What is STEM? Why is it important to introduce it to our children to STEM?

Hi there,

I have a question for you. You may have read it somewhere, heard about it or your children talked about it. But do you know what it is and what it means. It's only 4 letters: STEM

STEM stands for SCIENCE - TECHNOLOGY - ENGINEERING and MATH.

Those are the main words behing those letters. Sorry if I put Math on the side for now in the article. :-)))

1°) STEM yesterday - STEM today

30 years ago, if you were a kids and wanted to learn more about electronics, how to code, no 3d printing were available for schools, it was a little bit hard to find a school having those types of program. You needed to go to student clubs or college where you could find some passionates and professors.

Now things have changed and the kids sometimes have STEM activities at their schools where they can learn coding from a very early age. It does start at 4 years old sometimes.

If it happens that your child's school does not propose STEM activies and after-school (specially here in DC and surrounding), you may find yourself asking this question. Is it important to introduce my child to STEM?

2°) What the future looks like:

From my point of view, I will answer yes and that's why:

We are surrounded more than ever with technology devices (smartphones, tablets, routers, robots, machines, etc)
Jobs are replaced by robots, computers, artificial intelligence. Meaning less jobs that do not require low qualification and more for the engineers. Those robots need to be engineered.
Cyber security may also a good way to go. Since we hear all those cyber attacks. Companies, banks and people need protection

3°) Where to find STEM activities for your children in town:

Public Libraries (DC libraries, Montgomery county libraries...)
Non-profit focusing on kids in DC, Virginia or Maryland depending of where you live
STEM events in DC in town such as Kidfest, DC STEM Fair, etc
Private STEM shows (Maker faire NOVA)
Meetups (Some research may need to be done on meetup.com, but it's really efficient)
Private STEM classes
And more STEM tutorials on the internet

4°) How to know what your child want

Ask them questions
Spy what they are doing (play on computers, tablets, smartphones, always tinkering...), so you may have a better idea of what they like to do
Bring them to STEM shows, meetups, activities in DC and everywhere you can
Buy small STEM kits for them where they can explore (lego, chemistry activities, robots...)
Teach them what you know if you already have a STEM background

5°) More STEM in DC

Come join us in Washington DC for more STEM activities for your kids on how to code, robotics. The next one will be the the Raspberry pi jam on Saturday July 13th 2019 in Chevy Chase Washington DC. More details on the event are available with the following link: STEM Raspberry pi jam on robotics

6°) Please share and subscribe

What did you find out on your children?

What are their favourite activities?

Please share with the community your experince by writing a comment after the article.

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