PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, KinderCare Education (KCE) announces the expansion of STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – programs to nearly 800 locations nationwide. Available at many KinderCare Learning Centers and Champions programs around the country, the STEM offerings are designed using research from MIT Media Lab, DevTech Research Group at Tufts University and Harvard’s Wyss Institute, providing children with hands-on and minds-on, innovative activities that build year over year for ages 3-12.
STEM education is critical for future success and career development. Recent research from the Department of Labor shows that more than 65 percent of today’s students will enter careers that do not exist yet1, many in STEM related fields. Introducing children to STEM at an early age helps develop their confidence and builds a lifelong love for STEM learning, preparing children for future opportunities in STEM fields.
“The workforce is constantly evolving, and we provide a curriculum that sets children up for future success,” said Dr. Elanna Yalow, KinderCare Education’s Chief Academic Officer. “With the addition of STEM Innovators and Tech Track, a new, innovative school-age technology program, we develop the critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication skills that children need in elementary school and beyond.”
In these programs, children build STEM skills as they learn through play and exploration, combining traditional tools of scientific inquiry with innovative technology tools such as robots. But because learning takes place beyond the classroom, parents are also given suggestions for activities outside the classroom. Both STEM Innovators and Tech Track provide ideas for families to incorporate STEM education in fun, every day activities, like nature hikes, a family drive, cooking or even while playing with favorite toys.
Learning Adventures® STEM Innovators
KinderCare is amplifying the STEM curriculum taught in its classrooms every day, providing a new program for Learning Adventures called STEM Innovators. The new offering includes a core curriculum focused on applying STEM principles with fun, hands on and minds-on activities such as:
- Application and play with robotics, chemistry, coding, physics, geology, engineering and more.
- Hands-on experiments and problem-solving tailored to fit a child’s age and learning level.
- Opportunities for children to showcase their work and practice presentation and collaboration skills.
Tech Track
Both KinderCare and Champions programs offer Tech Track in selected school age programs. Tech Track gives students access to an innovative curriculum that helps them become active creators using technology. There are currently no other programs that have this offering, making it unique to the KinderCare family. Tech Track includes:
- An introduction to three technology-focused pathways: coding, engineering, and art design. Digital Citizenship is integrated all year long through a unique method specific to KinderCare and Champions curriculum.
- Access to both student-directed tech interest area and teacher-facilitated activities using an app-based program and screen-free robots.
- Curriculum that uses a collaborative model, providing students the opportunity to make their own choices and lead activities using input from their group.
1 http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016/chapter-1-the-future-of-jobs-and-skills/
About KinderCare Education®
KinderCare Education is an experience-based provider of early education and child care with more than 30,000 teachers and staff serving 185,000 families every day, where they need us:
- In neighborhoods with our KinderCare® Learning Centers and Rainbow Child Care Centers that offer early childhood education and child care for children six weeks to 12 years old.
- At work through KinderCare Education at Work™, family-focused benefits for employers including on-site and near-site early learning centers and back-up care for last-minute child care.
- In local schools with our Champions® before and after-school programs.
KinderCare Education operates more than 1,500 early learning centers, more than 480 Champions sites, and is supported by a corporate team of nearly 500 headquarters employees based in Portland, Oregon. In 2018, KinderCare Education earned their second Gallup Great Workplace Award – one of only 39 companies worldwide to win an award – and acquired several regional early childhood education brands, including Rainbow Child Care Centers. To learn more, visit kc-education.com.
