Children are entitled to a childhood rich in wonder and discovery. That is, after all, what childhood is for. Never again in life will a bug, a tar bubble or a blob of paint be the source of such profound fascination and endless possibility.
We respect children's right to be who they are at exactly this moment in time -with all the limits and possibilities their age and developmental level impose and anticipate. We try not to make generalisations about what they should be doing or can't do, and instead look at the little individuals in front of us and set about opening doors.
In these early childhood years the world is being absorbed through every pore. Everything is new, so we provide as many experiences as possible for children to discover, test, re-invent and construct their knowledge until they 'own' it. These are the experiences that reading, maths and science will build on. But first children must pour, line up, sing, dance invent ... and do it all again.
In early childhood, experience is the teacher. The process - hardly ever the product - is what has meaning. 'How does it work?' is the question and children will find ten ways of answering it if we let them. Within reason, they must be allowed to try things they think up and have 'stuff' in sufficient quantities to really see how it works. Activities need to be open-ended, allowing for all sorts of possibilities, and facilitated by a teacher who knows how to ask the right question or get out the right stepping stone.
Our children are learning how to take risks and to trust themselves; learning about responsibility (clean-up is, after all, part of the process); and learning conversation, negotiation, storytelling and making needs known.
They are learning the power of words; about more and less; big and small; too much and not enough. Pure academic skills will come in their own time, and there will be a lifetime of 'school' in which to learn them. But to learn to expect wonder around every corner and stars on which to swing ... that is something only a child can do.
