In February 2010, as part of a growing national effort to raise awareness of the need to better prepare the next generation to compete globally, the National Academy of Engineering hosted a conference entitled STEM Summit 2010. The Summit - which was sponsored by the Samueli Foundation and the
Children and Families Commission of Orange County - brought together leading national experts in education and early childhood development to discuss the importance of incorportiond STEM education at the earliest possible point in child's life.
As a follow up to the Summit, the Commission and the Samueli Foundation have created " The STEM Lab Report " which is a monthly series article and other media that shares research, insight and expertise and the critical importance of STEM education in early learning.
To view the October 2011 STEM Lab Report Newsletter,
please click here.
Furthermore, according to Lesli Rotenberg, senior vice president, Children’s Media, PBS, " Years ago, we identified
a gap in children's media - there was very little content available for kids to build critical literacy and STEM skills - especially on TV. " We saw this opportunity to develop great narratives grounded in core curricular areas. Since then, we've worked with the best producers in children's programming to develop a lineup of preschool series that meet this need. And we're seeing great results - it's clear from our ratings that kids are responding to this content.
As well they should. It is obvious from this data that parents have realized the need from the improvement of their children's STEM education, beginning at an earlier age, and steem PBS as a realiable source of that for their preschoolers. Experts do in fact state that " strong elementary ,math skills are important if students hope to succeed in later grades and beyond - and because a mastery of each new math concept relies on an understanding of prior concepts, success must start at an early age ( ital. added )."
I do not intend to argue with the position posted by the writer because I have always subscribed to this belief/practice from day one of my teaching career. Needless to say, a clear and strong foundation of basic mathematics skills acquired by every student in the early stage of learning becomes the effective tool for higher level of knowledge and skills in mathematics.
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