Museums can, and should, play a more active role in the education ecosystem for young children. At the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center we do just that for 135 children from 2 months through Kindergarten.

1. It Takes a Village
It Takes A Village
The Role of the Museum in the
Education of Young Children

2. It is a pivotal moment in time…
 “Study after study shows that the sooner a child
begins learning, the better he or she does down
the road. But today, fewer than 3 in 10 four year-
olds are enrolled in a high-quality preschool
program. Tonight, I propose working with states to
make high-quality preschool available to every
child in America. Every dollar we invest in high-
quality early education can save more than seven
dollars later on.” (Obama, State of the Union 2013)

3. But investing in high quality
preschool alone is not the answer….
 We need to invest in community resources
like museums that can provide
appropriate and accessible early learning
opportunities not just for children but for
families.

4. Some provocative
questions…..

5. How can we help families with
children under 6 see us as
relevant to their everyday lives?

6. How can we
create
programming
that is
appropriate for
young children
within the walls
of our
museums?

7. How can we help the staff at our
museums better understand the
needs of young children and their
families?

8. Who can we
partner with
to better
reach our
audiences?

9. SEEC as a case study for early
learning in museums

10. Why should we even be in this early
learning game?
 We provide learning spaces that are appropriate for the
way young children learn.
 We have objects that can easily be linked to the
everyday lives of children, making the learning relevant
for them.
 We are accessible…or can be made accessible.
 We build a love of learning and a sense of wonder in
children.
 We encourage a mindset of curiosity and innovation and
foster critical and flexible thinking.

11.  We build and encourage
persistence, imagination, appreciation, careful
listening, and observing.
 We teach children how to access knowledge rather than
simply accept facts. We help children to become self-
motivated learners, to see themselves and the world
around them as a constant source of knowledge.
 We create places for children to have real experiences
with the world around them, to share those experiences
and to process those experiences with others.

12. What we believe about children
 We believe each child is born a unique individual and we
honor that individuality.
 We believe that, from birth, children are
brave, energetic, creative, hopeful and capable.
 We believe children are open and curious explorers, capable
of deep reflection.
 We honor children’s questions and ideas, believing that they
are capable of pursuing and representing knowledge in
multiple ways.
 We believe children need to be engaged
intellectually, physically and emotionally to maximize their
learning.
 We believe children need repeated experiences with multiple
examples over time to deepen their understanding of the
world.

13. What we believe about learning….
 We believe that learning is a personal search for meaning and
happens best when it is intrinsically motivated.
 We believe that learning is best transferred across real life
situations when there is an emotional connection built between
the learner and the information.
 We believe that providing multisensory experiences opens the
opportunity for more connections between the children and the
information.
 We believe that learning is deeper, richer and more relevant
when it moves out of the classroom and into the community on
a regular basis. We believe that people make sense of their
world in many ways and that museum and community
resources improve the opportunity for sense making.

14. What we believe about learning…
 We believe in sitting with questions and providing time
to search for explanations. We encourage children to
think deeply, often, and in new ways.
 We believe that adults are learners too. In order to teach
most effectively we believe they need to venture into
unknown, and possibly uncomfortable, areas.
 We believe that risk and failure are just as important as
success in learning.
 We believe in the power of shared experiences for
learning. We value relationships and their role in
learning.
 We believe that learning takes time.

15. How we are addressing these
provocative questions at SEEC?
How can our work provide examples
for you to take home?

16. relevance
How can we help families with children under 6 see us a
relevant to their everyday lives?

17. We need to help them see that we are
places to build connections to real life and
deepen understandings

18. We need to help them see us as places
where multiple learning styles can be
accommodated

19. And we can’t forget that we are a place to
relax and have fun with learning….

20. Appropriateness
How can we create
programming that is
appropriate for young
children within the walls
of our museums?

21. Some Infant Case Studies….because if
you can do this with babies it is a snap
with 4 year olds!

22. Fruits & Vegetables
Starting in the classroom….

24. …in the museum….

26. …in the community and then back to
the classroom

28. Going deeper…
Yellow lemons…
first the real objects….

30. …then in prints and literature….

32. …making lemonade in the classroom….

34. ….linking to yellow in the museum….

37. …back out in the community….

39. …then full circle back to the classroom!

41. How can you apply this to your
museum?

42. Getting ready
How can we help our staff better understand the needs of young
children and their families?

43. Focused attention
 Young children don’t need to see the whole museum.
Help staff to know how to ask questions to help point
them to the 1-2 things to spend time with.
 Help adults to know how to ask questions: What do you
see? What do you think about what you see? What
questions do you have about what you see?

44. Use of additional objects
 Provide young children with things they CAN touch
rather than constantly saying Don’t touch! Place items
around the museum that are there for young children to
access and that are related to the things you don’t want
them touching.

45. Use of space
 Young children need to learn how to use the space.
Teach them “museum manners” and provide parents
with information about how to do this as well.
 Make space clear for children---use visible markers to
help them know how far away to be.
 Allow them to sit or move around near the pieces

46. Time
 Careful looking takes time. Encourage families not to
rush their child through in order to “see everything”

47. partnering
Who can we partner with to better reach our audiences?

48. Potential partners…
 Mommy bloggers
 Local arts centers
 Nanny programs
 Living Social,
 Libraries
 Book stores
 Play spaces

49. Funding
 Local foundations
 Grants
 Shared budgets
 Paid programming

50. How can SEEC help you?
 Center for Excellence in Early Learning
 Educator Professional development
 Specifically designed consultations
 Museum Magic curriculum licensing

51. The Sense of Wonder
(Rachel Carson)
 “A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder
and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that
clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-
inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If
I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside
over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to
each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible
that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote
against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the
sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the
alienation from the sources of our strength. “

52. “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder
without any such gift from the fairies, he needs the
companionship of at least one adult who can share
it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery
of the world we live in. …

53. You can be the good fairy that gets a
child started with a sense of wonder
and keeps it growing.
 By inviting and engaging families with the youngest
children you can start children on a path of learning that
will stay with them for a lifetime.