More PEAS Please! Origin Story

Preschool Education in Applied Sciences (PEAS) is an evidence and practice-based multi-component professional development program focused on building a stronger preschool STEM educator workforce. The program is supported by a $1.32 million Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Over the course of the grant (2019-2024), PEAS worked with 150+ Head Start and NC Pre-K preschool teachers and reached more than 1,200 children to provide developmentally appropriate hands-on, inquiry-based science learning experiences. Our team believes strengthening the preschool educator workforce will improve the quality of early STEM experiences, “bridge the gap” between preschool and K-12 learning environments, and ultimately create a stronger STEM pipeline.

  • Preschool teachers are often provided with a “one-size fits all” curriculum to use in their classrooms, often having no flexibility or input in the design, selection, and how they use the curriculum. PEAS takes an alternate approach treating teachers as partners in curriculum design and building on teachers’ expertise, knowledge, creativity, and experience. When teachers are partners in the creation of resources, it can positively impact their engagement in science, their interest, their teaching practices, and ultimately children’s kindergarten readiness in science.

  • Preschool teachers face many barriers that impact their ability to effectively teach science in the classroom. What we have learned is that preschool teachers themselves have varying experiences, training, and education on teaching developmentally appropriate science content. As a result, some preschool teachers feel anxious or uncomfortable teaching, have misconceptions that science is a difficult subject to teach. Simply providing teachers with another curriculum will not address these concerns.

  • The PEAS Teaching Guide is a resource that supports teachers as they learn to design science learning activities that engages children in the process of science in the classroom. PEAS teachers engage with the four components of the PEAS Institute for Early Childhood Teachers to learn how to use the PEAS Teaching Guide.