S.E.E.D.S The Big Picture

The Sustainable Early Education Development System (S.E.E.D.S.) is plain and simple - out of the box. The S.E.E.D.S. program utilizes the following tools: the Geographic Systems Model, the Community Based Education Model and STEAM to connect the “dots.” The essence of S.E.E.D.S. is to foster, nurture and enrich curiosity and playfulness starting at home and continuing at school. From infancy to around age three the brain develops 1,000 trillion synapses. This is double the amount of synapses found in an adult brain. These synapses are some of the strongest connections built in the brain, creating solid, long-term connections that support future learning, growth and development. By age 3, a child’s brain is 80% of the adult volume. Neural pathways are being created and reinforced.  Developing the brain is critical to the child’s survival.

For adults, the word play is defined as “an activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.”  For a child, nothing could be farther from the truth.  When a child “plays”, the brain is undergoing physiological development.  From an ECE perspective, play is a serious and practical mechanism for learning. When you consider the brain development factor, this has profound impact on early learning.

 At S.E.E.D.S. we think it is vital to nurture, foster, protect and enrich curiosity and playfulness. A child needs to feel safe and secure in their environment, in order to be willing to learn and explore. Nurturing is the means of providing safety and security. Once safety and security is assured the child’s curiosity emerges. Through careful observation, the adult fosters the child’s curiosity. This is the start of opening a Pandora’s Box for adults. At this stage of language development the child may not possess words they need to express their curiosity. The fostering process facilitates language development and empowers children to ask the question why. Curiosity is expressed through the question why. Once the seed of curiosity is planted, it drives lifelong learning. 

If you understand this fundamental concept you can readily see the need to protect a child curiosity. This should be the top priority of all parents and teachers. Protecting a child’s curiosity encourages the child to learn to think outside the box, advances cognitive abilities and builds social skills. From this beginning adults can create learning opportunities to further enrich the child’s growth and development. Each of these components drive the making of the whole child. An unfortunate side effect of encouraging curiosity is often perceived as the bane of parenthood; the incessant asking of the “why” questions. 

The S.E.E.D.S. curriculum gives adults the tools needed to nurture, foster, protect and enrich the education of the whole child. This effectively keeps curiosity alive. The child’s playfulness and curiosity drives the learning process. These natural processes are fun and stimulating to the child. This is what children are doing when they play. They interact with the objects, environment, peers and adults simultaneously. It creates a simple system for the adult to support the child’s learning. In these play based situations it becomes much simpler to answer the “why” questions in the context of the real world. 

The interactions fostered by play, reinforce the synaptic growth and development in the child’s brain. This prepares the child for lifelong learning. The synaptic growth at this age, tends to remain a permanent part of the child’s neural makeup.