A Guide to STEAM for Families with Young Children

I've been offering preschool science programs for a while now, and during each program, I speak to caregivers about STEAM and how it ties in with early literacy. STEAM experiences allow children to develop understanding about how the world works. At the most basic level, these sorts of experiences introduce children to new vocabulary, content knowledge, and narrative skills that are an integral part of early literacy. The more a child experiences, the more a child knows; and the more a child knows, the more a child will be able to recognize and process when it comes to reading. STEAM is important.

That's why I created a guide to STEAM for these families with young children. The guide resembles a handout on the five early literacy practices that accompanies my library's early literacy calendars, so it's a format with which my library families are familiar. The guide explains what STEAM is, notes how it's important, and gives fun, simple activity ideas that families can do together to promote STEAM experiences and learning. I've found that parents really enjoy having a handout that gives them a running start when it comes to literacy-positive activities with their kids. These sorts of guides plant the seed for parents, and they empower parents to find the early literacy potential in every day. If I can accomplish that in my library, I consider my work successful.