Article Link: http://stage.exchangepress.com/article/learning-to-trust-the-childs-process/5025622/
*Photos can be found in the pdf version of this article.
Before we can even start to discuss what it means to teach them, we must ask a very important question: why do babies and toddlers go to school? For what purpose have they been removed from their homes and placed under our care? Are the parents unavailable to care for them because they have to go to work and there is not another family member available to step in? Or, do the parents choose to put them in an early childhood program so that they will gain a competitive advantage when it is time to start school? Is the program designed to provide a substitute for the family, or to provide something that cannot be offered in the home? Do we believe that “school” is more enriching for babies and young children than “home,” or is curriculum meant as a consolation for the child separated for long hours from the parent?
What does a child under the age of 2 or 3 gain from being at home with parents or other family members? Ideally, the child will feel loved, feel she or he can trust that their physical and emotional needs ...