STEAM Lights the Fires of Innovation in Mount Paran's Preschool Students
WRITTEN BY KATE HARTLEY - REPOSTED VIA BLACK DRESS | RED WAGON MAGAZINE
“Aren’t you excited it’s Friday? It’s spirit day at school!” Kate Henderson asks her 3-year-old daughter, Hazel, as they pull up to her preschool. “No, Mommy,” corrects Hazel. “I am excited because it’s Friday and it’s STEAM day!”
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) is a hands-on, integrative instructional program implemented throughout Mount Paran Christian School, from preschool through twelfth grade. Preschool students spend one period per week engaged in STEAM experiences – and, like Hazel, it’s the highlight for many.
“It’s my daughters’ favorite part of school,” affirms Kate, who also has a second-grader, Ellie, at Mount Paran. “My girls come home talking about what they did in STEAM, what they built and created.” Kate’s husband works in IT, so the STEAM program was a big selling point for them.
“STEAM makes these disciplines approachable and accessible for all children. In preschool, Hazel is learning about patterns and building. In elementary school, Ellie is learning coding – things my husband didn’t do until college.”
While Mount Paran has been incorporating STEAM into its curriculum for years, the school recently began the two-year process to become officially STEAM-accredited at all levels. “The beauty of STEAM is that it takes the ‘talented and gifted’ way of teaching and gives that experience to all our students,” explains MPCS Preschool Director, Shea Buehler, who also serves as the preschool’s STEAM instructor. “Education has traditionally been about a beginning, middle and end pathway, but STEAM releases this. It’s student-initiated, with students in charge of their learning. When you take the cap off of what and how students can learn, they push further. It unlocks intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic. We know that today’s companies, like Google, want innovators – people who don’t stop at one answer but go beyond. We’re starting those fires early with the preschool STEAM program.”
A "Peek" Inside Preschool STEAM
Students file into the classroom, craning their necks and whispering excitedly about the materials set out for the day. MPCS STEAM instructor Shea Buehler reads Dr. Seuss’s Ten Apples Up On Top! and reminds students that they will have five minutes at each center. At the science center, they witness a chemical reaction by making apple “volcanoes.” In technology, they use SMART tables, iPads and Osmo to explore apple facts and games. The day’s engineering goal is to create tall apple towers, using shaving cream as “mortar” and straws for support. In art, they may make apple prints, and at the math center, they will be counting seeds and looking at patterns. “All the activities are open-ended with no one right way to do things,” asserts Shea. “STEAM is about the experience of authentic exploration.”
Article reposted with © permission from Black Dress | Red Wagon Magazine serving northwest Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1976, MPCS is fully accredited (SAIS/AdvancED) in all grade levels and located near Kennesaw Mountain on a 68-acre collegiate-like campus.
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