2.

THEORETICAL BASES OF EARLY EDUCATION

Scientific research has provided experiences and conclusive evidence.

teeth regarding the effect of timely intervention on learning and on
Integral development of children. The Initial Education Program: A good start
is based on the most recent studies from a rights-based perspective,
neurosciences, studies on attachment and bonding, and the decisive influence of
context in the lives of children.

Rights-based approach

The first step to guarantee the right to participation in young children is to break
with the old idea that they cannot express their desires, opinions, and interests
based on reasons that it is inappropriate due to their maturity, age, and level of development, so
as if by the idea of submission of adults due to childhood. It is not about complying with the
that they express; it is about paying attention to their diverse expressions and points
to see and integrate them in a harmonious way with the educational duty that adults have in
the upbringing.
Therefore, it is essential that, from a very early age, the right to express opinions
and feelings are firmly rooted in the child's daily life at home, in the family
ideally expanded, in their community; as well as in the entire range of care services
of health, care, and education in early childhood.
Adults need to relearn how to interact with small children: reeducate
our listening to the multiple forms of expression, observing their interests, respecting their dig-
unity and its individual points of view.
Ricardo A. Bucio Mújica
Executive Secretary of the National System for Comprehensive Protection of Girls, Children and adolescents.

Adolescents (SIPINNA)

30
The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) breaks with traditional thinking
adultocentric that conceives children as property of the family, and as
they are incapable of thinking and acting for themselves, whose opinions are not taken into account
considered "immature", and that, in the best of cases, are seen
as subjects of protection, to be attended to and cared for and to be
better people in the future.
The CRC establishes a new paradigm for working with childhood
to propose a different way of looking at and interacting with babies
and the children. It arises from a different conception of childhood, in which children
they are conceived as subjects of rights who participate and their opinions are
considered in the decision-making that affects them since they are babies,
agreement with the evolution of their faculties; likewise, it is acknowledged that they think,
they feel, they express their opinions, and they are part of the community, therefore, they are also the subject

of public policies for their benefit and in the generation of better conditions
necessary for their development and well-being.

The CRC presents four guiding principles: the best interests of the child,
survival and development, non-discrimination and child participation, which are the
based on what is known as the child rights approach.
From an educational perspective, the CDN offers educational agents, cui-
donors, mothers, and fathers a series of principles and concepts that
allow to rebuild a new way of caring for and attending to children, with a
rights-based approach.
In addition to what has already been described, this approach implies that all rights
of the children are related; when a right is defended and promoted, it
They defend and promote others always seeking their greatest benefit.
The rights-based approach consists of implementing comprehensively
the full exercise of the rights contemplated in the Convention and the General Law
of the Rights of Girls, Boys, and Adolescents, not only from a perspective
legal, but also in relation to the family, educational, and social sphere.

31
 This approach also serves as a framework for observing, re-
flex and evaluate the parenting and educational practices of families, caregivers
and educational agents, in adherence to the principles established in the Convention.
These principles guide everyday actions: babies and children must be
attended in a non-discriminatory environment, where their participation is favored
passion, and their interests and needs are taken into account.

The role of adults regarding the well-being of children

Every adult is a guarantor of children's rights within the family.
lia, the school community, society in general and above all from the State,
each one, in the function that corresponds to them.
Guardian of rights means that every adult person is responsible.
to care for and generate the conditions for the respect of rights of the
children.

Intervention of adults in the care and protection of children

• Participation:promote their opinion and participation in the development
from different activities; pay attention to what interests or is necessary for them
help them to do what they want.
• Provision:provide them with sufficient conditions for full exercise
of their rights, in such a way that this helps them to develop in-
generally in healthy, stimulating, challenging, and affectionate environments.
• Protection:protect them by establishing safe environments and
respect, detecting and eradicating acts of discrimination or violence
and avoiding situations that put them at risk.

Sometimes, adults think that by talking about children's rights

it sets the tone for babies and children to demand their rights without considering
their responsibilities and the rights of others, which would create a
problem for adults, since it is believed that necessary boundaries are not established
rivers for their education. It is important to know that children's rights are not
they condition their behavior because they are inalienable; that is, they cannot
are denied for any reason. The rights of children and adolescents
they are guaranteed without responsibilities or reciprocities of girls and boys.

Protagonist participation of childhood

Child participation from the rights-based approach is understood as the act
free, aware, and active in expressing what the child thinks and feels, and they are taken
decisions considering what he wants to do; in this sense, the act of par-
participation has several levels of incidence.
Authors like Cussianovich, Manfred, among others, propose the term
child disenfranchisement, protagonist participation, which implies more than the
simple idea of expressing opinions and being heard, and it strengthens the ability to influence
in their environment, which turns participation into an act of political action
and citizen, with the possibility of change that childhood can have; from

32
from this perspective, children are the protagonists of their own lives, they have the cape-
the city to decide about what they like or dislike, what they want and refuse
to take an active role "instead of being mere passive beneficiaries of
care and protection of adults.11
Of course, when children start from a young age to de-
cir what they want, think, and feel, in many cases they will oppose what
what adults who take care of them want, think, and feel, what it in-
it inevitably leads us to two types of actions: one is to exercise authority of the
adult, with offenses, punishments, or even with shouts and blows. Another is to create conditions
actions to negotiate, reach agreements and consensus to reconcile the points of
view of children and adults.
The first type of adult behavior arises as a learned reaction.
for generations in our country and it is a very common form of response
concerning the behavior of children. In the 'National Survey of Children'
"Women" made by UNICEF in 2015 reported that six out of ten children in
our country suffers some type of violence. The second type of response with-
to build new forms of relationship, which involve establishing consciousness
and carry out creative efforts to negotiate without violence, taking into account
it accounts for the best interest of the child; it implies learning to negotiate on equal terms
de derechos.
This is why adults who care for, attend to, and raise babies and the
children, they must keep in mind two concepts that may be very useful to them.
help: progressive autonomy and the best interests of the child.

