在孩子們幼兒時期，千萬不要以為他們只是在玩，或者傻笑和胡言亂語。其實他們會對於好奇的物品，眼睛和一般成人一樣會閃閃發亮。幼兒時期其實是代表著黃金時間，父母要好好利用這個階段去好好了解他們吧！幼兒專家說，家長可以通過這些生活上的小細節觀察到其實小孩全神貫注的物品是建立著他們將來的學習和工作，所以絕不能輕視喔！
It may look like children are just playing—as they giggle, babble and analyze items that have caught their eye and sparked their curiosity. But they're actually engrossed in the important work of building the foundation on which future learning depends, early childhood education specialists say.
In the earliest years of a child's life, the brain is buzzing with activity, rapidly constructing the framework for learning. "A child is born with billions of neurons in the brain," Milavetz said. "Some are already organized. For example, children can distinguish their parents' voices from other voices ... and distinguish smells."
The earliest years represent a prime time for parents—and other caregivers—to engage with children and to capitalize on the opportunity nature presents. "In this digital age, it's easy to forget that the young child's brain becomes organized through hands-on exploration, creating the capacity to acquire complex skills and knowledge," Nilles and Milavetz wrote in a news release about the Hands-on Learning Fair.
'Born learning' 與生俱來的學習能力
"Children are born learning," she said. "They are primed for every type of learning skill."
People generally think of early childhood education in terms of "academic learning"—things like numbers, letters or similar categories—or what's called "content knowledge" in her field.
"Before you can learn content knowledge, you have to have real experience with that content," she said.
Hands-on activities that demonstrate that it takes a certain number of cups to fill a pitcher, for example, give children the basis to understand mathematics.
Such an activity helps children begin to grasp the properties of water and the concepts behind words like "more" and "larger," she said. It helps with development of fine motor skills—like how to tilt a pitcher when pouring.
In children who are too young to learn to read, for example, the foundation for reading is laid by "something as simple as lego blocks (to convey that) parts make up a whole, that words make up a sentence," Milavetz said.
While content knowledge will come later, very young children "are trying to build a repertoire of skills" they can use to engage with their world—skills like problem-solving, information-gathering, memory and perseverance.
"We want to capitalize on what children have to begin with," Milavetz said, by providing "appropriate play materials for children to explore and manipulate and to pique their curiosity, and the human element—meaning, what kind of engagement will make their interaction possible?"
Parental interaction 親子交流
The quality of parents' interaction with their children makes a "huge" difference in a child's development, Nilles said.
It's expressed by "responding to that little baby, reading to him, singing with her, having him help around the house—all the ways that parents, through interaction and purposeful intent, can and do impact that child's readiness for school," she said.
By being engaged with—and being excited by—what children are discovering, parents send a nonverbal but unmistakable message that "they are valued for who they are and that they have a role," Nilles said.
"In order for a child to feel safe and secure in their environment, they need to trust that you will be there to meet their needs," Milavetz said.
"From those early relationships, children learn that they are valued as human beings, and they have a reason to be in the world and are competent to function in the world. They can engage with others, knowing, 'I can go back to these people' if need be."
Neuroscientific research has shown that the brains of people who've had early loving, supportive relationships differ from those who haven't, Milavetz said.
"If these nurturing relationships aren't there in the first three years (of life), you've missed an opportunity to develop that part of the brain in ways that are most optimal."
Drawbacks of technology 科技的弊端
Although technology can supplement a child's learning in some ways, Milavetz said, "it cannot replace traditional interactive play with real objects and people."
"Children who spend a lot of time with TV or gaming devices, their attentional skills may suffer," she said. "They're not able to focus on characteristics of objects, characteristics which they pick up visually and by hearing and kinesthetic means—like picking up and handling an object."
Also, use of electronic media creates the potential for literacy and social skill delays, obesity, problem-solving deficits and sleep problems in young children, she said.
The human element is powerful, Nilles agreed.
"Children learn through interaction," she said. "They need communication, back and forth.
"The digital device will give a word or a color, but the device is not going to know if you named it right. It's not giving the child feedback."
The communication with these devices is "one way," she said. "Devices pour information into a child. But children don't learn that way.
"They learn through doing, through practice and, once in a while, by having it not work out and trying it again. Learning depends on a loving relationship with an adult who is vested in wanting this child to learn."
Marketing pressure 市場壓力
Milavetz is concerned that some parents "have been sold a bill of goods" through the marketing of products that promise to make their children "geniuses," she said. "Parents don't trust their instincts anymore."
Part of the intent of the Hands-on Learning Fair is "to help parents see that there are many possibilities (for early childhood learning)," she said. "We can make the most of everyday experiences. We don't need fancy things."
"Many of us grew up playing with things we had around the house," Nilles said. "I was banging on pots and pans and stacking Tupperware. You didn't have to have special toys."
The marketing of some products "gives parents a false sense (that) 'my child is going to be a genius' because of how the product is named," she said.
"You can learn colors and shapes by walking around with your child—pointing out the brown car, that its wheels are round—far faster than a red ball hopping across a screen."
"Parents need to trust themselves," she said. "Playing and interacting with the child, singing nursery rhymes, sitting and reading a story—those are things they need."
** Credit to: Pamela Knudson on Grandforksherald.com **
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