More than 30 years ago, RIE® Founding Director, Magda Gerber, said, “Children need time to explore and figure out the world around them.”
Although most of us would agree with her statement, there is a significant number of babies who are over-scheduled, exercised, and taught rather than being allowed to develop and discover at their own unhurried pace. Push-down curriculum doesn’t begin in nursery or elementary school; it often starts in infancy.
What’s the hurry? Babyhood should be enjoyed at a leisurely pace.
Nowadays, life moves so quickly and trying to keep up with changes in the digital age is humanly impossible. Yet, there is a growing conversation about how to find ways to slow things down and live a less complicated life. Yet, even with this awareness, it still remains countercultural to create and maintain a simple, unhurried life for a baby and to allow him the time to discover things on his own.
If we consider the profound growth and learning that takes place in the first two, short, years of a child’s life –coming to know and trust those who take care of him; laying on his back to balancing in an upright position; palming objects to grasping them with thumb and fingers; progressing from being breast- or bottle-fed to eating solid foods with a utensil – and so on – why would anyone think it necessary or even relevant to add to a baby’s busy schedule? What is more important in the first two years than learning about oneself and learning to trust another? There will be plenty of time to expand a child’s repertoire of understanding about the world and having new and novel experiences as the years progress.
In the beginning, there is significant wisdom in keeping things simple as much as possible. It’s important to remember that, whereas adults may enjoy a new adventure, babies thrive on predictability and routine. This helps provide them with a sense of security as babies come to know what to expect. Routine also makes it possible for a baby or toddler to participate and cooperate in her care because she learns all the steps it takes to accomplish a caregiving task.
The first two years lay an important foundation for the rest of a baby’s life; one that will set the course for the baby’s future relationships and her sense of self and well-being. When we slow down and give time for a baby to become familiar and attached to her immediate environment and the people in it, we are giving her the gift of a leisurely, peaceful pace; as if to say, “Take all the time you need. There’s no hurry.