Progressive autonomy
Autonomy is understood as the recognition that children progressively...
minds are exercising their rights on their own, in accordance with evolution
of their faculties, that is to say, from the moment they are born they begin to acquire abilities to
to practice their rights, such as the right to be heard, to live in
well-being, to be protected, to learn and be happy.

The best interest of the child

The best interests of the child is a guiding principle of public policy and a principle.
fundamental of the Mexican Political Constitution, but it also becomes
in an axis for the decision-making of parents, caregivers or educational agents
captives to the situations that affect babies and children, in which
one must choose what most effectively satisfies the well-being of the
small children. That is to say, when a decision is made that affects babies and
children should be assessed and the possible repercussions of each should be weighed
and decide on the one that best guarantees your rights.

11Lansdown, Gerison, are you listening to me? The right of young children to participate in the
decisions that affect them. Notebooks on Early Childhood Development, no. 36, The Hague,
Bernard van Leer Foundation, 2005.

33
 Reflection questions
Do I recognize children as subjects of rights?
I take your opinion into account, I consider the voice, the gestures, crying or for-
more of the baby's expression, the girl or the boy?
I recognize the progressive autonomy of children and encourage their
participation and decision-making?
Do I take into account the interests and needs of children when...
their decisions that affect them?
Do I treat girls and boys with the same respect?
I take into account that children's rights are inalienable.
and I do not condition them for any reason?
Did I generate any type of mistreatment or violence towards the baby, the
boy or the girl with my actions or words?

The answers to these questions will guide the search for alternatives that consider
consider babies and children as subjects of rights and competent learners
that advance in their autonomy and receive treatment that is dignified, free of discrimination
tion and violence.

Emotional support and early bonds

One of the most significant characteristics of Early Education is given
due to the age of its recipients: babies and young children, who can
enter the Childcare Centers (CAI) from 45 days of life and
until the age of 3 years. This early detachment from bonds
relatives towards other links that will provide loving and pedagogical care
which deserves special attention, especially due to the emotional fragility of children.
years in these first moments of their existence, and for what it means for the
families delegate child-rearing tasks to other caregivers for several hours
day. Therefore, it can be affirmed that one of the basic tasks of Education
Initially, it is to protect the mental health of children from 0 to 3 years of age; in it,
supports one's own emotional and mental balance, the ability to learn, the po-
ability to develop a confident personality, to trust the world and create.
All studies on child psychology that have been developed in
the last decades focus on the importance of early attachment as
health condition and good development. Researchers like Donald
Winnicott, John Bowlby, Daniel Stern, T. Berry Brazelton, Bertrand Cramer, Ser-
Levobici, Francoise Dolto, among many others, have contributed very
rich to read the basic needs of early childhood from the point of
psychological view. They all agree on the need to have adults
available not only physically but also mentally to provide security
and affect infants and young children in the process of growth and construction
gradual shift towards autonomy.
Donald Winnicott, a pediatrician who devoted a large part of his life to studying the
early psychic life and the relationship between maternal care (the care
which refer to assistance, protection, food, education, and interaction

34
with children) and the formation of personality, is one of the researchers who
more importance was given to the idea of 'sustenance' in the child's life, understanding
this term as the experience of emotional and physical care 'sufficiently
good,” in deep adult-child harmony, which allows the baby to integrate the
various aspects of their personality and build their autonomy. "The ability
to be only/just oneself”, from their point of view, is solely based on the human being
if you have had the previous experience in your baby stage of 'playing/being alone'
in the presence of the mother or the person who cares for him. This paradox —being alone
while someone else is present— it bears fruit if that mother's presence
is trustworthy, if it offers security, if it envelops with its gaze. The child then
he can play and carry out his activity "apparently" alone, winning every time
greater own psychic spaces. It is said "apparently", because in reality
is accompanied by the image of a good mother that she has internalized,
that is to say, the mother who cradled, caressed, accompanied, hushed, fed, comforted.
Having an internal image of a good mother shows that there is already a presence there.
psychism, understanding of the world, symbolization and integration.
Integration begins at the very beginning of life, but it is so...
linked and is so intimately related to the relationship with adults accompanied
requirements that demand very particular attention; that is to say, that does not occur by itself,
but under certain conditions. The tendency to integrate in the baby, to feel
that has a body that contains it and is 'its' body, being able to anticipate
behaviors of the mother and her caregivers, starting to understand the language and
construct some notions of time and space, it arises from two series of
experiencias:
• the care by virtue of which the child feels protected from
cold, from hunger, is cradled, named, "spoken", caressed, for-
in relation to, that is to say the physical, practical care, plus the tasks
nurturing love;
• internal, instinctive experiences that tend to bring together the personality
dad in a whole within himself. 12

