Hey guys! Welcome back to A Thriving Virtual Learning Series where I share my tried and true educational resources to help level up your virtual learning experience. Previously we covered educational, reading and writing resources to support your virtual learner. Today, we will cover STEM resources I find the most useful and they range from costly to free so there's something for everyone here!
What is STEM?
STEM is a curriculum based on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It is designed around integration and teaching children to be innovative in a way that mimics real life problem solving.
Usually, in a physical school environment children are exposed to STEM and often times love the idea of creating and finding out how things work. We all know children are curious and sometimes us parents simply do not have the answers for the never ending questions about all sorts of things. So that's where STEM comes in because it will feed their curiosity and expand their knowledge while having some fun!
Let's break down STEM
S- Science
Science experiments are a great place to start simply because you can find a variety for free on YouTube and Pinterest. The difficulty levels vary so I'd suggest starting with something simple before venturing off into the more complex experiments. Examples of experiments we like to do include DIY play dough, vinegar and baking soda explosions, and baking.
Each time I do one of these science-based experiments with my daughters it's almost as if I can see their little minds working hard to figure out each step of the process. The reward here is your child will be able to teach you how to complete some of these experiments. The information really soaks in when they have an opportunity to learn the process by doing.
Children really do enjoy learning and it is important we keep in mind that each child learns differently. I believe these simple experiments will feed the curiosity in any young mind. And speaking of feeding... The baked goodies are good for everyone's sanity! What a great reward!
Pro Mom Tip: These examples will cost you little to nothing as long as you already have the household items that you need. You won't believe how much play dough we've made in the last year and the best part is it saved us so much money because we haven't had to purchase Play-Doh!
2. T- Technology
Technology is something our children are exposed to more now than ever before. Sometimes the use of technology can get a little out of hand in our household. But a great idea is to incorporate learning about how technology works and the different uses. We like to go for walks when the weather is decent and sometimes we look for all sorts of things on our walks. This is a good time to focus on traffic lights and other things like that where you can easily explain to your child how things work. We learn about how cars work sometimes too! This type of learning is free and so versatile!!
3. E- Engineering
Engineering is a category I struggle with simply because I don't consider myself an engineer. I struggle to put Ikea furniture together so you can just imagine how much I'd struggle trying to build something and teach about it at the same time! That's when I came across KiwiCo and what they have to offer.
What is KiwiCo?
KiwiCo is a monthly subscription service that provides different STEM based experiments and projects ranging from ages 0months to 104years old. Yes that's right, they have something for everyone!
Each box comes with everything you need and some to be creative and complete a project from start to finish. It truly is amazing! Especially for parents like me who love the idea of creating but can never really pull off having everything I need when I need it. So KiwiCo comes in handy by doing all the prep work for me and all I have to do is assist my daughters while we all learn from the project. We absolutely love what KiwiCo has to offer and I wanted to share our review with you guys so you can see for yourself how this works.
Disclaimer: This does come with a cost.
4. M- Mathematics
The mathematics portion of STEM really stands for arts and math. I feel like this portion of STEM is the most self explanatory so I won't go too much into detail about this. I do want to share some ideas on simple activities you can do to incorporate the arts and math into your virtual learning experience. We like to use gems, dominos, dice and other objects to make our math skills better. We also like to draw lots of things and sometimes we break down the process of things by labeling artwork and mixing colours to see what we can create.
Pro Mom Tip: I try to keep this open ended to spark the most interest. So use tools that your children love!
How will STEM help?
I believe that children learn when they can touch and do things as it is explained. This is mainly because I'm a kinaesthetic learner and throughout most of my life I feel that there was a strong need for improvement in learning modules that help learners like me excel.
What is kinaesthetic learning?
Kinaesthetic learning is a learning style that allows you to do physical activities versus listening to a lecture or watching a demonstration. Learners like me need to do the activity at the same time it is explained. So for example, I can watch a YouTube video on how to make play dough one hundred times. But I won't fully be able to do it on my own unless I am making the play dough in real time as the video is teaching me.
Find out your child's learning style
You'd be surprised how many children suffer on their learning journey simply because the educator didn't notice a different learning style and find an alternative to help kinaesthetic learners.
It's not the child's job to tell you how you're teaching isn't making sense to them. Sometimes they may feel ashamed or embarrassed to admit things like that. But is it your job as a parent to learn your child and find ways to help them thrive and problem solve regularly. This will take time but learning it sooner than later will only make the experience better. I already who that my two daughters are a mix of kinaesthetic and visual learners. But I understand that as they grow that style may change so I try to always pay attention to how they learn and I sometimes ask them if they are able to understand what their teacher is teaching or what I am teaching.
Why STEM?
By incorporating STEM learning into your virtual learning experience, you'll elevate your child's engagement from zero to one hundred instantly! I find this extremely important because honestly most days I'm trying desperately to keep my daughters focused on the assignment at hand.
NEXT UP Thank you for taking time to read another post! The last of this four part series will cover music and community and why it is important during a time of so much distance.
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LOVE,
DEE
(Your Virtual Learning Experience Expert)