learn about credible sources. This will prepare them for future readings and what websites and sources to trust when gathering information.
Giving Importance to Teamwork
Students often work together on projects. During a science experiment, it’s important that everyone works together to do the various parts of the project. In a lab experiment, there are many tasks such as recording observations, organizing data, the write up, create a presentation, and more.
Teaching Patience
Not all projects are finished quickly, and it’s crucial that students understand this. They must be patient with their work and understand that they may or may not get the results they are looking for right away. They might need to restart or restructure their work to approach it from another way. This will not only teach them to have patience with themselves, but also patience with the others who work with them.
Fostering Critical Thinking
Being innovative in STEM requires a lot of critical thinking. They must master fundamental basics to understand complex topics. Many students ask their teachers “When will I ever use this in real life?”, but it is the critical thinking skills and problem solving that they are practicing. Learning to thinking critically is an essential life skill that they will carry for the rest of their lives!
Are you thinking about encouraging STEM education to your children? It is a marvellous idea and a great way to get started this summer! Look out for STEM based summer camps to get your children involved and excited!