12
Winnicott, Donald,Escritos de pediatría y psicoanálisis, Barcelona, Paidós, 1999.

35
 One could speak here of the 'environment' as a factor that through
the emotional support fosters integration. This environment, if it is stimulating,
sensible and accurate, it becomes a "facilitating environment"13from the entrance
of the child in the psychic experience, of the ability to begin to interpret the
world, of relating the information that comes from its senses with reality-
dad that surrounds it, of the possibility of becoming an active and creative being.
Winnicott says: "In the stage we are analyzing, it is necessary not to consider
the baby as a person who is hungry and whose instinctual impulses can-
seeing themselves as satisfied or frustrated, but rather thinking of it as an immature being that is
constantly on the verge of inconceivable anguish. What keeps it at bay
that anguish is the function of the mother vitally important at this stage: her
ability to put oneself in the baby's place and realize what the baby needs
"Seated in the general management of the body, and therefore of the person."14
The mother is "the environment", the father is the environment, the educational agents
you are the facilitating environment for the baby and the toddler when offered
as their sensitive and responsible companions. It is very important to distinguish
to create an environment that is not only physical but also human, emotional,
link. Generally, a lot of attention is paid to the preparation of the environment-
the physical environment of the children's rooms, in the materials, in the objects and toys,
but little attention is paid to the care of the emotional, human environment, that is,
in adults —father, mother, educational agent— as stimulus and support.
A facilitating environment is created in many everyday circumstances, which
could be considered 'routines' in the child's life, but are far from
Hello, for example, when the educational agent gently accompanies sleep
and tolerance for each child's timing, when he carefully feeds them,
talking to them, giving time and dedication to each one, when accompanied
the process of learning to control toileting, when help is given to learn
waiting for a turn for a toy, when patience and gestures are displayed
loving in the face of his tantrums and helping him understand his own feelings
thoughts, when the educational agent plays with the children, talks to them, they
read stories, sing and other circumstances that for children are a way of
protection and learning about themselves and the world.
Thus, it can be said that what Winnicott attributes to the mother, in the Edu-
Initial education should be attributed to all those who, as educational agents,
they maintain the nurturing function for six, seven, eight hours a day with the
child. Because when referring to the care that the child needs to
its development is not only about the people who support it,
or of the "functions" necessary for the success of such development, functions
that alternate between the father, the mother, and their caregivers when the child accesses

13 Winnicott, Donald, The processes of maturation and the facilitating environment. Studies for
a theory of emotional development, Buenos Aires, Paidós, 1993.
14
Ibid.

36
to Early Childhood Education. That is to say, what the child requires from his mother and father
it also requires it from its educators.
Returning to Winnicott: 'When there is no sufficient maternal task'
Fearful good, the infant is unable to begin the maturation of the self, or else
the development of it is necessarily distorted in certain aspects
vitally important.15In favorable conditions, with loving care and
stable presences, the baby establishes a continuity of existence, or the 'co-
continuity of being," which relates to self-awareness, to the construction of
a notion of time and space. The psyche that is being born ignores that there is
an external world; both the mother, the father, and the stable caregivers
who return to the child, through care, the meanings of their pro-
physical and emotional states, and they link them to the meanings of the world
that surrounds it.
In the first two months of life, the child is in a dependency.
absolute dependence on her mother. She needs her, her continuity in the care-
Slowly, he begins to distinguish his mother from himself. At first,
for the baby, his mother and he form a whole, and her prolonged absence affects him.
It produces such confusion that integration is threatened. The child becomes.
leaving with my mother.
It is essential to consider the experience of separation throughout the
Early Education. However, there are some more critical periods. This makes re-
it refers not only to the first months of life. There are surely records.
of babies when around seven, eight, nine months they show more
they are more sensitive and cry more than usual when their figures of reference withdraw;
Moms say: 'I don't know what's wrong, he cries every time he loses sight of me';
is it harder to say goodbye to your dad or your mom when you arrive at the daycare center,
cries if the educational agent with whom you have the strongest bond has someone else
child in arms and the demand more. This stage is known as "anxiety of
"eighth month". That was an expression coined by René Spitz.16after their stu-
God about the mother-baby relationship, noticing that around that age the children-
children begin to show separation anxiety, because it is the
evolutionary moment in which they realize more clearly that they are others
separated from their mothers, different bodies, different minds, therefore, the
mother can keep her distance from him, leave... and will she return? It also coincides with a
greater motor deployment in them, that they can crawl, move away at will; but
distancing also has its risks for a baby who is still not very secure
about how it is to move through various spaces, to inhabit the distance by
self-motivation.
It is recognized that there is a separation anxiety that happens to everyone.
the babies, and that they need care so that those fantasies about the possible
the disappearance of the mother should not cause him an unbearable suffering.

15
Same place.
16
Spitz, René,El primer año de vida del niño, España, Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1999.

37
How different it is, from this point of view, to remain indifferent when a
the child becomes more sensitive at this stage, telling them "Don't cry anymore" with an emphatic tone.
with, or give a special care at the time of farewell, talk about
the absence of her mom, telling her, for example: "Mom went to work, but in
"In a while, someone will come to get you," giving her some object that the mom has left for.
he thinks about whether it is necessary for the mom or dad to stay longer for the
tomorrow when they take him to the CAI.
Separation is a subjective exercise that the child engages in from a very early age.
but the success of that process largely depends on how united they have been
of the mother and the child at the beginning of the relationship, no matter how stable it may have been
mother, the father, their caregivers with their presence, of how safe they may have been
the continuity experiences offered to the child, of how much capacity for the
attachment has managed to build the child, and based on that, the trust that
has been able to create within itself about the reference adults.

The potential space or the zone of cultural development

Winnicott also contributes a very beautiful idea when he talks about spaces.
transitional or of the emergence of potential space in the child: "A baby can-
to be fed without love, but the upbringing lacking love or impersonal does not
he will be able to produce a new autonomous child. In that sense, when there is faith and
reliability (from the child to the adult) there exists a potential space, that can
to become an infinite zone of separation, that the baby, the child, the adolescent,
"the adult can fill it with creative play."17
The potential space is that intermediate zone that the child builds from
the illusion, when it waits for the mother's breast, and in the meantime imagines it.
It is a space that corresponds neither solely to the inside nor to the outside, that
it's a little bit of oneself and a little bit of the world, from the experience that the mother brings to him

until he sings to him, rocks him, plays with him, when he goes carrying the time that is not
body to body towards the manifestations of culture, language, play.
If there is reliability, the potential space, mental space, space develops.
In the experience of the luckiest baby, the problem does not arise of
separating in the separation, because in the potential space between him and the mother
the creator game appears, which arises naturally from the state of rest; there
a use of symbols is developed that simultaneously represent the phenomena
we from the outside world and those of the observed person.18
When the educational agent reads, plays, sings, rocks, introduces materials.
de la cultura para hacer crecer y desarrollar el espacio potencial de los niños,
is helping to elaborates that anguish of separation that affects us all,
y además está potenciando los procesos de aprendizaje, la capacidad creado-
ra, the entry into the world of culture.

