The Haifa Municipality decided to develop physical infrastructures that promote scientific and technological thinking skills from preschool age, with the view that the cultivation of human capital will increase the social and economic resilience of Israeli society.
The kindergartens in the city are part of the municipal educational system that operates a variety of programs and projects, one of which fosters a scientific and technological environment at the various stages in the lives of children and youth from kindergarten to the end of high school. The education system aims to produce a graduate with the knowledge and skills required to integrate into society, industry and research.
Developmental psychology claims that early learning experiences have a catalyzing and encouraging effect on learning processes that have a long-term impact. In the years of childhood, from birth to the age of seven, these years are the window of opportunity for developing the store of memories that determine the reactions later in life.
Therefore, from the beginning of kindergarten, it is possible to prepare the children for the scientific world, to arouse the children's curiosity in natural phenomena and with a reality in which technology has a significant place. The kindergartens that will be established in Kiryat Haim in the "Netivim" school complex will contain 3 kindergartens, with each kindergarten class having up to 30 children, at a cost of approximately NIS 4.5 million.
The building will be built according to the standards of the Ministry of Education, with the addition of an activity room which will allow for scientific, technological and cultural activities. The focus will be on content that will enable research activities.
The building will contain individual kindergarten classrooms (all that is implied in a standard kindergarten classroom) and garden courtyards which will be separated and connected by a fence.
In the complex will be built a "research laboratory" adapted to the age of the children who will be engaged in: researching phenomena that deal with the movement of objects, observations of various phenomena in the natural environment and in an environment initiated by the kindergarteners.
Changes in objects while understanding the concept of criterion - measure. The laboratory will include sinks and water taps at the height of children, wide work tables. This hall can accommodate up to a group of 15 children. In this laboratory there will be expression for a dark room, and aids such as computers, a projector, a television, a smart board and more.
A complex for cultural activities in the structure of an amphitheater will be built in the foyer. It will have a stage equipped with multimedia systems. This entrance will serve all the kindergartens in the cluster (about 120 including staff members) in the courtyards of the kindergartens: activity in an educational garden, physical research facilities, mathematical floor games, and small sports facilities will be possible.
The Nobel laureate in chemistry, Prof. Dan Shechtman, responded to the request of Mayor Yona Yahav, who requested that he lead the project after the Nobel laureate said that science education should start at an early age. "Kindergarten children can understand and internalize fundamentals in science and technology, provided that these are conveyed to them in a language adapted to the children's age."
Mayor Yona Yahav: "This is a significant step that will only have a decisive impact in about two decades or more. Teaching science to preschoolers is an "equal breaker" that can jump-start Israeli society as a whole among the scientific community."