Children's Engineering for Elementary Students

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

The field of Technology Education involves the understanding of the human-made world. It is part of an area of study referred to as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Children’s Engineering is the common name given to Technology Education in the elementary classroom. This program integrates STEM education into the elementary classroom. Children’s Engineering includes hands-on, age-appropriate, technology-based activities that enhance any local, state, or national curriculum. The activities are designed to extend and promote mastery of required standards. Taught skills are applied, not just to one content area, but across the curriculum in authentic, integrated learning lessons. To date, 156 elementary teachers have been trained to provide instruction utilizing the Children’s Engineering model at 49 schools. This has allowed for over 3,000 elementary students in Henrico County Public Schools to have the opportunity to go beyond the traditional classroom instruction and begin to explore the world of learning through hands-on, real-world, problem-solving activities.