There is a growing understanding and recognition of the power of children’s early thinking and learning as well as a belief that science may be a particularly important domain in early childhood, serving not only to build a basis for future scientific understanding but also to build important skills and attitudes for learning. How can we develop scientific skills in the young learners’ minds. Scientific skills are very important as they promote observation and curiosity. Curiosity has a major role in many scientific processes; young children have a natural proclivity towards the world they live in. Their day starts with asking how, why, where, who and what. Developing scientific skills in the early years will allow children to understand how the world works and how we share the planet with other living beings, and eventually allows them to develop refined understanding.
It all started with the day the caterpillar came visiting…
It is amazing to see the attributes of the learner profile developing in such young children after they observed the caterpillar over a period of time. They were curious, reflective and knowledgeable. This learning opportunity fostered conceptual understanding and a sense of curiosity in understanding a complex topic like the ‘life cycle of a butterfly’. Unknowingly the children developed vocabulary and they were able to make up their own story.This experience motivated and allowed the practitioner to rethink planning and was instrumental to create a scientific inquiry corner in the classroom. Keeping artifacts like an empty nest, live earth worms, a millipede, the caterpillar of a moth, germinating seeds etc. Is a fantastic manner to introduce scientific enquiry into the classroom. Nature is the best teacher to create enthusiasm and develop observation skills in students. The exploration of the natural world is the stuff of childhood. Science, when viewed as a process of constructing understanding and developing ideas, is a natural focus in the early childhood programme.
