Strategies for Early Educators

Allow ample amounts of time for activities involving individual choice and shorter
periods for large-group activities. Provide time for sharing experiences that involve more than one child or adult.
Give children time to plan what they are going to do that day and provide time later
for them to think and talk about what they did. Provide children with the means to represent their ideas in more than one medium (e.g., painting, drawing, blocks). Furnish materials that will facilitate the re-creation of memories or experiences that a child can share.
Supply materials that encourage a spirit of inquiry. Encourage children to ask questions of one another and share/compare ideas. Listen and respond to exchanges of children’s words and thoughts (e.g., open up a
discussion of what happened in a class meeting). Set an example by thinking out loud.
Discuss the sequencing and timing of experiences. Promote decision making

Strategies for Families

Create time at home every day to talk with your children. Use meal times to talk
about your day and ask about theirs. Talk about what you did yesterday and what
you will do tomorrow.
Pay attention as your child talks about her experiences and ask follow-up questions
that will encourage her to think and reflect, such as “How did you feel about that?”
or “Why do you think that happened?” or “What else might happen?”
Talk about the books, videos, and television programs your family enjoys.
Provide time for unscheduled activities that allow your child to explore the world
on his own and to generate ideas.

Curiosity, Information Seeking, and Eagerness

Strategies for Early Educators
• Offer choices.
• Make materials available that can be used or combined in a variety of ways.
• Provide items for use in dramatic play that authentically reflect life (e.g., a real
firefighter’s hat, a real doctor’s stethoscope, or an authentic kimono).
• Stock the classroom with materials that appeal to both genders and a full range of
learning characteristics, cultures, and ability levels of children. Schedule large
uninterrupted blocks of time every day for children to use these materials.
• Listen to children and build on their individual ideas and concepts.
• Set an example by sharing children’s excitement in discovery and exploration on
their level (e.g., digging through snow in winter to see if the grass is still there;
looking for flower buds in spring and yellowing leaves in fall).
• Use open-ended and leading questions to explore different interests or to elicit
suggestions (e.g., “How can you make the car go faster?” or “How does the water
make the wheel turn at the water table?”).

Strategies for Families
• Allow your child to play with pots and pans, cups, mixing spoons, and plastic
containers.
• Provide supervised experiences with everyday items that can be manipulated (such
as nuts and bolts) or taken apart (such as an old electric mixer with the cord
removed).
• Let children help with household chores such as cooking, folding laundry, and
washing dishes and talk about what you are doing.
• Plan family outings to interesting places, such as parks, museums, national
monuments, and science centers.
• Include your child in daily errands, such as trips to the grocery store, bank, or post
office.
• Spend time outside exploring nature.
• Make time to join your child in playful activities.
• Share your cultural traditions.
• Ask questions and encourage children to do likewise.