STEM Summer Camp & the role of Reading STEM Books

Reading is enormously influential in children’s development so much so that culturally we promote the attitude that all reading is good reading. As science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—the STEM fields—have become increasingly prominent in many Primary and Secondary School classrooms as well as in out-of-school time settings, educators seek to connect children with high-quality reading materials (available in various formats, such as print books, e-books, reading apps, and other digital reading media) designed to bring STEM topics to young readers.

Reading texts with STEM themes is one of the best ways for students to build literacy skills (including how to read, write, and reason with the language and text) while learning STEM content and cultivating dispositions of science & technology.  High quality STEM reading content can support students’

1. involvement in inquiry experiences,

2. grasp of necessary STEM concepts, and

3. understanding of the nature of science and technology.

So what’s the factors contributing to the success of STEM Reading?

1. Parental Influence: Parents have a large influence on their children’s interests. Parental level of education, parental support, and shared out-of-school time experiences influence student attitudes toward science & technology. We believe that after each STEM session no matter it is STEM Summer Camp or STEM Regular Workshop after school, listen to your kids what they have learnt and discuss how they come out their design.

2. Reading Techniques: Students with limited academic language proficiency will not come to understand words like “structure” or “function” by memorizing definitions. Rather, it is repeated exposure to these words, and opportunities to practice using them in authentic contexts, that allows students to own these words and use them with facility to support their understanding of technical or theoretical ideas. In each of our STEM session, we repeatedly use Engineering Design Process to keep your kids expose to related STEM keywords and instructor will encourage them to share their ideas using STEM knowledge and keywords.

3. Paper & e-book: Technological enhancements that make the reading experience different from traditional paper books, such as interactive features like games and “hotspots,” may cause cognitive overload due to task switching and/or multitasking, and eventually lead to poor performance on tests of vocabulary and story comprehension.  On the positive side, well-designed e-readers with animated pictures and sound that are synced with the presented story’s text can facilitate the integration of nonverbal information and language, thus promoting their storage in memory. We aim to motivate your kids to learn STEM and no matter paper or e-book STEM reading material are both positive for your kids to keep their passion grows.