Science and Technology in Early Childhood - Essay Example

Running head: Reflective Essay on Reflective Essay on math, science and technology in early childhood. “Research confirms that the human brain starts developing in the womb itself. At birth, the baby’s heart, lungs and liver are fully developed. The baby’s brain, however, needs stimulation from the environment to form completely. As the baby grows and is stimulated, the connections between the cells (or neurons) in the brain continue to form. These connections form pathways in the brain that are the basis for all learning, thinking, feeling and knowing.” So the environment in which a baby is born and grows as a child must necessarily contain enough to excite and stimulate the child’s thinking process. The Environment in which the child is brought up has a definite and substantial impact on his aptitude in maths, science and technology as he grows up. And it is the teacher who can create such a conducive environment for the child to develop interest in various subjects. I believe that as a teacher I can lay the foundation for the student on which the he can build his maths and science knowledge further. There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child.  There are seven million.  ~Walt Streightiff. It thus becomes imperative that the environment in which the child grows has abundant opportunities for him/her to explore, analyse and theorize. If such an environment also has a teacher dedicated to sow the seeds of interest in maths and science, then the result is a rich, bountiful harvest of knowledge in the subjects. My earliest memory of maths was in kindergarten when I had to write the number three on the board. While the entire class watched it took me three attempts to write the number correctly. As I went to higher classes, remembering the time tables was a difficult task. I still recall the embarrassment of not being able to come up with the right answer when a question was asked of me in the class. Maths was always a difficult subject for me. On analysing the causes for my difficulties in the subject, I realise it is because of inadequate memory skills that I defaulted in the basics, that is the times tables. Maths necessarily requires a reasonable level of memory. Now I am a teacher. I believe that maths is a subject very essential for the students to succeed in their life. And so my emphasis is on sharpening the memory skills of my toddlers. The class-room has charts on the wall with numbers that the students are learning. “When information is displayed it becomes easy for later analysis and discussion.”(The National Ass for the education of young people, 1999, p.46). By quizzing them often they find it easy to remember the numerical structure of each number easily. AAMT opines that “development in numeracy education needs to be cognisant of the diversity of students, communities and educational settings present in this country. This is true in my class also. My students are from diverse backgrounds. Some are from rural Australian farms while others are from the cities. Recognising the fact that their background has an influence on their exposure to numeracy, I apply suitable techniques of teaching to get them to learn their numeracy. “Teachers are architects of the environment, the guides and mentors for the explorations, the model reasoners and communicators and the on-the-spot evaluators of children’s performances. They must load the environment so that children bump into interesting mathematics at every turn” The National Ass for the education of young people, 1999, p.5 Teaching maths requires us to teach not just numbers, but also: Place value of each digit in a number Space and location Linear measures Capacity and weights Permutations Representations and communications. Children may learn numbers 1 to 20 easily. But if they are asked something like what comes after number three, or before number nine, they must first learn the terms before and after. So also the terms between, behind etc. Objects can be pointed and explained as behind or before another object. As explained in National Ass for the education of young people, 1999, in the first stage of development of spatial reasoning in pre-school children, they use themselves as points of reference for locating positions of objects. (Piaget and Inhelder 1956).In the next stage they relate themselves to other objects and mark them as before, behind. Similarly place values of each digit in a number have to be taught using creative methods of teaching. The National Ass for the education of young people, 1999, p.45 further explains that children can learn the difference between the terms long and tall when they use blocks and make towers or trains. An additional block can make the train longer and in the case of a building, the addition makes it taller. In our school we train the little ones in weights and volume by involving them in cooking activities. Ingredients have to be measured and this helps them learn to use different terms of weights and capacities. And all through these activities I observe each student’s approach to understand the various concepts. These observations enable me as teacher to work out further methods if necessary by which the child with some difficulty to learn can be aided in grasping the concepts better. Whatever be the activity the child has to benefit from it by gaining the required knowledge. And this knowledge if conveyed as theoretical lessons may imprint vague images in the mind of the child. Children must be allowed the scope for sufficient exploration, theory building, conceptualising and understanding in their own methods about the fundamental maths. With regard to science, as a child the subject fascinated me primarily because it had to do with practical aspects. Science is a subject the child can relate to because it deals with the environment. “The field of science is, as perhaps it has always been, incredibly exciting and stimulating”. (Chaille, C., & Britain, L., 2003, p.15). Our school has a very nice garden. There the children get to learn how saplings grow into plants and then into huge trees. They also see for themselves different kinds of garden animals. The natural environment facilitates by giving them opportunity to personally analyse and construct theories of growth and sustenance of living beings be it plants or animals. We believe in the constructivist classroom approach. “Constructivist classroom is one that supports this scientific activity that is so natural to children.” (Chaille, C., & Britain, L., 2003, p.4). We understand the need for the children to give vent to their relentless yearning for knowledge on their environment. Every child has a theory on what he sees around him. Young Children are theory builders. (Chaille, C., & Britain, L., 2003, p.5). Therefore it is necessary for the teacher to provide an environment where the children can explore, enquire and learn for themselves about the magnificence of nature. The teacher has to actively engage the children in such investigations. In fact “Teacher should co-investigate with the children”. (National Ass for the education of young people, 1999 p.46). The base for the child’s interest in science is in pre-school because that is when he/she first gets a chance to be part of a group all of whom are eagerly and inquisitively exploring their surroundings as part of daily activities. Technology in my school days brings to my fond memory the one computer we had in our class in primary school, which was every student’s favourite activity. My mother encouraged to me to do computer in high school as she believed it would pave the way for a good future for me. And I have certainly gained from her advice. Today, the children get accustomed to computers in pre-school itself. In our school, we record the daily activities that we have done on a laptop. This helps children and parents because they can relive the day at school by going through the daily Journal. In modern day children are required to cultivate interest in technology to make them competent in a rapidly changing environment. Thus my approach to development of interest in children in the subjects of maths, science and technology is based on my childhood experiences of learning and along with it on the excellent methods detailed in the books referred to in the above paragraphs. The difficulties I faced in grasping the basic maths I attribute them to lack of memory skills. To sharpen memory skills of my students I use the various methods explained in the books referred to in previous paragraphs. This I believe will enhance their capacity to easily remember facts in maths and science. Summarising the approach as detailed in the three books, emphasis is given to allow the child to learn by experimenting, exploring and drawing conclusions for their theories. Alongside this, by toning their memory and grasping skills, I hope to cultivate in them the interest to further study maths and science. Once the child has developed the aptitude to study maths and science, he needs no further push or persuasion. The longing to learn comes from within. And with it the confidence that he can deal with the subjects as best as he can. References Abstract: http://www.teamup.co.nz Quote: www.quotegarden.com/children.html Books: National Association for the Education of Young Children (1999). In V. Juanita & V. Copley (Eds.), Mathematics in the early years. Reston VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. (Chapters 2 & 5) Chaille, C., & Britain, L. (2003). The young child as scientist: A constructivist approach to early childhood science education (3rd Ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education AAMT, Policy on numeracy Education in Schools. Read More