MAKING THE GRADE - Teaching STEM in Preschool?

"Many preschool teachers are scared of teaching STEM.  Here’s a solution that might help" PBS NewsHour 3/6/2018

NOTE:  This unsettled feeling is admission of the teachers' own poor education.  If they had a good grounding in STEM, they would not have a problem.

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Everyone knows that 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds ask a lot of questions.  But that unrestrained curiosity can unsettle preschool teachers who feel they lack sufficient understanding of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (often referred to as STEM).  Hari Sreenivasan reports from Chicago on efforts to boost science learning among some of the youngest students by boosting teacher confidence.

MAKING THE GRADE - Nature's Classroom

"B is for bug when preschoolers make nature their classroom" PBS NewsHour 8/15/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In the age of standardized testing, screen time and what some see as a generation of excessively coddled children, a new movement of preschools is pushing kids outdoors, come rain or shine, heat or cold, to connect with nature and learn to take measured risks, in addition to math and the ABCs.  Jeffrey Brown reports from Midland, Michigan.

PRESCHOOLS - All In One

"Inclusive wellness center is an oasis for a neighborhood left behind" PBS NewsHour 3/21/2017

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In the heart of one of Denver's poorest neighborhoods, parents hoped for a new preschool.  Instead they got much more.  The Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-being is a preschool, urban farm, dental office and mental health care center, all in one.  William Brangham visits to see how it's supporting the community.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  After years of neglect, parents in one of Denver's poorest neighborhoods hoped that a new preschool would be built in their community.  Instead, they got much more.

William Brangham recently visited there, and he is back again with this report.

It's part of our weekly series Making the Grade.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM (NewsHour):  Fish swim in giant tanks.  Collard greens grow in abundance in a massive greenhouse.  Down the hall, there's a dentist's office, as well as a mental health center.  And at the other end of the building, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds run around like mad.

Some might say it's an unusual mix here in the heart of one of Denver's poorest neighborhoods, but not according to the woman who runs the place.

LYDIA PRADO, Vice President, Mental Health Center of Denver:  It's taking a new approach to community well-being.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM:  Dr. Lydia Prado is the driving force behind this place.  It's called the Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-Being.

LYDIA PRADO:  My initial conversations were with two folks who had — together, they have over 80 years of residence in this community.

And just floated the idea, I want to take integrated care to the next level.  I want to think comprehensively about health.  I want to be able to talk about mental health, and went to talk to them about it, and it's like, what do you think?  And they're like, OH?

But, you know, they were very honest about it.  There are going to be challenges, but if anybody's going to give it a shot — and we're behind you.

EDUCATION - Adding Up Pre-Schooling

"Counting the benefits of teaching math to 3-year-olds" PBS NewsHour 9/6/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In Boston public schools, 3, 4 and 5-year-olds are getting their first introduction to math.  Before they walk through the kindergarten door, the “Building Blocks” curriculum is designed to encourage very young children to think and talk about math concepts throughout the days, by providing lessons through innovative games.  Special correspondent Cat Wise reports.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Students in Boston are heading back to the classroom this week, where the school district's youngest learners are taking on math in a whole new way.

Special correspondent Cat Wise reports for our weekly education segment, Making the Grade.

WOMAN:  Ready, go.

CHILDREN:  One, two, three, four, five.

CAT WISE, Special correspondent:  The scene may look like indoor recess, but these preschool students are jumping joyfully for a lesson in mathematics.

WOMAN:  Who's getting warmed up now?

CAT WISE:  Even the teachers in this Boston public elementary are warming up to the idea of math instruction for 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds.

WOMAN:  Beautiful.

CAT WISE:  Sara Gardner teaches pre-kindergarten at Edward Everett School.

SARA GARDNER, Teacher, Edward Everett School:  The curriculum activities, they're fun.  They're fun.  And as a teacher, you really get to dig deeply into the development of math and math ideas in young kids.

CAT WISE:  Boston schools have adopted a curriculum called Building Blocks, which encourages kids to think about and discuss math concepts throughout the day.

Linda Ruiz Davenport directs math programs for Boston Public Schools.

