The Honeycomb Hypothesis

"As an early childhood educator, your role is not to provide a blueprint for a one-size-fits-all environment. Your role is to create environments (both inside and outside) where young honeybees are offered abundant places and opportunities to gather bits and pieces of information—especially with natural materials of all kinds, shapes, and sizes—for authentic play experiences. Your role is not to pull or push children into learning, but to let them lead the way. Your job is to follow along in their footsteps, to listen, observe, and support the discoveries inherent in child-led play," say Sandra Duncan, Sue Penix and Sally Haughey in their new book The Honeycomb Hypothesis: How Infants, Toddlers and Twos Learn Through Nature Play, now available for pre-order through Exchange Press. The authors combine metaphor, pedagogy and practical examples of materials, environments and activities to illustrate the power of observing patterns of play in the youngest children and connecting those with pedagogical practices to support young children’s pure exploration, narrated exploration and transformational exploration.   As Duncan, Penix and Haughey later conclude, "The good news is that children are resilient and wise, and if given the opportunity, can construct their own understandings and build their own creativity through the brilliance of play especially with Earth's natural elements. When we trust the innate wisdom of young children and let them lead the way with Patterns of Play, early childhood educators lay the foundation for innovative thinking and brilliant minds."

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