Kids and teens must be equipped with a wide variety of essential skills to reach their maximum potential. Why? Companies are looking for employees who have industry skills and intangible, interpersonal, social-emotional attributes that contribute to a positive community. Does STEM activate essential soft skills? Read on to find out.
1. STEM sparks creativity
The word “creative” is often associated with subjects like theater or language arts, but STEM requires creativity too! When kids look at problems, there is often more than one path to finding the solution. STEM requires kids to think outside the box, like in BattleBots® Camps, where campers get to design, customize, and build a robot based on their imagination! The technical skills keep things running, but creativity changes the world.
2. STEM requires critical thinking
New discoveries and breakthroughs are made by digging deep. Open-ended questions require open-ended research, like in BattleBots® Camps, where kids will optimize their bot’s hardware and software until it meets their specifications! No matter what their path is, strengthening the resourcefulness, and resilience required for critical thinking will translate to every industry.
3. STEM promotes collaboration
Working with a team requires empathy to see problems through the eyes of others. It also requires self-awareness. Teams have many different personalities, so kids must learn when to use their voices and when to let others take the lead. From group projects in school to cross-functional teams at work, understanding how to work collaboratively is an invaluable skill. In BattleBots® Camps, campers brainstorm, build, and customize their bot together to get it ready for the arena.
4. STEM creates communication
STEM requires failing, taking feedback without becoming defensive or defeated–especially in defeat. In BattleBots® Camps, kids practice communication skills with fellow campers as they battle their bots. Strong communication skills will support their success in many aspects of life.
5. STEM commands organization
At iD Tech, every session is designed with structure and schedules. This teaches kids to identify what’s most important, prioritize those tasks, and allocate time efficiently. In BattleBots® Camps, kids must be organized to ensure each detail is finalized for the big battle. Giving campers a skeleton to follow helps them learn to manage their time as they progress at their own pace and begin to develop a process for balancing schoolwork and extracurriculars for now, college, and their future careers.
All together, BattleBots® Camps build essential soft skills, but we’re proud to say that we design all courses with our students’ futures in mind. In each and every iD Tech course, kids and teens will hone STEM skills and intangible, interpersonal, social-emotional attributes like:
- Creativity
- Critical thinking
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Organization