17
Winnicott, Donald,Realidad y juego, Barcelona, Gedisa, 2000.
18
Ibid.

38
 The anthropologist Michèle Petit says: "Thus, in the early days of
human life, the mother speaks to the child, dreams the world beside him. She
she presents and the gazes shift towards a third pole that she will name. And in
all the cultures of the world, before uttering the first words, the
babies start one day to point with their finger at someone who is there, nearby
they. With that gesture, the child isolates an object from the things around him, segments
the world and distances himself from it. The adult then names what was designated:
'the dog', 'the cat', 'the airplane', or sketch a small story, recognizing the activity-
psychic father of the little one, referring to what happened to him: 'Yes, you saw it pass by a
bello pájaro blanco en el cielo’”.19
The child segments the world and distances himself from it, says Petit; another way
metaphorical of creating distance with others, of continuing to rehearse that dis-
Discrimination, I don't think it means so much psychological work for the child.
What do children fill their time with in the childcare center, the time of
early separation? How to enrich that experience? How to pro-
to protect children from the risks of early institutionalization? These are
the fundamental tasks of the educational agent. Thanks to play, to the processes
creators, the world the child lives in can be metaphorized, which allows
a gradual adaptation to changes, to goodbyes, to group life.
Francoise Dolto points out that: "The baby is coexisting with its mother"
when it is mucous to mucous and body to body for the satisfaction of their
vital needs, but when the mother detaches from him, he is like a fan
donated power, especially if, outside of those moments of hand-to-hand, the
mother breaks the body communication with him without continuing it, in the hiatus
that separates them, by the interest it pays to its alert intelligence and by mode-
"word relations that are directed at him/her."20One can talk about a "co-being" with
the mother on the baby's side; a "co-being" constructed from the word, the
presence, attention, the game, that weave continuity, senses, and capacity
of attachment. It is very interesting to think about this idea of "co-being" in the centers
of child care.

19
Petit, Michèle,El arte de la lectura en tiempos de crisis, México, Océano Travesía, 2009.
20
Dolto, Françoise,En el juego del deseo, México, Siglo XXI, 1997.

39
What does Early Education provide to babies, young children, and their parents?
In a world that is gradually losing the capacity to love, Education
Initially, it becomes a particularly fertile territory to support the tasks.
more humane: raise, play, create. How does one become a good father or a good mother?
mother today? How to reconcile the demands of contemporary life, increasingly
more overwhelming, with that suspended time that babies demand, with the deli-
the lullabies, of the stories?
Babies hide secrets in their cries, in their dreams, they are mysterious beings.
They are the ones who lay bare with their cries all the fragility of the world. Babies are born to
tell us time and again that without them joy gets lost, and it is then that everything
What we do for those of us who work for the littlest ones in this kingdom takes on
greater of the senses.
What can be offered to enrich the experience of mothers, fathers, and babies? A...
a space for listening and companionship, a place where playing is a priority, a lap that you are-
have and caress, a small universe to protect, a star to go for a walk,
to be sure that we can always dream.
I believe that Early Childhood Education, today, is an essential stimulus for many.
more families.
Maria Emilia López
Early Childhood Specialist

Early bonds from the perspective of attachment

The word attachment refers to the intense emotional bond that
the child develops with his mother, his father, his primordial reference figures
affective, and which leads to the possibility of gradually constructing a perso-
integrated, confident, open to the new. Attachment implies a certain unconditional.
function of the mother, father, or any reference figure, that is to say that the
child needs to count on those presences, without risks of loss, with sensitivity
to their demands, in order to remain emotionally stable.
In the studies of John Bowlby that led to his attachment theory,21he
they particularly took into account observations from children who were among the
second and the third year of life during their stay for a relative time
briefly in nurseries or hospitals, that is, that young children are
separated from their mother and other significant figures, as well as isolated
from their family environment and placed in the care of strangers in an unknown place,
without greater care from an emotional point of view than a certain availability
natural of the caregivers or nurses. Bowlby takes up the observations of
James Robertson for his analyses, but at that moment (the decade of the years
60-70 of the last century) many specialists were focused on researching

21
Bowlby, John,El apegoyla pérdida. I. El apego, Buenos Aires, Paidós, 1998.

40
What happens in the minds of children in situations of early separation?
and what are its consequences according to the care received.
Bowlby states that, in the described environment, a child between the ages of fifteen and
thirty months during which I had enjoyed a relative security in
his relationship with his mother and that he had never been separated from her in general
shows a sequence of predictable behaviors that can be divided into three
stages, according to the predominant attitude towards the mother:

• phase of protest,
• phase of despair,
• phase of detachment.

Although they have been differentiated in order to understand them better, it is evident
tooth that each one mixes with the next for a while, in such a way
that the child can remain for days or entire weeks in those processes of
transition from one phase to the other.
During the protest stage, the small child shows remarkable signs of
anger at the absence of their mother or father and tries to regain it by exerting pressure
sobbing uncontrollably, shaking the crib, usually
reject another figure that attempts to become significant, although also
some children cling desperately to a caregiver.
During the stage of despair, following the stage of protest, it continues to be
the child's concern for his absent figure is evident, but his behavior
suggests that he is losing hope that she will return. His dwindling...
active physical movements (kicking, throwing tantrums) and cries monotonously
it is intermittent. He appears withdrawn and passive, does not demand. This stage is characterized
teriza above all due to a passivity in the subject and sometimes - erroneously - the
adults may assume that the suffering has ended.
In the detachment phase, the child shows more interest in the environment than in it.
It roams, that's why adults believe that it is overcoming its crisis and take this phase.
with joy. She no longer rejects the presence of the caregivers, she accepts games and even
he/she can smile; seems sociable. However, in the presence of the mother, he/she
easily observe the absence of healthy attachment behaviors characteristic of the
age, like running out to meet him. The child appears distant and even
apathetic towards his mother or father.
Probably if one were to do a mental review of the cries and tantrums
of the children who attend early to the CAI to identify if at any
moment they resigned, what happens to those who seem to have "overcome the
"situation" when their mothers return, they would encounter many situations in
those that babies and toddlers, far from developing the processes of separation
and to build safe alternative links, they over-adapted or resigned to the
forced separation.
Bowlby shows in his research that if this situation is prolonged
detachment in the child, in the long run, he will act as if there is no maternal care
the human contact had greater meaning for him. After a few
conflictive experiences due to the loss of different maternal figures

