Figuring It Out

I was in the baby rooms observing the early morning. I walked into the Butterfly classroom with my pad and pen, sat down on the floor next to Lucy, a delightful almost 7 month old baby. She was looking at me so I talked with her a bit. She smiled. Then she looked at my paper and then at my pen and then back at me. “Are you waiting for me to write?” I asked incredulously. I really do think that’s what was happening! Lucy repeated the round of looking at paper, pen, and then at me. As amazing as it sounds, I do believe this very young child knew what you do with pen and paper and she was anticipating my next move.

Then a teacher from next door appeared in the doorway with Naina, a six month old baby in her arms and our daily staffing chart in her hand. A copy of the staffing chart was handed from one teacher to another and the stack was passed on to yet another teacher. Naina watched the action carefully. Her eyes went from the stack of papers, to her teacher, to the Butterfly Room teacher, back to the papers, and then back to her teacher. She didn’t look like she understood it all, but she was observing carefully and working to make sense of it.

We’re not talking about educational toys or activities here . . . just normal everyday routines. Babies are such voracious learners, never missing an opportunity to increase their understanding of their world and what happens in it. Amazing!