"When we ask children to help and when we support them to be successful, they learn that they are capable and competent."
Young children are naturally curious and keen to make sense of and to represent the world for themselves. They are also intensely social. They learn about their world and their culture through interactions with significant adults and other children. Whilst it is clear that children create their own understandings about the world and how it works, they are not making these discoveries entirely alone and what they discover will depend on the help they are given and the experiences that they have. Competent learners are learners who are supported by encouraging and sensitive adults, who make very careful decisions about the things that children can do and can learn for themselves and the things with which they need some help. They need skilled adults who recognise this and how much help is needed – too much and the child will not learn from and take control of the experience, too little and the experience will be frustrating and a possible source of failure rather than success as a learner.
How do you support the children in your service to be capable and competent?
