We initiated a program called First Discoveries, aimed to improve science enrichment at the early childhood level.   The program began in 2017, through a partnership with local Bright Horizons pre-schools, and since has expanded into local Chicago Public schools at the Kindergarten and 1st grade level.  

SPT volunteers design and lead physics and astronomy-focused activities in the classroom that foster scientific reasoning through play- and inquiry-based learning.  Volunteers collaborate directly with full time educators through emails and workshops to coordinate lesson plans and extension activities, which are documented for future use by other classrooms and educators.  

The program aims to excite young students alongside teachers, and encourages them to approach science as a tool for exploring and understanding their own curiosities and intutions.  By avoiding memorization and instructor-focused demonstrations, the authority of learning and thining scientifically is turned back over to the students in an equitable way, before any notion of what science or scientists look like have formed.  

The program has been highlighted in the Bright Horizons newsletter and also the Chicago Sun-Times!