Young children are active social learners, from birth they have an awesome capacity to make sense of their world, to explore, examine and understand it. They learn best in situations which are meaningful and make sense to them.
Young children learn:
- By being active and doing
- By exploring
- By using their initiative
- By interacting with others, both children and adults
- By watching and listening
- By reflecting
- By using all their senses
- By repeating and practicing
- By taking risks
- By investigating and problem solving
- By representing and communicating ideas and feelings
- By creating imaginary worlds and stories
- By exchanging ideas with others
- BY PLAYING!
Children need - freedom to investigate and try, to make mistakes, to choose where and with whom to invest their curiosity, intelligence and emotions. Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes, their ears, the resource of forms, materials, sounds and colour. They need the freedom to realise how reason, thought and imagination can create continuous interweaving of things, and can move and shake the world.
(Malaguzzi, Hundred Languages of Children, 1996)
