Dear educators and NAEYC members,

As I look through this second issue of TYC focused on STEM (with generous funding from the General Motors Foundation), I’m struck by the many educator voices sharing their knowledge.

Science, like math, is a topic that intimidates many—educators included. I love that early childhood educators like Allison from Connecticut share their enthusiasm for science. In Ask HELLO, Allison describes engaging learning activities that connect to science, literature, and hands-on explorations and that generate lots of questions, like “How can you move it?” and “Where does it come from?”

In “Teaching with Intention: A Kindergarten Teacher’s Reflection on Choosing and Using Diverse STEM Books,” Sabrina Burroughs, a long-time kindergarten teacher, describes the process she uses to think deeply about what she wants children to learn connected to learning standards and STEM. She does this as she intentionally keeps in mind each child’s interests, strengths, contexts, and needs.

Beulah Wiggins, a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) coach and educator, shares in this issue’s Feature Teacher about an experience where things did not go as planned. Instead of using the ramps she had provided for children to make a ball travel from one end of the room to the other, the children used other materials they found around the room. Rather than discouraging them from using these unplanned materials, Beulah watched as they took their exploration to the next level and in a way she’d never considered before.

The spirit of inquiry, knowledge development, hands-on learning, and intentional teaching shines through these contributions. They also reflect the spirit of NAEYC members and early childhood educators who are dedicated to developmentally appropriate practice and lifelong learning.

One of my goals is to lift up the voices of educators. NAEYC is here to support early childhood educators in their many roles, from student to new teacher, to faculty and trainer, to seasoned early childhood educator. I hope you enjoy this issue, which equally promotes STEM practices in early childhood education that are supported by the latest research as well as the voices of educators themselves.

In gratitude,

Michelle Kang
Chief Executive Officer

Copyright © 2025 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. See permissions and reprints online at NAEYC.org/resources/permissions.