You don’t have to have a background in science to support children’s ability to think deeply about problems, develop and test hypotheses, and share their discoveries.
While block play has been a part of children’s play since at least the 17th century, there has only recently been a growing effort to understand how block play can support early learning.
For years, researchers have shown that reading to infants is good for their language and cognitive development and is important for building children’s vocabulary and prereading skills.
Ensuring that outdoor play is an integral part of your child care and education setting’s daily schedule supports early learning across all domains and unleashes a whole lot of joy—for you and for children!
Early childhood educators’ regulation of their own emotions is an important part of protecting the young children in their care from the potentially negative effects of traumatic events.
Using books as inspiration for nurturing children’s early math language and understanding of math concepts is a natural fit for early education settings.
It takes practice to pay attention to the here and now, and it’s important to keep an open mind and be patient with ourselves when our attention wanders or when we experience stress.
The scenarios in this article show skilled teachers setting up environments and facilitating infants’ and toddlers’ development and learning. Their process is called scaffolding.
Motor development is a constant learning process. A child’s body is continuously growing and changing, and his environment offers different opportunities for movement.
Authored by
Authored by:
Sandra Petersen, Emily J. Adams, Linda Groves Gillespie
The skills used in this scenario are what children will need as adults to succeed in the 21st century, and the children in this scenario are developing them seamlessly and organically through play.
You don’t have to have a background in science to support children’s ability to think deeply about problems, develop and test hypotheses, and share their discoveries.
Adults working with infants and toddlers sometimes shy away from thinking of themselves as teachers because they worry the name is associated with more structured and adult-led activities than babies are ready for.