Hands-On Labs Boost STEM Skills at Williamsburg Preschool

Bright Horizons Early Education & Preschool, which offers preschool, child care, and educational services, recently added STEM labs for children in its toddler and preschool programs in Williamsburg.

Bright Horizons Early Education & Preschool, which provides early education and preschools, child care, and educational services throughout New York City, added STEM labs to its toddler and preschool programs at the Kent Avenue location in Williamsburg.

In the STEM labs, which started in February, children learn basic science and math skills through hands-on demonstrations. Allison Wilmot, director of the Williamsburg location, introduced the STEM curriculum to the Kent Avenue location and says the labs will reinforce the skills learned in class that are needed later on in the student’s education.

“We’re helping them understand not only the concept but the process of critical thinking skills as they approach science and math problems as they get older,” she says.

In May, students will learn physics in the Magnetic Appeal unit. Students will learn how and why magnets attract and repel each other, and will go on a magnetic scavenger hunt. Past labs include building a landfill to learn why plastic needs to be recycled, exploring how different birds obtain their food, and how different solutions and temperatures can change matter.

Wilmot’s approach to education comes from a level of respect for the different ways children learn. “We know that there are different answers to the same problem,” she says. “We know that there are different ways for children to show what they have learned.”

STEM labs are a part of the yearlong toddler and preschool programs at the Williamsburg location.

Above photo: Chemistry is just one of the sciences children learn in the new STEM labs at Bright Horizons in Williamsburg.