Destinology Addition #1

 

 – By Ben Cober, director of business development and research 

 

This winter’s issue of Destinology is Preschoolers: Your Youngest Guests. Throughout it, we spoke to museum educators at Cincinnati Museum Center, Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis to understand the development of children under five and how to create great learning experiences for them.

Our designers and interviewees had a plethora of great insights, far more than we can fit into a single issue of Destinology. So this will be the first in a series of follow-up articles sharing additional insights from some of the country’s leading early childhood development professionals.

Cathy Sutherland is the director of early childhood education and school programs at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis and oversees the Museum’s Preschool and Playscape. Ms. Sutherland began her career as a kindergarten teacher, with time spent as both a preschool teacher and public school principal.

“Their brains are sponges at such an early age,” says Sutherland. “A recent Harvard Project Zero study demonstrated just how much babies are learning at such a young age. They can differentiate between adults that have good intentions and those who do not, and they can explore, wonder, and experiment.”

Ms. Sutherland went on to explain that we as adults simply underestimate the capabilities of young children, that they’re far more competent and capable of deep thought than we’re aware. They can research and let us know what they’re learning and thinking; not in the literal way, but they can show us through dramatic play, art, block-building, role-playing, and pretend play.

While of course it’s important to read to children, Sutherland noted that it’s much more important to have back and forth conversations to increase children’s ability to make sense of the world around them and develop important communication skills. All too often she sees parents who perceive early childhood as a race, to have their children exposed to as much technology and programming as possible. But in her experience and the verified research which supports her, talking to children, taking them places, and asking them open ended questions about their opinions will do far more good than exposing them “to the latest software.”

When asked what she loves most about this age group, Ms. Sutherland responded “Their eagerness to learn.They have an innate curiosity to learn that just fuels them to absorb knowledge and what’s happening in their world. To have the privilege to be a bystander in that world is a joy. I wonder why we can’t keep that same joy throughout all of school and childhood?”