Early Childhood With Science Ability - Paper Example

Introduction

Early childhood is a field of education that seeks to identify children's abilities to learn, and there are of interest in learning. Early childhood with science ability is an area of early education that has not been analyzed. There is limited research that can help educators to develop a curriculum that can support the study of science at an early age. Besides, children at the early education are still at their developmental stages where they have an interest in almost all the activities. As such, it becomes harder for educators to identify scientific abilities among children (Black et al., 2017). It is true that science has wide options which further affects decisions on the area or subjects of science that educators should concentrate on at the early stages. These issues call for further research to identify the universal ground of determining scientific abilities of children with the goal of nurturing these abilities.

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Different researchers have conducted studies aimed at understanding children's scientific abilities. In other sections, children are considered to be natural scientists due to their curiosity to make the world predictable. In most cases, children do things that enrich their experiences by learning the world and trying new things. The curiosity is often boosted by the presence of parents, guardians, and teachers who instill theories that help children imagine and look at their world better (Gerde, Schachter & Wasik, 2013). However, there is no connection between curiosity and being a scientist in the future, and this is an area of early childhood education that should be looked at with the aim of helping children nurture their scientific skills. The issue of addressing curiosity among young children and nurturing their scientific abilities right from early childhood should be explored further.

Procedure and Methods Used

The procedures required in conducting this study involves observing the activities conducted by children. All procedures will involve observation while taking notes on key issues that should be analyzed. The first method would be to ask children to engage in activities such as studying insects or animals. In the initial observation, children would be asked to draw snails. Another option would be to allow children to have the actual interaction with the snail and make drawings later (Stern, 2017). The activity should be conducted for around 20 minutes after which the teacher will analyze what their drawings. Each student should then be given a chance to explain their reasoning behind the drawing. By allowing children to express themselves, the teacher will get the opportunity to gauge the scientific abilities of children as well as identify their interests.

The second method would be to introduce scientific phenomenon in teaching such as studying the galaxy. While studying this intriguing topic, the teacher will have to take a keen interest to analyze the level of curiosity of each of the participant regarding the scientific issue. Some of the children will try to ask questions concerning what is being studied. Some will come to describe what they already know from the knowledge gained from stories narrated by parents (Stern, 2017). While taking a keen observation, teachers should be able to identify students with a keen interest in scientific issues. By identifying these students, it would be easy for the instructors to identify ways where these scientific capabilities can be nurtured and improved so that children can think of science as a career. Besides, teachers will be able to develop a framework that helps in identifying and nurturing abilities.

Findings and Results

The study sought to identify the relationship between curiosity in science and nurturing abilities to allow children to be scientists. The results from the procedures indicate that children than to show curiosity to scientific issues particularly those that are perplexing. They also tend to freely express themselves as well as give an explanation of the decisions they make in science classes (Worth & Grollman, 2013). One thing that stands out is that few children will should an advanced interest in science. It is the responsibility of teachers to identify children that show extraordinary curiosity and interest in science issues and help them from the early stage to realize their scientific abilities.

Conclusions

The focus of early childhood education has been to help children understand their surroundings and learn the basics of learning. There has been limited interest in scientific issues at an early age. The study has shown that the limited research available on this issue still makes it hard for teachers to identify scientific abilities at an early. There is a need to develop a policy and a framework that could help teachers to work with guardians and other stakeholders to help children realize their scientific dreams at an early age.

Reflection

I fully agree that there is a need to explore scientific abilities in early childhood. The world is in need of more scientist to solve problems and to nurture children right from early education can help them gain the required skills as well as understand scientific concepts at an early age. It would further allow children to identify their niche without the need of introducing it at their later stages of learning. The topic should be extensively studied with the findings being applied through a policy framework.

References

Black, M. M., Walker, S. P., Fernald, L. C., Andersen, C. T., DiGirolamo, A. M., Lu, C., ... & Devercelli, A. E. (2017). Early childhood development coming of age: science through the life course. The Lancet, 389(10064), 77-90.

Gerde, H. K., Schachter, R. E., & Wasik, B. A. (2013). Using the scientific method to guide learning: An integrated approach to early childhood curriculum. Early Childhood Education Journal, 41(5), 315-323.

Stern, W. (2017). Psychology of early childhood: up to the sixth year of age. Routledge.

Worth, K., & Grollman, S. (2013). Science in the early childhood classroom. Learning from Head Start: A Teacher's Guide to School Readiness, 117.