Continuing our mission to provide STEM learning opportunities for students in pre-kindergarten through the 8th grade, we’re thrilled to announce updated versions of our two STEM programs. These programs are equipped with a variety of reusable engineering materials that range from basic building blocks to programmable robotics.

The curriculum is aligned with national education standards such as NGSS, ISTE, CCST, and CSTA. It also includes grade specific units of instruction including: 

• Teacher Lesson Plans 
• Student Workbooks 
• Design Challenges 
• Unit Assessments 

All of this includes professional learning courses for educators available online. To give an overview over these updated courses, we’ve assembled this quick guide. Check out the benefits of the programs below. 

Foundational Fluencies 

Available now at $159.99 SRP, the Foundational Fluencies lab features 16 lessons and 10+ hours of learning— all designed to support students’ exploration of concepts like spatial reasoning, sequence & correspondence, symbolism, patterns, and symmetry from Pre-K to the 1st grade. The 95 building components allow students to learn collaboratively while developing important competencies that are prerequisites for a lifetime of STEM learning.

Including containers for easy cleanup, as well as a printed Instructor’s Guide and Building Plans booklets— teachers can add this lab to build foundational STEM fluencies so their students can think like engineers and scientists. 

STEM Pathways 

Available starting in December 2021 at $649.99 SRP, our STEM Pathways Lab is designed expressly for students in the 2nd - 8th Grade in building coding and robotics skills. With 26 lessons and 48+ hours of learning for 2nd-5th grade students and 31 lessons and 62+ hours of learning for 6th-8th grade students— the lab gives students both the skills and confidence to persist in STEM throughout their lives.

Housed in a simple container to make storage easy, the lab contains a large assortment of structural building components, articulating components, and robotics & electronic components. It also includes both a Spark:bit robotics controller and Microsoft MakeCode browser-based programming environment for block-based and text-based coding. Along with step-by-step student coding tutorials, it runs in a web browser so it is compatible with Chromebooks and other common computing devices— making it accessible to all students. 

Ready to Learn More About Our STEM Programs?

Of course, these are just two examples of the labs we have available. If you’d like to talk to us more about adding Kid Spark Education programming at your school we’d be happy to talk to you further. 

Through our programs, young students from Pre-K to 1st grade can start learning foundational STEM fluencies like spatial reasoning, sequence and correspondence, symbolism, classification and comparison, and creative problem solving. As students progress through the late elementary and middle school programs, students explore concepts in mechanical and structural engineering, applied mathematics, physics, rapid prototyping and 3D printing, and coding and robotics. Ultimately these experiences help students develop a lasting interest in STEM for years to come. 

To get started, purchase a plan here. If you need help with grants or other solutions to help bring the power of STEM education to your classroom, you can learn more here.