With summer break now here for many students around Utah, parents are regularly looking for ways to keep their kids connected to the learning experience even while they’re mostly outside the classroom. This is definitely the case for many parents of STEM school students, who often want to help maintain many basic learning concepts in these vital areas.
At Beehive Science & Technology Academy, we’re happy to offer the best STEM curriculum and facilities in Sandy and other parts of Utah, with a new facility opening in July that we can’t wait to show off to all our students and parents alike! We’re also proud to offer numerous educational resources and tips, including assistance for parents with ways to keep the STEM learning process going over summer break. In this two-part blog series, we’ll go over some essential approaches we recommend here.
Introduce Problem-Solving Into Summer Activities
Problem-solving is a key aspect of many STEM learning concepts, so it only makes sense that parents should help kids see this same process at work in the world around them. One great way to do this is by engaging in summer activities that center around solving problems together. This could involve anything from working on a family budget to fixing a leaky faucet to figuring out the best way to get to Grandma’s house without hitting too much traffic.
For younger kids, there are also many great problem-solving games available both online and in stores. These can help with basic concepts like critical thinking, pattern recognition, and more.
Stimulating Environment
Generally speaking, it’s important for kids to be in stimulating environments during the summer months, whether this means being outdoors in nature or taking part in engaging activities indoors. This is especially true for STEM learning, as kids can often benefit from seeing how these concepts play out in the real world.
If you’re not able to take your kids on regular field trips during the summer, there are still many ways to create stimulating environments at home. This could involve setting up a basic science experiment in the kitchen or building a small fort in the living room. You can also take advantage of many great STEM-related apps, websites, and TV shows that are available nowadays.
Display Your Own Curiosity
Kids, especially younger ones, often look to adults as role models when it comes to learning. This means that parents need to be careful about displaying their own curiosity, since this can go a long way towards encouraging kids to ask questions and seek out answers for themselves.
There are many ways to do this, but one approach is to make a point of talking about the world around you in curious terms. For instance, you could ask your kids what they think makes the sunset so beautiful or why a particular animal is attracted to certain types of food. You can also encourage kids to express their own curiosity by asking them open-ended questions about the things they’re interested in.
These are just a few tips to get you started. In our next blog post, we’ll go over some additional ways to keep the STEM learning process going strong all summer long!
For more on this, or to learn about any of our Sandy charter school programs, speak to our dedicated staff at Beehive Science & Technology Academy.
