Future STEM careers begin in the primary grades

The reality we face in the United States is that globalization and modern communication are driving STEM technologies which will be the underpinning of the arriving “Knowledge Economy”. From our current experience in the education process it is clear that STEM education is complex in content, and requires that we, as educators, not only perfect a successful curriculum, but also lay the groundwork for attitudinal changes of the student population beginning with K-3 and possibly in the pre-K years. More than ever, this calls for parental involvement and skilled, informed communication from the educational community to and with the parents and their children. In the future, with the mushrooming of knowledge and informational content to be acquired, new tools and emphasis on the process of acquiring knowledge may be at least as vital as the knowledge itself. Collaborative design in the future world will become the norm, supported by ever more sophisticated computer based tools.