STEM

STEM BASE: What does STEM look like for infants and toddlers?

Kindergarten is too late. The everyday experiences that infants and toddlers have with their parents and caregivers help shape how their brains become hardwired to learn and interact with the world around them. These experiences impact a child’s ability to reach 3rd-grade reading levels, graduate from high school, avoid incarceration, and hold employment as an adult.

“Play is a child’s context for learning. Children practice and reinforce their learning in multiple areas during play. It gives them a place and a time for learning that cannot be achieved through completing a worksheet.” (Bongiorno, "10 Things Every Parent Should Know About Play") Children behave as little scientists in their world. They are active agents of trial and error, pushing of boundaries, and cause and effect. Very often adults view play as mindless and wandering, without concrete learning; but as we know, play is the hard work of children as they learn to move, operate, and change within their world.

As part of the foundation of STEM ideals, children learn to become critical thinkers. These forms of critical thinking include being able to compare and contrast, gather and analyze information, and think about data in new ways. As these are higher levels of thinking, it is important to set the foundation for critical thinking for infants and toddlers. That is where BASE support can be used for very young children.

Brain Development & Fundamental Processing

Genes allow the brain to wire itself in response to environmental input. This environmental input impacts neural activity and sets the foundation for later learning and thinking.

As we know, practice makes perfect; and this is no different for infants and toddlers. The more that a child practices a skill or is exposed to repeated experiences, such as response to their needs, strong synapses are created. When strong and positive neural pathways are created, the brain can more effectively process information and work to build on skill sets, this creating fundamental processing.

Just as we learn to walk before we run, we must learn fundamental concepts before engaging in complex thinking. For example, to perform complex algebraic equations, one must learn the concept of 1, then learn to count, then learn to perform simple equations, and so on. It is the foundational experiences that allow children to build upon their basic set of skills to grow into abstract learning.

Attachment

Early brain development is dependent on the formation of healthy attachment relationships, as relationships become the vehicle through which children explore the world around them. Early biological systems are strengthened by supportive interactions with adult caregivers. Everyday interactions that take place in the context of nurturing, responsive relationships enable the developing brain to focus efforts on organizing and processing information and experiences

Social-Emotional Learning

Brain research indicates that emotion and cognition are profoundly interrelated. Social-Emotional Learning consists of a child’s ability to understand their feelings, manage emotions, develop empathy, regulate behavior, and create & maintain relationships with others. These are all accomplished in the context of positive and sensitive caregiving relationships.

Exploration and Engaging Experience

To support the healthy development of infants and toddlers, we must provide a positive and engaging experience, as well as supporting exploration. In practice, caregivers can promote these positive opportunities for infants and toddlers through consistent loving care, positive touch, watching and supporting how children interact with the world, utilizing teachable moments, engaging in music activities, incorporating sensory activities, providing children with consistent routines, providing healthy nutrition, and engaging in reading every day.