MKU STEAM Experience
In the modern era of education, an intense debate over whether the arts and humanities or science and math should reign supreme in schools has presented a challenge for educators across the nation. Fortunately, the time tested Reggio Emilia inspired Montessori Kids Universe curriculum places a unique focus on five areas of education that are critical for the success and development of the child: science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, known simply as STEAM. This STEAM Experience curriculum allows children to gain important exposure to the culture-based component of a robust education in the humanities, while also having unparalleled access to the critical thinking and problem-solving skills gained by rigorous mathematics education. Allowing children to explore the fields of study featured in the STEAM curriculum present them with exponential benefits.
The need for young thinkers to posses both sufficient skills in mathematics, as well as in the arts and humanities, is growing faster than ever before. In May of 2013, the United States Committee on STEM Education of the National Science and Technology Council compiled a comprehensive five-year strategic plan to make STEM a priority in American schools. The Montessori Kids Universe curriculum recognizes the importance of such an initiative and has worked to integrate STEM education into the curriculum, in order to mold the next generation of internationally competitive and extraordinary scientists and engineers. The Committee for Economic Development confirms the benefits of early STEM education by reporting economic projections that show that not only have STEM-based jobs grown by 17 percent but that the American technology-based job market’s demand for STEM professionals is expected to increase by 1 million jobs. The world needs more scientifically oriented students and Montessori Kids Universe is ready to help supply them.
While STEM itself brings great benefits to students, the unique component of the MKU STEAM Experience curriculum is its focus on the arts, as well as the traditional components of STEM, resulting in the acronym STEAM. Mark Slouka, in his critically acclaimed essay on the importance of the humanities entitled Dehumanized, writes that “The case for the humanities is not hard to make… done right, [the humanities] are the crucible within which our evolving notions of what it means to be fully human are put to the test; they teach us… not what to do but how to be… they complicate our vision, pull our most cherished notions out by the roots, [and] are a superb delivery mechanism for what we might call democratic values.” To put it simply, a comprehensive humanities and arts education is essential for fully understanding not only democratic and classical values, but also for understanding not just the “how” component to an issue, but the more important “why” component. A strong education, provided by the all-inclusive Montessori curriculum, allows students to thrive in the humanities.
STEAM: the beautiful combination of the arts and sciences, provided by the Montessori Kids Universe curriculum, indulges children in the STEAM Experience of classical disciplines of the humanities and the more modern disciplines stemming from technology. Get involved in STEAM today.
