TECHNOLOGY

At STEMIE, we use the concept of computational thinking when we talk about the ‘T’ in STEM.

At STEMIE, we use the concept of computational thinking when we talk about the ‘T’ in STEM. Computational thinking is the method used to problem-solve by determining ‘what’, ‘how’, and ‘why’.

Repeating actions over and over, doing things in a sequence, figuring out where a sequence might have gone wrong (debugging), and coding are the key computational thinking concepts we see in young children.

Please note, this content is regularly refined and updated.

Debugging
The process of recognizing and removing errors.

Progression steps

Repetition & Looping
Repetition is doing an action over and over again. Looping is running a sequence of instructions over and over again until a condition is reached that tells the sequence to stop.

Progression steps

Sequencing
Sequencing is doing the steps of an activity or task in a particular order.

Progression steps

Progression Steps

Action Repeater

Children develop expectations about their daily routines through experience, leading them to intentionally repeat actions and anticipate what comes next within those routines.

Examples:

Pushes a spoon off the highchair and observes it fall. Repeats this action to repeat outcome.
Child lifts arms up to caregiver, anticipating being picked up.
Child crashes block towers and signs “more” to get the adult to repeat the action of building the tower so the child can knock it down again.

Early Sequencer

Children follow ordered steps to reach familiar goals, like finishing routines or interacting with others. These steps are often imitated, familiar, or done with guidance.

Examples:

Child follows all the steps to play peekaboo.
Child pretends to drink tea, holds out cup for adult to fill repeatedly.
During a pretend play scenario, child gives baby bath, dresses them, puts them in a crib for bed time.

Sequencer

Children understand that a group of ordered steps is a sequence that meets a goal. They demonstrate this understanding by repeating the sequence or fixing the order of steps so that the goal is met within familiar tasks.

Examples:

Child puts shoes on baby doll then tries to put on socks. Notices the error and redresses the doll accordingly.
When adult makes the error of putting the lid on a playdough bucket and then putting the playdough on top of the lid, child puts the playdough inside the bucket and then puts on the lid.
When adult puts on Mr. Potato Head glasses, then eyes, child says “No”, and points to eyes to indicate that they see an error.

Early Coder

Children create and complete sequences that can be shared with others, including those that repeat to meet a defined goal.

Examples:

When filling a number of gift bags, counts down as each is completed – “I finished that one. Now there are two more to go… I finished another. Now there is one more to go.”
Child follows a set of arrows to find a treasure.
Child uses blocks as symbols for dance moves and orders the blocks to create a dance sequence.

Debugger

Children check for mistakes in sequences and can revise steps to correct them.

Examples:

Lays out a set of arrows in a sequence to guide an adult through a maze. Adult follows sequence and doesn’t get to the maze’s end. Child fixes misplaced arrow in the sequence.
Points to an error in a sequence of arrows, saying that it would not take their friend to the treasure.

Flexible Coder

Children plan and adjust a sequence of steps to find different or more efficient ways to reach the same goal.

Example:

Child initially said a 6-step path was the fastest, but when challenged to make a path with 4 steps they did.