STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. These fields are growing rapidly and will continue to do so over the next decade. STEM education has been shown to help students excel academically while preparing them for careers in these growing fields. 

Each STEM component contributes significantly to a well-rounded education.

It provides a skill set that governs the way we think about the world around us and how we can interact with various environments. 

With constant innovation, more and more businesses are looking for people with higher technical abilities. Since most businesses are leaning into tech solutions, those with technical skills will be more successful when seeking jobs in the future.

4 Reasons Why STEM is Important in Early Childhood Education

Subjects like mathematics or engineering enable people to examine information, work through problems, and make deliberate judgments when building solutions. They improve problem-solving skills and the ability to apply knowledge to new projects.

STEM covers a wide variety of subjects allowing each child to choose an area they want to focus on. Practically, STEM education is about scientific creativity, where kids get a chance to experiment.

The biggest advantage of a STEM curriculum is that it will establish a connection between academics and skills for future employment. 

While these reasons are enough to inspire anyone to get into STEM education, let’s take a look at some important reasons why STEM education must be included in early childhood education.

1. Starting Early Encourages Permanence

We all know that children are ‘sponges’ and can take in and retain information at a greater rate than their older counterparts making early childhood the ideal time for them to learn new concepts.

They also begin building their interests at an early age so introducing STEM education during this time will open their eyes to more possibilities.

2. Makes Kids Think Critically

In early childhood education, every parent wants their child to develop skills that will help them in the long term. Critical thinking is an important skill that can help create a sense of self sufficiency. 

Incorporating STEM education which promotes critical thinking at an early age teaches them how to break down problems into smaller, more accessible, and understandable sub-parts. Solving these sub-parts one after another is a rewarding experience for the child and helps to build their self-confidence.

3. Inspires Them To Experiment

Learning STEM subjects helps kids understand technology from the core and thus helps them understand how things work. This often inspires them to ‘tinker’ and take things apart or create new things of their own. Many of the greatest inventions started as experiments.

Children studying STEM today will be building the next technological breakthroughs because they have developed both the technical and thinking skills to do so.

4. Skills Derived From STEM

Some supplementary skills attained through STEM education include creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, decision making, leadership qualities, curiosity, entrepreneurship, and perseverance. Regardless of the career path chosen, these skill sets go a long way in preparing them for success.

Jump into STEM with iCode

Learning to code and program is a popular focus within STEM education as many believe coding is the language of the future!

Through their hands-on, instructor-led classes, iCode helps children build a strong foundation of technical skills and soft skills to become the innovators of tomorrow.

What are you waiting for? Browse their class and camp offering and Enroll at iCode today!