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Take-home Family STEM Toolkit Program

The Department of Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum at COEHS, has developed a unique engagement opportunity to familiarize students and parents with concepts and skills used in STEM. The month-long program delivers toolkits to the participant schools for parents to engage in open-ended activities at home with their early childhood-aged children. The Take-home Family STEM Toolkit has been running since the spring of 2021. A pilot was implemented in February 2021 at the UNF Preschool and has now been extended to several schools in Duval County.

The month-long program delivers to the participant schools 4 different toolkits for 4 consecutive weeks. The goal is to expose young children to concepts in STEM using a collection of developmentally appropriate STEM activities and reading. The families use these materials to explore, tinker, play and ultimately, learn at home. Each week, the Take-home Family STEM Toolkit Program has a specific focus that guides the activities:

  • Week 1: Observation
  • Week 2: Measurement
  • Week 3: Prediction
  • Week 4: Recording

Research

To assist educators in providing effective early-childhood STEM experiences for their students and families, the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Curriculum is launching a study within the context of the Take-home Family STEM Toolkit Program. The study will assess parents' and non-parental caregivers' perceptions of their experience with STEM activities. This study will help devise methods to boost parents' and guardians' involvement in mentoring and supporting their children with STEM-related topics.