Running head: PARENT GUIDE

Parent Guide: The Value of Science and Health for Children

Stephen T. Barnhart
Seton Hill University
Science and Health (ED 223)
Dr. Bonnie Ordonez
December 1, 2014

Author Note
Stephen T. Barnhart. Division of Education, Seton Hill University. Correspondence
concerning this article should be addressed to Stephen T. Barnhart, 1 Seton Hill Drive,
Greensburg, Pa 15601. Email: s.barnhart@setonhill.edu

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Parent Guide: The Value of Science and Health for Children

Dear Parents/Guardians:
I am writing this letter to you today because some of you have asked how science and
health education benefit your children. Its rightfully reassuring that you are all so attentive to the
education that I, along with a very supportive staff here at Benjamin Button Elementary, provide
for your children. Since you are their first teachers and have every right to know the content and
purpose of the instruction your children receives, allow me to address these concerns.
Science and health instruction are critical in the earliest years of a childs formal learning.
Children start off by learning the basics of being safe when crossing the street, labeling the bones
of the body, watching baking soda react with vinegar, and remembering to wash their hands after
using the restroom. These basics build upon each other, forming larger, more complex models
that are essential for children to know in order to pursue higher learning in the technical and
refined categorizations of traditional academic science/health instruction in
secondary/postsecondary settings. Science, and that particular emphasis we have in our
classroom on physical science, opens the world up to your children in a way that no other subject
can touch (literally). The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) states it quite
pungently: The elementary science program must provide opportunities for students to develop
understandings and skill necessary to function productively as problem solvers in a scientific and
technological world (NTSA Position Statement). The fact of the matter is that the world in
which our children are destined to live is one of constant change, thanks to advancements in the
fields of science and engineering. This, in turn and reciprocally, aids in the progression of
medicine and medical technology, leading to a future where some the worse illnesses humanity
has suffered will be essentially eliminated. And this is not in some Star Trek distant future, but

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will happen in the next couple of generations, thanks in large part to initiatives that introduce
science and health instruction earlier on.
Science education is not simply limited to random experiments that demonstrate the
forces of nature. Young children learn the scientific process, which helps in thinking critically
about the world around them. The way we now teach science also introduces your children to
inquiry-based learning, which quintessentially represents the real-world problems and scenarios
they will face in future work settings. Science in Elementary Education, written by renowned
science education authors Joseph Peters and David Stout, justifies this aspect of science
education. As they put it, By learning the scientific principles and processes, children start to
develop the foundation to become scientifically literate and make sound societal decisions. This
mental workout is a critical to future understandings as a physical workout would be for an
athlete. So if anything, science is helping your child learn to make better personal decisions for
themselves.
To conclude, I want to reiterate how crucial it is that science and health instruction
remain a part of the curriculum your children learn. If I ever have to teach on a potentially
controversial topic, I will send home a letter for your permission to do so, and have alternative
options to supplement otherwise. Also, if you check our learning management system, you can
preview all of the lessons we will be covering in science and health. Please feel free to contact
me any time to discuss your childs education.

Happy Holidays!

Mr. Barnhart

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Works Cited

NTSA Board of Directors. "NSTA Position Statement." : Elementary School Science. National
Science Teachers Association, July 2002 (adoptedelectronic publication date
unknown). Web. 02 Dec. 2014. <http://www.nsta.org/about/positions/elementary.aspx>.
Peters, Joseph M., and David L. Stout. Science in Elementary Education: Methods, Concepts,
and Inquiries. Eleventh ed. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon, 2011. Print.