’26-’27 S1 S.T.E.A.M. BUILDERS – HeartWise Homeschool

It’s America’s quintennial birthday, and in this hands-on STEAM class, students celebrate by exploring the inventions, innovations, and cultural influences that have shaped the nation. From the influence of Native American drums on modern music to the scientific principles behind the telephone, airplanes, and light bulbs, students discover how creativity and ingenuity have driven progress. They’ll also explore how advancements like the assembly line made these innovations accessible to everyday people.

As the program continues, students connect these ideas to American cultural traditions, creating projects inspired by holidays and the stories behind them—discovering how science, engineering, and creativity intersect with history and community.

This STEAM Maker program gives students the opportunity to apply Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math concepts to bring real projects to life. Makers observe and participate in demonstrations and experiments to uncover the key scientific principles behind each project. Younger makers build confidence as they develop dexterity, grow comfortable tinkering, and learn to think in three dimensions, while older students dive deeper into design, engineering, and problem-solving. Every child experiences the satisfaction of completing projects they can use, share, or proudly gift to others.

The elementary and junior high classes are taught by Kitoodle instructor-Ms Gigi. Ms. Gigi started teaching kindergarten and was a preschool teacher for a number of years. She has always enjoyed bringing S.T.E.A.M. curriculum and projects into the classroom as it encourages students to think critically, problem solve and collaborate. She captured her students’ interest with S.T.E.A.M. topics with her creative projects and saw success in teaching kids both academic and practical skills such as gardening.

Her love of gardening led her to become an outdoor curriculum specialist where she developed curriculum for multiple academies. She also worked as an assistant Director in a preschool with over 170 children.

Ms. Gigi loves fishing and spending time outdoors and has a wealth of knowledge about animals since she originally went to college to be a zoologist. she has a bachelor’s degree in education and an AA and child development.

Mindy is a mother of four, with her youngest in first grade and her oldest now 27. Over the years, she's homeschooled both her youngest and her oldest, and served as a parent volunteer for two years with Kitoodle Classes. Her passion for supporting children and learning has shaped much of her life—from teaching preschool at her church for many years to helping kids build confidence in both academics and everyday skills. She loves being part of environments where children thrive, explore, and grow. She is really excited to be teaching preschool this semester at HeartWise.