41
to whom he had given his trust and affection, will decrease the child's ability
of delivery and, in the end, its capacity for attachment.
Following this theory, one could speak of the construction of three types of
attachments, in deep resonance with the care received:

A. Secure attachment:It appears when the child receives sensitive care to their
demands, with continuity and availability of reference adults,
which allows him to build a secure self-image, because in the
time of greatest anxiety and dependence can cling to security
what the loving adult provides. One also feels understood, and that has
a great impact on the emergence of empathy. Secure attachments
They favor more empathetic, confident, and autonomous personalities.
B. Anxious attachment:it occurs when the caregiver does not have enough availability
physical or emotional ability or does not know how to interpret the signals and calls of
little child, for example, if you let him cry excessively or can't tolerate it
the demand, if it leaves the sight or presence of the child without warning, avoiding it, if
does not manage to synchronize with the desire and the need to support
body language, for example, offering few experiences of hugs,
caresses, words. This way of bonding generates greater anxiety in children.
in the face of separation and less trust in the future, as well as a fear
to go out and explore the world.
C. Disorganized attachment:it occurs when the caregiver has inadequate responses
cousins, out of context regarding what the child demands; when not
there is a possibility of predictability on the part of the child because the adult is
fluctuating and unclear in its intentions. This type of attachment produces tam-
very much anxiety and insecurity, as well as difficulties in organizing the
own game or learning and low concentration capacity.

It's not about the child having to stay at home solely under the care of
his mother or his family so that he can develop healthily, otherwise what,
without certain care conditions, without the support devices
adequate, the child cannot separate healthily without negative consequences.
gatives for your self. That is why it is a task of great responsibility for the Edu-
Initial education to build secure attachment bonds with children, provide
time and space shared with families for gradual processes of
integration, and of course filling those times when the children are not around
with their parents with genuine affection, psychological and physical availability, play,
words, tenderness, listening, creativity, and joy.
Another important point in the inclusion of babies and toddlers.
the educational proposal is belonging to a group. It is usually considered that
For children, joining a belonging group is always a gain.
that being with others helps to learn to socialize, to enrich play and
learning. However, when talking about children so in need of
personalized relationship with the reference adults, such as those from 0 to 3 years old
of age, it is essential to consider that in the planning of each day of
Work should include times and situations of intimacy with each child.

42
Group life can be a wealth, without a doubt, but it can also be against-
productive if the huge demand from the youngest is not taken into account
which, far from being a whim, is a necessity; the consequences of lack of
individual attention falls on disorganized attachments, for example, in
generalized stress situations, in difficulties managing anxiety.
But the recipients of early education are not only the children.
Their parents, who delegate the care of what they love most so early,
they also require the thought and support of all agents
educational. Many studies detail that the loss of the na-
daily life where children live with their parents or the phenomena of trans-
culturalization that occurs when the parenting patterns among families and the
institutional conflicts can produce serious disorders in the child, espe-
especially in the construction of their identity. Transculturation is understood as
the process by which one culture adopts traits from another, often imposed
everything that comes with the risk of losing one's own identity. A process
decompensation can lead to a loss of creative potential and in the case
Weak upbringing undermines the feeling of being capable of raising and protecting. The comu-
respectful communication that is had with families can serve as a
a series of cultural links that help support the task of upbringing; but
if this doesn't happen, it can be a great obstacle for the development of the task
of being a mom and being a dad, if family practices are disqualified, the search is for
impose viewpoints or one does not have enough training in 'reading' them
meanings of other ways of living and educating.
When we talk about shared parenting, we refer to the experience that
It happens between families and care centers when they are delegated to them.
several hours of the comprehensive care of a small child. If parenting is considered
shared space, it is legitimate to think about building a cultural continuity there, it is
to say, an extension of agreed modes of care, a listening, a
an envelope capable of providing loving care that enhances abilities
of the children and of the parents.

43
 Reflection questions
What conditions are necessary in the Care Centers?
Childhood to ensure good continuity in the child.
attachment?
What does the baby need from me to build a secure attachment?
What relationships and actions did I undertake to become
manager of a generous and secure attachment relationship?
In how many everyday situations with children does it happen
Is attachment at stake?
I recognize when a child has an anxious or disorganized attachment.
organized?
I establish respectful communication with the father and the mother.
to promote a collective upbringing that ensures continuity and
support for the child?
During the daily routine, do I set aside times for attention in-
individualized with each child?
What actions do I take to protect children from risks?
of an abrupt early separation from his mom and dad?
In the daily routine, do I create a human, emotional environment?
binding?
I hug the children, talk to them, lull them, sing to them, play with them.
Do I read to them?
I cultivate patience and kindness at all times and with
all the children?

