In addition, finding literature that represents the physical sciences (like motion or astronomy) can be much harder than locating books on life sciences (plants or animals) (Ford 2005 Smolkin et.al. 2008), or contain little representation of practical or natural sciences (Ford 2005). Children’s picture books may contain information that is so oversimplified it can become misleading (Dagher & Ford 2005), leave out key scientific components (Smolkin et al. With the amount of children’s literature aimed at building concept knowledge, teachers may find it difficult to select appropriate books to introduce these ideas. Use of high-quality STEM-focused children’s literature supports introducing and examining science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts in the early childhood classroom (Hong 1996 Patrick, Mantzicopoulos, & Samarapungavan 2008 Sharkawy 2012 Varelas et al. In this issue we offer suggestions and examples to guide teachers’ selection of classroom STEM resources and materials. The STEM experiences teachers provide for young children can involve a variety of learning materials, including children’s literature, consumables and manipulatives, and web-based resources. Early STEM experiences should include exploratory learning, allowing children to learn content through the processes of inquiry.

Stem in preschool