A child’s early experience with technology doesn’t have to involve screens! It can begin with a small robot, a simple set of commands, and a classroom full of curious learners discovering that they can solve problems through creativity and teamwork.
Thanks to a grant funded by Excellence in Education, transitional kindergarten (TK) students at Truckee Elementary are building those skills in a fun, hands-on way.
Excellence in Education awarded $2,663 to provide each of Truckee Elementary’s three TK classrooms with a set of Bee-Bot programmable robots, along with grid mats and supporting materials that introduce students to the fundamentals of coding, sequencing, and computational thinking.
Bee-Bots are small programmable robots that follow a series of commands entered by students. Using forward, backward, left, and right commands, students create navigation paths that guide the robots across customizable grid mats.
The activities can be adapted to support virtually any subject, allowing students to practice letters, colors, numbers, shapes, spelling, counting, maps, life cycles, and more while developing early STEM skills.
The grant gave every TK classroom its own dedicated set of Bee-Bots, making it easy for teachers to incorporate the technology into daily learning stations throughout the year. Because the mats use interchangeable picture cards, educators can quickly tailor activities to match current lessons, giving students repeated opportunities to practice new concepts.
One of the most valuable aspects of the program is that it introduces technology without relying on screens. As students work together to plan routes, test ideas, and troubleshoot mistakes, they strengthen communication, collaboration, vocabulary development, and problem-solving skills alongside their understanding of technology. The robots encourage students to think critically while keeping the focus on active learning and peer interaction.
“The Bee-Bots are a great screen-free activity that requires high levels of mental engagement for our kindergarten students. They use their working memory to remember the sequence of buttons they’ve already pressed while planning the next move,” said Ashlie Hargenrater, TK Teacher at Truckee Elementary.
Bee-Bots can be used across every content area, and will continue supporting learning for years to come. The flexibility of the program means teachers can create new activities as students grow, ensuring the robots remain a valuable classroom resource long after the initial purchase.
We believe innovation begins with curiosity. By funding classroom tools like Bee-Bots, we’re helping TTUSD’s youngest learners build confidence, develop critical thinking skills, and discover that technology isn’t just something they use, it’s something they can understand, control, and create with.