Kindergarten Academy 2024: Developing Problems Solvers

Kindergarten Academy 2024: Developing Problem Solvers will be two days of fun and interactive ideas to help teachers develop children's problem solving skills.

Day 1: The Fun is in Problem Solving

Join Cathy Graces with the Graduate Center for the Study of Early Learning as she reviews standards and how they apply to Standard 4, Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. The presentation will seek to expand the current instructional strategies that are not currently focused on developing executive functioning. The presentation will provide hands-on opportunities for participants to develop their own skills in developing learning activities that promote executive functioning skills for their classrooms.

Day 2: Engaging Young Students in Hands-On STEM Learning

Join Alice Steimle and Julie James with the Center for Mathematics and Science Education will as they review STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in early childhood education and how STEM does not involve explaining complex ideas, such as gravity, but rather guiding students to notice and experience how these ideas play a role in the world around us. During this session, participants will explore what STEM learning looks like in the early childhood classroom, engage in hands-on STEM activities, and participant in an engineering design challenge appropriate for the Pre-K - Kindergarten classroom. Teacher swill learn how to integrate STEM concepts into other learning experiences.