To continue exploring all of the diverse cultures and places around the world we read the book The Shape of Home written and Illustrated by Rashin Kheiriyeh. This story is about an Iranian girl’s first day of school in America. Through the eyes of Rashin it explores how everything she encounters is a different shape than what she's used to. From the foods, letters in the books, & children/families. When she goes to school her teacher asks each child to imagine the shape of home on a map which opens up the discussion of each child’s country that their family is originally from.
This book is such a great way to open up the discussion of different cultures and countries in the classroom. After reading the book we invited the children to explore more cultures/countries through STEM building. With Excellerations® Photo Block Building Around the World #gifted , Excellerations® Photo Block Multicultural Play People, and Excellerations® See Through Blocks we invited the children to build different places around the world.
STEM activities are designed to engage & stretch a child's thinking especially when they are challenged to create in new ways. The engineering & design process is a natural fit due to the fact that children already like to build & problem solve with everything. This invitation is a perfect opportunity to change a simple building activity/center & challenge them to think, create in new ways, be inspired by other cultures, places, and people around the world.
Through all these trials, child(ren) are able to analyze situations more critically & come up with solutions in their own way with anything they put their mind to. They become extremely creative whether it is putting on construction gear to build or inventing new ways to build a structure. STEM subliminally provides awesome real life lessons that are so valuable + enriching to a child, and something they will carry with them throughout the rest of their life.
תגובות