Sparking Curiosity Early On…

It's never too early to start learning how the world works. Babies begin exploring their worlds at a very early age, and research shows that many children find their future hobbies and careers before they even begin school. We recently asked a young woman at Upland High School this question: "When did you know that engineering was what you wanted to do?" She replied —"I was born doing this." She went on to recall sitting on her grandfather's lap while he worked on taking things apart and putting them back together, including her in projects like taking apart a VCR and putting it back in working condition. While you may not be comfortable taking apart electronics, there are plenty of things that parents can do to show their young children how things work.

How it Inspires Our Kids

The Alliance for Education partners with school districts, postsecondary partners and community and faith-based organizations to support efforts in providing early learning experiences and parent education. Examples of this partnership include work with the Watson and Associates Literacy Center at California State University, San Bernardino and local community and faith-based organizations such as The Church for Whosoever in Apple Valley to provide support in literacy development for students and their families. More information on the CSUSB Watson and Associates Literacy Center can be found at: http://literacy.csusb.edu/home.html.

Get Started!

Check out the video from TED.com and the web links below for easy science projects that you can do with your child and more information on helping your young child with successful transition to school.

http://www.childcarelounge.com/activity/science-experiments.php

http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/quick/preschool.html

http://www.education.com/activity/preschool/science/

http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/preschool/