Contributions of neuroscience
The brain architecture of a baby, throughout its first years of life,
even before being born, it is programmed and modeled both in its physical structure
as in its functioning, due to the multisensory experiences of the environment
and particularly due to the presence or absence of affective relationships, atten-
such needs.
Due to evolutionary reasons, the human baby is born premature and requires the
presence of sensitive and caring caregivers to complete the biological process
cerebral architecture, necessary for human functions.
may be adversely affected when the baby experiences situations of
very, negligence or abandonment, in which case strong difficulties can be observed.
behavioral, self-regulation, learning, social adaptation and
of health throughout life. Early experiences
22
are integrated into a

22
Research in neuroscience has shown that when there is a lack of care-
affectionate and sensitive can be affected the immune metabolic processes through
epigenetics, that is, activating or deactivating the tendency towards obesity, hypertension, or the
diabetes. Shanker, Stuart et al., Early Years Study 2 The long reach of Early Childhood, Canada
Council of Early Child Development, 2007, p.29.

44
 The human brain, expectant of stimulation, dependent on experience.

36 Recently 3 months 6 months 2 years 4 years 6 years

weeks born

Synaptic Training Synaptic Pod

Source. [Link]

implicit programming with repercussions in the rest of life; remain writ-ten

tas en la psique, en el cuerpo y en el metabolismo de las personas. Las experien-
Social sciences get "under the skin."23
The theme of the necessary love that is bestowed upon babies and the presence of
pertinent and high-quality interactions by the primary caregivers
It is not romanticism, but pure science. It is urgent that what has been documented by the
science is part of young children's lives, with a cyclical approach
vital. It is necessary to promote the development of caregiving skills related to
neither, as well as provide the necessary support both in the family environment
like in childcare centers.
In the life cycle approach, the capabilities of children are being developed.
to have a fulfilling life and, in its time, to nurture and parent the next ones
generations24to generate healthy attachment bonds, which will mark the quality of
sus relaciones sociales a lo largo de la niñez y en la edad adulta.
When the baby and the child aged 0 to 3 years experience...
of affection and development, their brain is being protected and the
foundations of resilience. It can be found that children and adults who
Those who overcome adversity have in common having lived with at least one
responsive and stable adult who helped them build skills to recover.25
Early Childhood Education is not aimed at a child-student who learns as
isolated individual, but places the child in their context, including their family

23
Mustard, Fraser, Development of early childhood and brain based on experience.
Scientific basis for the importance of early childhood development in a globalized world
zado, Canada, The Founders' Network, 2006.
24
Shonkoff, Jack, The science behind neglect. Consulted on August 4, 2017
en: [Link]
25
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (2016). From Best Practices to
Breakthrough Impacts: A Science-Based Approach to Building a More Promising Future for
Young Children and Families. Consulted on August 4, 2017 at:[Link].
[Link].

45
of primary caregivers and the educational agents with whom it will interact
daily actions.
The findings of neuroscience, combined with psychological research
they have direct implications on the way of organizing services
attention to early childhood, particularly the processes of admission and transition
to avoid staff turnover and promote a joyful atmosphere, perspective
and the body disposition of the educational agents. As well as the predictability
in the environment favors development, a chaotic and unpredictable environment,
cold or distant generates stress in babies, a very primal feeling of alertness
is for survival, with considerable repercussions.

Synchronicity and brain resonance

The brain of a human baby is a social organ. Allan Schore has studied
what happens in the brain of a baby and its primary caregiver when they bond
They serve scenes of sincere gaze and emotional exchange. Schore speaks about
of an affective dance, also described by Brazelton, in which the exchange
of looks, gestures, and babbling has a positive effect, both on the baby and
in the mother or primary caregiver. The brains synchronize, a connection is established.
resonance of beneficial waves, they connect from the right hemisphere to the hemisphere
law26and enter the same frequency. As part of this mechanism of
resonance, hormones of pleasure are generated in both, stress is regulated and tam-
Well, hormones that promote learning are generated. The mom or caregiver
it is an amplifier of emotions and of containment or regulation.27
Stuart Shanker, Canadian neuroscientist, describes this process of ma-
it is colloquial, like Bluetooth between the caregiver and the baby. The baby registers the
affective state and the level of anxiety of the caregiver. It is normal for the mother
the primary caregiver is not always in tune, this is part of life.
research indicates that there may be periods without tuning without this being
problematic. "The periods in which the baby finds a way to au-
to regulate themselves, seeking their own resources, are also positive.28Without em-
bargo, prolonged states of neglect and lack of attention are toxic for the
baby's brain: they will shape the brain and leave a mark on their emotional states,
social, self-regulation, and learning.

26
The right hemisphere grows extraordinarily during the first months of
life, it is the hemisphere that records images and non-verbal language. This hemisphere with-
it has a circuit for emotional regulation. It unconsciously regulates emotions such as
fear, fury, terror, disgust, sorrow, hopelessness. The right hemisphere remains,
according to Schore, overrepresented in the brain. Settling in at an unconscious level
as a solid foundation for living and having pleasure in learning.
27
Schore, Allan N., Affect Regulation and the Repair of the Self, New York, Norton and
Company, 2012.
28
Shonkoff, Jack, The Science Behind Negligence. Consulted on August 4, 2017
en: [Link]

46
 Scientific information can help parents and guardians
educational agents to dignify their task and to prioritize within the
care activities. When the educational agent understands that their actions
impact the brain architecture of the children they attend to, as well as in their
metabolic function and its psychic development can give a sense of transcendence.
tendency towards his work.

