The Center for Childhood Creativity at the Bay Area Discovery Museum has released the report, The Roots of STEM Success: Changing Early Learning Experiences to Build Lifelong Thinking Skills, which finds that children are capable of remarkable problem solving from the earliest of years. Based on the review of more than 150 empirical studies from cognitive and developmental psychology and education, they found: 1) STEM thinking begins in infancy; 2) To become strong STEM thinkers, children need more play; 3) STEM amplifies language development; language enables STEM thinking: 4) Active, self-directed learning builds STEM skills and interest; 5) Mindset matters to STEM success; and 6) Children’s abstract thinking potential can be unlocked through both adult support and executive function skill development. Read more.
