APPLYING THE S.T.E.A.M 12-STEP PROGRAM

In an earlier post I talked about a 12 step program that can be used as a framework to approach projects using a more scientific method, but in such a way that children in the age group of 3 to 6 can understand.

A critical element in this program is guiding children how to organize their thoughts, and on that basis create the ability to ask “any” questions, as they are based on a more scientific approach.

Let’s take a practical example – transferring water from one container to another, using a straw. Initially I show them the whole exercise without saying a word: I take a straw, and dip it in one of the containers filled with colored water. I stop so they can see that there is water in the straw as well as the container. I look at the straw for a few seconds to draw their attention to it. Then I place my thumb on the top of the straw, and emphasize the movement, almost pushing my thumb on top of the straw. Then I freeze for a couple of seconds, and slowly pull my arm up and stop there, so they can see that the water is not escaping from the straw. I move my arm horizontally to the other, empty container and freeze again for a couple of seconds. When I am sure they are looking at the straw and my hand, I release my thumb, and the water escapes.

I then immediately turn to the children and say excitedly “Did you see???”, transferring a sense of excitement and wonder, and aiming to instill a wish to learn, to understand more.

At this age, learning has to be associated with a feeling of satisfaction and happiness, and this correlation carries over into subsequent stages of their life: STEAM education is a great opportunity to build a foundation so learning becomes natural.

Let’s go back to the exercise. The children are left with a question: ‘What happened here?’ Sometimes it takes them a while to come up with a response; in other cases they are speechless, cannot say anything. If there is no response, I tend to repeat an exercise like this. It’s of course not to be expected that children this age can come up with extensive explanations, and any question is precious. At this point I have a note pad, and take down everything they say or question. This conveys two messages: first, observations have to be taken down in writing. Second, my teacher is taking me and my observations seriously.

There never, ever is a wrong question – throughout STEAM education, children should learn there never is a wrong question; every question related to a subject is valuable. With this exercise, the comment of children is often: ‘The water escaped’, and I acknowledge that: ‘Yes, right, it escaped!’ I then follow up with a question: ‘What was I doing before the water escaped?’ This is important because it leads them to think backwards, and review the sequence of events in their minds. I guide them to the moment when I forcefully pushed my thumb on top of the straw. As a teacher in that moment it feels like you’re swimming against a stream; for children at this age the goal is to build the ability to go back to the sequence of events, NOT to come up with an explanation. When the children manage to go back in their minds to the complete sequence of steps, then I invite them to do the exercise. They have a hard time to exactly repeat the sequence of steps; they then realize they cannot easily repeat what was done; so I repeat the exercise myself, but this time I provide the shortest possible description of what I’m doing, such as ‘hold’, ‘dip’, ‘close’, ‘push’, ‘move’ and ‘release’. If necessary, I repeat the entire exercise a couple of times. Then I ask them one question, the most important question that could lead to an ‘aha’ moment – in this case, I ask them ‘Did my thumb hold the water?’ At this stage, my goal is to have them realize that my thumb somehow kept the water in the straw.

With these types of exercises the goal is to develop organized minds, and the freedom to ask questions, while connecting learning with a feeling of happiness. What’s critical is that the teacher prepares herself or himself very well with any exercise, as children register everything at this age and any misstep simply causes confusion in their minds.