One of the reasons I created Free Tutoring Online is that I have seen that students decide very early that they’re “not a science person” or they “just don’t get math”, and then doors start to close. They take an easier math course and then are stuck on a certain track. They avoid certain science classes, which make certain majors impossible in college. Or they just start to think of themselves as not belonging in the “smart” classes, even if they are plenty smart. Math courses build on one another, and students who don’t have the support or opportunity to grasp one initial concept before moving on may find that the next topics seem impossible without the previous building blocks. If you never got your head around negative numbers, for example, you’re likely going to have trouble adding and subtracting them.
Every day, students go to school and are taught countless pieces of information about various subjects surrounding STEM. Many of these children dread school because they do not understand the importance of learning the information being taught in classes, or they haven’t mastered the information on which the new material is being built. Instead of seeing school as a nourishing environment, they see it as something preventing them from having fun times with their friends. This is far from positive because many of them fail to understand the importance the STEM subjects have in our society and the successful opportunities they promise in the future.
STEM is very important in the way that it affects the brain of the individual. Through studying and exploring STEM subjects at an early age, students learn to develop logical and analytical skills allowing them to become more literate in many different ways. The skills learned through these type of classes not only help students interested in STEM jobs become more prepared, but also apply to any type of lifestyle. Whether through budgeting, critical and creative thinking, or collaboration, these life-skills better the life of the people who know them and allow them to have more control of their choices.
Many kids nowadays are turning away from pursuing STEM, largely due to the difficulty they have learning as well as the lack of resources they have to quality learning opportunities. If they find STEM subjects difficult or daunting, it only makes sense that they would look toward subjects that they find easier to master. However, closing the door to STEM majors and careers means closing the door to a huge array of opportunities to advance their careers and lives. This is why it is important to spark children’s creativity, curiosity, and collaboration towards these subjects at an early age. Young children are natural-born innovators, but many are turned around due to lack of attention towards nourishing these talents. There is much evidence showing that if children are not exposed to STEM in the right way before middle school, they are highly unlikely to ever major in STEM or pursue STEM-related careers. This is why pursuing an environment that encourages developing natural inclination and interest is so important.
Raising a generation that is very involved with STEM will not only benefit the individual but the country. The students who will learn to develop logical and analytical skills will pave the way for medical discoveries, improved infrastructure, and advanced technology. In addition, many of the jobs in science and technology tend to be high paying. The skills learned from STEM will also help students who decide to take other career paths by allowing them to be more methodical in their thinking. As President Barack Obama said in a 2015 speech, “[Science] is more than a school subjects, or the periodic table, or the properties of waves. It is an approach to the world, a critical way to understand and explore and engage with the world, and then have the capacity to change that world…” He underlines the importance of STEM learning not only in class but also the impact that it has on daily life in our society.