LINDA RUIZ DAVENPORT, Mathematics Director, Boston Public Schools:  Getting young children involved in mathematics at an early age helps foster their curiosity about mathematics, particularly mathematics in their environment.

EDUCATION - Universal Preschool

"Seeing success, conservative Oklahoma banks on universal preschool" PBS NewsHour 2/2/2016

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SUMMARY:  Children in Oklahoma don't wait for kindergarten to begin public education; there's preschool for anyone who wants it.  While costly, the government program has been hailed for the long-term benefits and has become a national model. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports from Tulsa.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  There’s growing interest in a number of cities and states to try funding universal pre-kindergarten programs.

Philadelphia is the latest city that wants to create one.  Oklahoma has long been home to early childhood education that’s widely cited as a model.

Special correspondent Cat Wise reports on how a liberal political priority became popular in a conservative state.

It’s part of our education series on Tuesdays, 'Making the Grade.'

STUDENTS:  A is for apple, apple.

CAT WISE (NewsHour):  In Oklahoma, the ABCs start before kindergarten.

STUDENTS:  D is for dog.

CAT WISE:  Children here begin public education at just 4 years of age, some as young as 3.   It’s preschool for anyone who wants it, and it costs the state about $7,500 per child per year.

WOMAN:   I like all those colors you’re using.

CAT WISE:  The program is hailed as a national model by the Obama administration and advocates who believe early education creates long-term benefits.

WOMAN:  What color is that one?  Very good.

CAT WISE:  It’s a costly government program in one of the reddest of red states, but it appears both Democrats and Republicans believe it’s working.

WILLIAM GORMLEY, Georgetown University:  It’s not every day that a very conservative state, like Oklahoma, establishes a new social program.   It’s not every day that a very poor state like Oklahoma establishes a new social program.

CAT WISE:  William Gormley is a professor of public policy at Georgetown University.  He has studied Oklahoma’s pre-kindergarten program in Tulsa for 15 years.

EDUCATION - The Preschool Debate

So, the worshipers of money think there should be a limit on what we spend to educate your children.

"States looking to expand preschool confront debate over results, funding" PBS NewsHour 4/1/2014

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Around the country, 30 governors are proposing the expansion of preschool programs in their states.  But what makes a pre-K program sufficiently educational?  And how will the U.S. pay for these programs?  Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters examines the debate over the value and the cost.

EDUCATION - Smartphone/iPad Apps and Preschoolers

"Apps Give Preschoolers a First Look at TV Shows" by ELIZABETH JENSEN, New York Times 12/16/2012

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In 2014, the preschool cable network Nick Jr. plans to introduce a television show featuring a little boy, his miniature pet dragon and a magic stick.

But the show, “Wallykazam,” will not be new to users of smartphones and tablets. Educational applications built around it will start appearing in app stores late next year, making “Wallykazam” Nickelodeon’s first major show to be introduced as a mobile product first, said Steve Youngwood, Nickelodeon’s executive vice president and general manager for digital media.

Driving the change, at Nickelodeon and other preschool television brands, are parents who are increasingly putting mobile devices into preschoolers’ hands and laps.

According to new research commissioned by Sesame Workshop, producer of PBS’s “Sesame Street,” mobile device ownership is booming as TV set ownership declines. Eighty-eight percent of the parents surveyed said they owned a television, down from 95 percent in 2010.

Twenty-one percent said their children first interacted with “Sesame Street” someplace other than television, with YouTube and PBS.org the top alternative sources. (PBS said separately that its free PBS Kids Video app, which has been downloaded 2.4 million times, reached 120 million streams of PBS Kids shows in November, surpassing 100 million for the first time.)

“On-air does still drive digital,” said Diana Polvere, Sesame Workshop’s vice president for market research, citing the 79 percent of viewers who still come to television first. But given the rapid changes, she said, Sesame’s research will now be conducted every six months instead of every two years.

Nickelodeon’s research, done in April and updated in October, shows striking growth in educational app use. In October, 27 percent of United States households with children ages 3 to 5 had an iPad, up from 22 percent in April. In those households, 40 percent of preschoolers used the iPad for educational apps, up from 27 percent in April.