LAST POINT FOR MY STATEMENT (Edited)

Actually, this term taught me more than I have about science teaching for early childhood education. I am keeping my opinions at the beginning of the term (please look at the first entry of my blog), but this term I created a perspective and philosophy by examining different points of view to the science teaching. I can say that our laboratory activities that we actualized during the term, provided me lots of interesting ideas about science teaching to young children. This term I discovered the constructivist perspective, I examined it in detail and I decided that it is appropriate for my educational philosophy. according to my science teaching philosophy, children's experiences are so valuable. Learning, understanding and applying come from these experiences. I believe that children are active learners, manipulaters and doers. ıt means, they learn from their own actions. At that point, I am a facilitator, a model, a catalyst and a consultant for them. In my future classes, I will observe them carefully and it is my responsibility that I will prepare appropriate environment that stimulate their curiosity about their world, because early childhood education period is a time that this curiosity should be fed with beneficial, valuable and suitable activities.

Moreover, I strongly assert that science integrated curriculum has very important role on not only developing scientific knowledge, but also improving child's language development. While investigating, probing and discovering new things, children communicate with peers and adults, so they gain highly developed language ability. Before this course, I do not think that there is close relationship between science teaching and language development, but now, I know that science education gives the possibility to express their ideas and this position provides improving language skills.Additionally, ı claim that science teaching creates a strong naturalistic development for children. This term we did lots of experiments and they are about plants, animals, our body, senses, making a rainbow, environment, features of simple machines, how a phenomena occur and so on. All of these experiences' aim is to teach children science in terms of physics, chemistry and biology.

In conclusion, I think that -as a future teacher-, our major responsibility is to foster child's curiosity, encourage him/her to participate in discovery, create appropriate environment and let expressing themselves. Now, I know that this is not so difficult, because science is at everywhere!