STEM Begins at Home: Building children’s confidence for the future
By Dr Paran Anak Gani
Emerging technologies – from artificial intelligence and robotics to cybersecurity and green tech – are rapidly transforming every sector, including healthcare, manufacturing, and education.
As a result, today’s children need far more than traditional academic knowledge. They must be able to think critically, collaborate, communicate clearly, use technology ethically, and adapt to constant change.
To thrive in this environment, children need a strong foundation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Science helps them understand the world through observation and experimentation. Technology enables them to use tools to solve problems. Engineering teaches them to design, build, and refine solutions. Mathematics allows them to measure, analyse data, and make evidence-based decisions. Therefore, these four fields should never be viewed as isolated subjects – they work best when integrated.
Crucially, this learning does not require an expensive lab; STEM education actually begins right at home. Daily activities such as cooking, measuring ingredients, managing personal finances, using a smartphone, gardening, tracking the weather, repairing small equipment, or building with recycled materials all contain core STEM elements.
STEM Sparks Children’s Curiosity
STEM education isn’t just about memorising formulas or achieving high marks – it teaches children how to think.
Through hands-on STEM activities, children spark curiosity about how things work, experiment with different approaches, identify mistakes, and refine their solutions.
They learn that failure is not the end, but a vital step in learning. Ultimately, STEM builds creativity, digital literacy, resilience, and the confidence to experiment – skills that are essential not just for technical careers, but for almost any future job.
STEM is Inclusive Education
One of the biggest challenges in STEM education is the persistent belief that these fields are too difficult and only for top academic performers.
Passion for STEM actually can be nurtured based on each child’s unique abilities and interests.
Not every child learns the same way. While some grasp concepts easily through reading, others thrive through hands-on experiences like interactive games, practical experiments, or direct observation.
There is also a common misconception that STEM is meant primarily for men. In reality, women have equal potential to excel in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and innovation.
Furthermore, STEM careers extend far beyond traditional roles like doctors or engineers. Today, STEM drives modern agriculture, food science, digital enterprise, design, healthcare, spatial mapping, clean energy, data analytics, finance, and environmental sustainability.
Support from Parents
Supporting a child’s interest in STEM does not require parents to have a background in science or engineering. In fact, a parent’s enthusiasm and reaction to curiosity matter far more than technical expertise.
When children ask complex questions, parents do not need to have all the answers right away. Instead, they can turn the moment into a joint discovery by asking, “What do you think?” or “How can we find out together?”. This simple shift fosters critical thinking and turns everyday moments into opportunities for exploration.
The language parents use plays a pivotal role in shaping a child’s mindset and confidence. Defeated statements like “You’re just not good at maths” can be thoughtfully reframed into “Let’s find a different way to look at this.” Rather than dismissing a frustrating task with “It’s too hard, just leave it,” parents can guide problem-solving by asking, “Which part is giving you the most trouble?”. Similarly, when a child wants to disassemble or repair an object, swapping “Don’t break it!” to “Let’s take it apart safely and see how it works” transforms potential disruption into valuable hands-on learning.
Children thrive when parents actively value their effort, creative strategies, and incremental progress. By praising perseverance over perfection, parents nurture a confident child who feels empowered to ask bold questions, experiment without fear, and view mistakes as essential steps in the learning process.
Mini Lab at Home
STEM activities do not have to be expensive; many can be done using available materials around the house.
The kitchen can easily become a mini-laboratory. Children can observe how ingredients change while cooking, measure temperatures, compare quantities, or learn about the fermentation process.
Meanwhile, the garden can serve as a biology classroom. Planting seeds allows children to observe life cycles, the importance of water and sunlight, and the relationship between plants and their environment.
Recycled materials can be used to build towers, bridges, or simple models. These hands-on activities introduce basic engineering principles, structural stability, and the iterative design process.
Free platforms like Scratch and Code.org help build logical thinking while introducing fundamental programming concepts. Similarly, observing the moon, stars, and weather can spark curiosity in astronomy and environmental science.
Puzzles, chess, and board games are also valuable STEM tools, as they strengthen strategy, logic, and problem-solving skills.
Across all these activities, parents should emphasise the learning process rather than just the result. When an experiment doesn’t go as planned, simply ask: “What can we learn from this try?”
5T Model for Families
Parental support can be implemented through five simple actions called the 5T Model.
1. Tanya (Ask questions)
Start with questions instead of instructions. Open-ended questions help children express their ideas and build the confidence to think.
2. Tunjuk (Show)
Show how STEM is used in jobs and daily life, including when managing finances, cooking, using apps, or caring for the environment.
3. Temani (Accompany)
Spend time with your children when they try out projects, exercises, or experiments. A parent’s presence shows that the child’s efforts are valued.
4. Teguhkan (Reinforce)
Praise efforts, strategies, and progress – not just correct answers.
5. Teroka (Explore)
Help children find opportunities to join clubs, competitions, workshops, educational visits, and programs that can expand their experience. Small, consistent support is more effective than massive, one-off pressure.
Start with a 30-day Plan
Support for STEM can begin with a simple plan.
• First week: Ask your child one STEM question every day.
• Second week: Do one simple activity such as building a paper tower, conducting a water experiment, or creating a shopping budget.
• Third Week: Watch an educational video together and ask your child to explain what they learned.
• Fourth Week: Discuss a STEM or Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) career that aligns with your child’s interests.
These actions may seem small, but the impact can be significant when done consistently.
The future of STEM does not begin when a child enters university or chooses the science stream. It begins when a child feels safe to ask questions, brave enough to try, and understands that failure is an opportunity to learn. Parents do not need to know all the answers. They only need to be willing to accompany their child on their learning journey.
Expanding Career Opportunities
Labour market data indicates that there were 63,599 STEM-related job vacancies in Malaysia in the first quarter of 2025. That figure represents approximately 24.2 per cent of total job vacancies.
Among the sectors with demand are information technology, engineering and manufacturing, finance and data analytics, as well as renewable energy. Expanding career fields include artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity, software development, biotechnology, semiconductors, robotics, and automation.
However, a child’s future path is not limited to academic education alone. They can choose TVET pathways, digital skills, community development, or entrepreneurship. These pathways can complement one another according to the child’s interests, talents, and abilities. The role of parents is not to force children to choose a specific career, but to help them understand the available options and empower them to explore them boldly.
Sarawak’s Commitment to Developing STEM Talent
Sarawak pays close attention to STEM education because the state’s future development requires a highly skilled workforce. Fields such as digital technology, semiconductors, renewable energy, engineering, robotics, and data analytics demand local talent with a solid STEM foundation.
Expanding STEM programs, digital learning, robotics competitions, and pathways to higher education and TVET is crucial to ensuring equal opportunities for all students – including those in rural areas – to excel in STEM education.
The goal is not merely to increase the number of students in the STEM stream, but to nurture a generation capable of creating technology, solving societal problems, and contributing to the development of a knowledge-based economy.
Dr Paran Anak Gani is a lecturer and researcher at Curtin University Malaysia, specialising in environmental and civil engineering, sustainable technologies, water and wastewater treatment, and nature-based solutions. Passionate about STEM education and science communication, he promotes the integration of research, innovation, and real-world applications to inspire curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving among future generations. He can be contacted at paran.gani@curtin.edu.my.
