Bringing joy and learning to preschoolers through science: A discussion with Matt Damon’s mom

No joke! Actor Matt Damon’s Mom, Professor Nancy Carlsson-Paige, joins BustED Pencils to talk about science education, starting with the youngest students. She also shares a great example of doing it the right way.

Actor Matt Damon’s Mom, Professor Nancy Carlsson-Paige, may be best known for being “Matt’s Mom”, but she is also a professor of early childhood education and believes science can be taught to the youngest of students, even those in preschool. She recently joined BustED Pencils’ show hosts Dr. Tim Slekar and Dr. Johnny Lupinacci to talk about one of the best ways to learn about science.

Carlsson-Paige has been training teachers for more than 30 years and is currently a professor at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Slekar asks her if little kids can really find science interesting.  

“I don’t know about calling it science education or science lessons,” Carlsson-Paige says. “It’s more the natural interest kids have in flowers, bugs, water, trees, mud. They so easily connect to the amazing natural world around them. That’s where we can build on their early interests, but instead, we are disconnecting little kids from these opportunities.”

“So you are saying get them involved in interesting, engaging activities,” Slekar says. “It’s the natural way to learn science.”

One example is a favorite for Carlsson-Paige to share. Once a week for six months, a kindergarten teacher would take her students outside to observe a tree. 

“They watched the tree change, documented it, drew pictures of it, and hypothesized what could happen next,” Carlsson-Paige explains. “The students loved this activity and were so excited about what was happening with the tree, but in reality, this was teaching them scientific thinking in a holistic, natural way.” 

Lupinacci wonders why this type of learning isn’t used more or doesn’t continue as students get older.

“Early learners have this capacity,” Lupinacci says. “But too often students are being told there’s one way to do it, one way to think about it. We need to let them inquire about other ideas, too.”

The discussion turns to education reform, and how early childhood play-based learning is now being pushed away from young students.  

“The groundwork you lay for these kids should be the natural way of thinking instead of having things automatically drummed into them,” Carlsson-Paige says. “Their ability to use their own discovery and understanding is being lost. Even the youngest students are being told how to see the world. But don’t we all agree, the natural state of early childhood should include an inquiring mind?”

Catch the complete discussion about early childhood learning and how science can bring joy and education to young students, who should then be allowed to cultivate that interest for a lifetime. Learn why Matt Damon believes his Mom’s view on the way kids learn is the right one.