Brain under construction: from primitive to cortical

Daniel Siegel, a renowned neuroscientist, explains the main aspects of
brain development in simple yet precise words. The human brain
is made up of several systems, each with specific functions. The
the most primitive part provides energy destined for survival. It is the cere-
reptilian brain, which allows us to react to danger without it going through the
reasoning. It is responsible for preserving life. It is the oldest brain in the
evolution, with over 3 billion years, and is responsible for reactions
how to attack, flee or freeze to survive. It is also the one that triggers
the metabolic stress responses: it activates in the face of danger, speeds up the heart,
it prioritizes the peripheral vigilant vision and paralyzes digestion, saturates the system
with stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline). The entire brain and the meta-
bolismo remains in survival mode.
This part of the central nervous system is the first to form in the
mother's womb, and in a child between 0 and 3 years of age, even up to 6
years, it usually dominates in some of its manifestations at moments of can-
sanction and anguish. This is evident in an apparently irrational tantrum.
The reptilian brain, reactive, takes control in people who have experienced stress.
chronic abuse. For a child with neglect or harm, everyday experiences
and normal ones can trigger disproportionate responses.
The next degree of complexity and maturity is the affective brain.
It is located in the middle part of the brain. It matures in the womb and is in pro-
construction process through affective interactions during the first
years of life. This level is responsible for the expression of emotions, which...
they lead to a programming of needs satisfaction. Requires an adult
close that is recognized as valid and acceptable when the child feels anger or
sadness. "Yes baby, you got scared, I hug you, it's over..."; "I see you angry, you need
a hug..."; "You're sad and don't know why..." It's about an adult who can-
to provide support when there is confusion. At the same time, the child needs a
an adult who is able to mirror expressions of joy and help
name the emotions with sincere empathy. The affective 29
brain is nourished with
affection and through the validation of feelings. It is organized along with the
hippocampus, dedicated to the memories of experiences.

29
Holinger, Paul, What babies say before they can talk. The nine signals babies use to express
their feelings, New York, Simon Shuster, 2003.

47
 The last level in maturation is the prefrontal cortex, located behind the
front. It is responsible for the self-regulation of emotions, for planning
and social coexistence. This level begins to function around six
months of life, if the baby is surrounded by an organized environment, and ends up
mature much beyond adolescence. In an optimal situation, the parts
they are integrating and coordinating from the brain, allowing for a functioning
to appropriate social, emotional and cognitive.
A child in a state of stress cannot learn either.
enjoy. When the stress system is activated, there is no reasoning-
to. Todo el cerebro está listo para sobrevivir, atacar, huir o paralizarse. Los niños
who do not have nearby adults that promote brain organization
they risk living reactively, with a mastery of the highest levels
control primitives. Thanks to the support of affectionate adults in
the interaction, to the learning and play situations, in enriched environments
As a child, he gradually develops these skills, which build on a
framework of connections between brain centers that connect capacity
to maintain attention, for language, reasoning, memory, the
focus, motor control, impulse inhibition, emotional regulation
and the planning and execution of tasks, more complex functions that emerge
as a response of the brain to experience.

The importance of a climate of joy and good humor

The rate of positive emotions, such as joy, for example, present in the
childhood relationships seem essential for establishing the neural pathways
cuddles; the baby's happiness helps establish neural connections.
necessary to experience positive feelings for the rest of your life.
Mark Greenberg qualifies this process as the generation of a system in-
emotional immunity. The need for affection and joy is as important as
the food.30

Promote play and learning

The brain's plasticity or capacity to learn and adapt to experience
the CIA is at its peak during the earliest stages, and decreases with
age. Although "it's never too late" and as adults we continue learning and re-
Shaping the brain, what occurs during the first three years of life does not have
In comparison with another stage. The child under three years old has a curiosity
innate. It creates neuronal synapses nonstop and requires multiple opportunities
to explore, to develop motor skills, and to learn.31

30 Goleman, Daniel, Destructive Emotions. It narrates a scientific dialogue with the Dalai Lama.
Buenos Aires, Vergara, 2006.
31
It is important to consider that this window of opportunity that neuroscience...
sometimes it is used incorrectly as an argument to try to
accelerated learning or for overstimulation.

48
 It is not relevant, from the point of view of neuroscience, to consider
to wrap the baby like a student who learns memorized content, but to create
spaces for play, exploration, and freedom, in an atmosphere of emotional containment.
"I don't teach you, I set the conditions for you to discover."
practice guide. This approach has implications for the concepts
error exploration circuits. A baby or a child aged 0 to 3 years does not
mistakenly classifying or executing something intentional that does not seem apparent
You are fine. Your mind has hypotheses, explores, investigates, connects, associates; that is what it is about.

it addresses the exercise of learning and this is how the brain works best. It is re-
It is important for the educational agent to recognize the exploration style of the children.
and allow the circuit to be completed to their satisfaction, that is, the child to
beginning intrigues by an event, it takes it (sucks it), analyzes it, records it, remains
satisfied and can let it go by itself.
Language also goes through a privileged window of opportunity.
during the early years of life. The brain registers and connects sounds.
but, relating verbal and non-verbal language, integrating with motor areas
for speech. In this process, the child depends on the presence of adults in
interaction to nurture this skill and to develop the ability to emit
of complex vocalizations. Hence the importance that Early Education gives
to reading, poetry, the presence of books, music, rhymes, songs, to the con-
accompanied and relevant conversation.
Humans are rhythmic, which is why the most primitive and comforting...
you are the memory of the mother's heartbeat in the womb, where there is no cold or hunger

49
and first the feeling of being safe.32The rhythm framework for a baby is am-
plio: from the organization of time in a predictable world, in which its
security is not in question, even the exposure to the rhythm of the music.
drums, the regulation in an embrace with percussion and rhythm while rocking are ac-
actions that have great potential to calm the reptilian brain and make it
to feel, in the most basic language, that 'everything is fine.'33The game, the dance, the
música, el masaje pueden ayudar a regular a los niños en estado de ansiedad.
It is necessary to select quality music, relevant, while also avoiding saturation.
allocation of auditory space: matching music with moments of activity
and rest, and also introduce moments of silence and contemplation.

