Infants and Toddlers are Active Learners
Infants and toddlers learn best by actively exploring their environment
. Active learning with infants and toddlers is the process in which they explore the world through: observing, listening, touching, reaching, grasping, mouthing, letting go, moving their bodies, smelling, tasting, or making things happen with objects around them.
An active learning environment builds trust, autonomy, and initiative in young children. There are five elements of active learning that when implemented infants and toddlers are successful in building positive relationships and learning.
Materials: There are abundant developmentally appropriate materials the child can use in a variety of ways. Learning grows directly out of the child's actions with the materials.
Exploration: The child has opportunities to explore (with all senses), manipulate, combine, and transform the materials. Learning grows as the child gathers information about their environment and coordinates it with the knowledge they already have.
Choice: The child chooses what to do and how to use the materials. Learning grows from the child's attempts to repeat experiences with the purpose of seeking to master a skill.
Child communication, language, and thought: The child communicates his or her needs, feelings, discoveries, and ideas through gestures, expressions, sounds and words. Caregivers value, attend to, and encourage the child's communications and language in a give and take manner. Learning grows from repetition, language rich environments, and successful implementation of the primary caregiving model.
Adult scaffolding: Adults establish and maintain trusting relationships with each child in their care. Adults recognize and encourage each child's intentions, actions, interactions, communications, explorations, problem solving and creativity. Learning grows as caregivers use anecdotal note taking to plan developmentally appropriate activities.
As young as they are infants and toddlers are powerfully self-motivated to explore and learn- at their own pace, through their own means of discovery. Learning develops from intrinsically motivated activity. No one has to tell them to learn. Teachers that create a safe, and open environment where children can explore, and feel supported will be the most successful.
