In Harford, starting STEM learning early

Can a rubber ducky spark a child’s imagination enough to lead to a career in science or engineering?

That’s a hope of officials at the Harford County Public Library and Celebree Learning Centers in Forest Hill who are getting ready to launch a $40,000 public-private partnership to lend science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)-related literacy kits to children and their families under a new program called Little Leapers.

Beginning this week, 117 kits will be available for seven-day check-outs through the 11-branch suburban system for children from birth through age 5.

With a total of 10 titles like “I am an architect,” “I am a botanist,” “I am a chemist” and “I am an entomologist,” the age-appropriate kits are filled with books, CDs, toys, insects encapsulated in thick plastic cubes, LEGOs and a list of learning-based games to help build STEM skills at early ages, said Mary Hastler, director of the library system.

“It is essential that children learn through play,” Hastler said. “We are hoping to develop pre- and early-literacy skills and link with science and make it fun.”

Celebree Learning Centers, which aim to boost early childhood education, donated $25,000 toward the development of the kits, which were devised by a team of librarians from the county. Other sponsors include M&T Bank, SAIC and Hart to Heart Transportation, Hastler said.

The Little Leapers kits are modeled after the library’s LEAP: Science is Fun! program that started in 2007 for budding scientists in third to eighth grade. Hastler said it is the first such blend of STEM items combined with literacy educational tools offered at a public library in the U.S.

At the Bel Air library branch last week, 10-month-old Nora Rascoe pulled three small rubber duckies and other colorful animals out of a barnyard in a kit and started to play as her mother, Claire, sat nearby.

“I already saw her opening the door to the barn and seeing that the animals are still there,” Claire said. “I am thinking it can inspire her to become a reader and maybe even a scientist.”