Should Science be Taught in Early Childhood?

11/11/2005

Should Science be Taught in Early Childhood?

Learning is its own exceeding great reward.
William Hazlitt

Colleagues in Israel have written an essay that considers the question of why we should teach science in K-2:

"After initial consideration of two traditional reasons for studying science, six assertions supporting the idea that even small children should be exposed to science are given. These are, in order: (1) Children naturally enjoy observing and thinking about nature. (2) Exposing students to science develops positive attitudes towards science. (3) Early exposure to scientific phenomena leads to better understanding of the scientific concepts studied later in a formal way. (4) The use of scientifically informed language at an early age influences the eventual development of scientific concepts. (5) Children can understand scientific concepts and reason scientifically. (6) Science is an efficient means for developing scientific thinking. Concrete illustrations of some of the ideas discussed in this essay, particularly how language and prior knowledge may influence the development of scientific concepts, are then provided. The essay concludes by emphasizing that there is a window of opportunity that educators should exploit by presenting science as part of the curriculum in both kindergarten and the first years of primary school."

Eshach, H., and Fried, M. (2005, September). "Should science be taught in early childhood?" Journal of Science Education & Technology, 14, 3, 315-336.

Contributed by Michael Kalinowski

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