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When we talk about young children’s science education,
it is essential to understand what the desired learning
outcomes are. According to research, young children do
not benefit from the acquisition of detailed scientific
content knowledge; children gain the greatest benefit
by practising the scientific process, which in turn
develops scientific thinking skills. Young learners
practice the scientific process by paying attention to
science process skills. These are universal skills needed in
all fields of science to inquire and to find out. Basic
science skills include making observations and
describing them in a scientific way, measuring,
classifying, cooperating, and drawing conclusions.
" TEACHERS FEEL
THAT THEY DO
NOT MASTER
SCIENCE AT SUCH
A LEVEL THAT
THEY COULD
INTRODUCE IT TO
CHILDREN. "
Although the benefits are well understood from the
viewpoint of children and society, early science
education holds no place in early education or is
implemented with inappropriate pedagogies. One major
reason for this is the teacher’s feeling of lacking
competence in the field of science. Teachers feel that
they do not master science at such a level that they
could introduce it to children. Another common obstacle
is that teachers feel that planning science activities is
difficult and even if they have well-developed
knowledge in science they struggle to introduce science
in a way that is appropriate for young children.
Kide Science is a Finnish pedagogical STEAM innovation
that provides teachers with top quality curriculum
materials to implement early science education in a
playful way. Kide Science's pedagogy is grounded on
rigorous scientific research and follows the
acknowledged Finnish philosophy on early education.
When children do science with the Kide curriculum, they
feel like they're playing and enjoying themselves, while
in fact, they are building highly important skills needed
in the scientific process and thinking. For teachers, Kide
Science is an easy plug-and-play method to ensure that
their pupils will gain the skills needed in the future.
Kide Science uses storytelling as a powerful tool to
motivate children to participate in science activities. The
story world of Kide is free of cultural stamps because it
stems from the imaginary world called Supraland,
located in a different dimension. In Supraland forests are
made from crystals and animals are geometric shapes,
for instance. That kind of world celebrates children’s
natural curiosity and imagination without binding it to a
specific cultural environment.
Text: PhD Jenni Vartiainen,
co-founder of Kide Science &
Researcher at the University of Helsinki
More information about
Kide Science: kidescience.com