Different levels of stress. Avoid toxic stress

Not all stress is negative. There are different degrees of stress in human beings.
hand. Positive stress is what is experienced when one must respond to
a challenge and adapting to new circumstances. It involves some mobilization of
body and brain energy to adapt; for example, when presenting an exam
I am going to apply for a job. It is important to feel a healthy amount of stress.
to prepare and mobilize available resources. Children face a gr
healthy stress when adapting to new situations, they achieve an accomplishment
motor, they face challenges or resolve some age-related dilemma. It is not per-
Lieutenant, to protect them from these levels of stress, as they do not mobilize their
resources for adapting do not develop progressive autonomy.
There is another level of stress, the tolerable one, for example, when one goes through
an adversity and there is a support network, or a key figure and cer-
it makes you feel that everything will pass, that the adverse situation is not forever
A child can experience a loss or a painful experience; but if there is
a social network that contains it and allows your body to register that 'it is not for
always34

32 Bruce Perry, “Rhythm, Red and Relationships. The Neurosequential Model of the Brain,” conference-
masterful presentation, Juconi Congress, Puebla, November 29, 2012. The context of the conference
What was the application of neurosciences to help children with significant trauma?
it is healing sequentially the brain, from the reptilian to the cortical. When
the child has very primary damage from abandonment or neglect in early childhood, he
they use consistent techniques for pattern activation, such as music, movement, breathing
tion, massage, drums, regardless of age. Once there has been improvement in self-
regulation, therapy can lead to more relational limbic problems, such as therapy of
game and art. And only later a cognitive verbal therapy.

33
In the documentary 'Free the Mind', Dr. Davidson shows the regulation techniques.
for a child with difficulties. Empathy, patience, the expression of feelings and the
Hugging with rhythmic percussion helps the child find balance.
34 Bruce Perry, op. cit., narrates an anecdote in which he compares children victims of the tsunami-
2004 with the children who suffered from Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. 'In States
United States of America, the children continue to feel the impact and it has been very difficult to get them out.
They suffer greatly due to the isolation in which they live. In contrast, the children who experienced the tsunami have...

achieved overcoming it much better, thanks to the social NETWORK that surrounds them in Asia.

50
 The third degree of stress is toxic. As its name indicates, it causes harm.
In an adult, toxicity can be reflected in diabetes, hypertension, problems-
more digestive issues or other diseases. In a baby, toxic stress affects the...
brain structure and function, which influences the possibility of learning,
in personality, social skills, and health throughout life.
They harm the individual, the family, and society. In the most extreme cases of
lack of gaze, negligence or mistreatment, a programming can be observed
very primitive towards violence. In these cases, the child does not remember the expe-
earliest experiences. "The brain bets that there will be no changes, if the pri-
Merely years live violence, prepares for it.35That is why it is so important
promote Early Education, where empathy is cultivated and support is provided
to families with young children. Cherished and respected children will be children and
adults with ethical possibilities, capable of loving and creating.

Reflection questions
Do I acknowledge the right of children to learn and be happy?
I establish quality, sensitive, and affectionate interactions with
the children?
I recognize the importance of establishing, in daily work,
No, a climate of joy and good humor?
I create spaces for play, exploration, and freedom, in an atmosphere of
emotional containment for children?
Do I avoid the generation of toxic stress in babies by taking care of the
moments of entry or separations, the transitions, the con-
sphincter control and the establishment of boundaries with affection and
relevance?
In the childcare center, staff rotation is avoided.
educational agents?
In the childcare center, they provide me with opportunities.
to train myself, to update myself and to participate?
I enjoy what I do and find significance in the task that
performance?
During the daily journey, do I allow space for silence and contemplation?
a place where children can feel at peace and relaxed?
I create spaces to play with music, to talk, to
listen to what children feel and think?

35
The propensity for violence, based on experiences from 0 to 3 years of age
It is well documented. Doctor Feggy Ostrosky has studied the most violent cases.
with an inability to show empathy for the victims. of criminal minds. The common
denominator is negligence, harm, and abandonment in the first three years of life. Ostrosky, Fe-
The development of the brain and the neural connections that are established in the early
years of life, SEP, Mexico, June 26, 2009.

51
Context studies
Today it is known that the context is fundamental in the development of children and
prepares them, in addition to their biological heritage, to use tools that they
allow learning from other people. Research like that of Barbara
Rogoff reinforces the stance that the influence of family and context is
determinant not only for physical development but for learning. The de-
cognitive development also involves the appropriation of intellectual tools
actual skills and abilities of the cultural community to which the children belong. This
The researcher indicates that it is necessary to allow children to observe and participate.
actively in everyday actions, because that opens a range of possibilities-
to learn by themselves, unlike reproducing what they must do
based on the mere adult mandate. "The cognitive development of children is
a learning: takes place through guided participation in the activity
social with peers who provide support and stimulate their understanding and their
skill to use instruments of the culture. The socio-cultural basis of the
skills and human activities —including the child's own inclination to
to participate in the activities that surround him and to integrate into them - is inseparable
table of the biological and historical basis of the human species36says Rogoff. With
based on Vigotsky's theories, Rogoff proposes a close relationship between the
culture and cognition, which takes place in the "zone of proximal development" (it is
to say that space for the child's participation in slightly distant activities
of their competition, challengers): “Children seek, structure, and even ask
the help of those around them, to learn to solve problems of everything
Type. In the same way, they actively observe social activities and participate.
they rely on them when they can. What I want to emphasize at this point is that
los papeles que desempeñan el niño y sus cuidadores son complementarios”.37

36
Rogoff, Bárbara, Apprenticeship of thought. Cognitive development in the social context
Barcelona, Paidós, 1993.
37
Ibid.

52
 Children are surrounded by active people, they listen, they observe;
therefore, limiting them or denying them the opportunity to participate in activities
closes the possibility of developing their abilities. The observation of the child has-
What the people around you do is the first
step to put into practice his abilities; the child seeks a way to invoke-
to profit and communicate with the adult, initially through sounds, gestures
or babbling, until reaching the use of conventional language. Children are observ-
natural hunters continuously fix their gaze on something or someone. They can...
to observe adults for a long time and what they do, and how they behave
and interact with the people and objects around them. The way
to promote learning from a young age is to involve them in
various gaming experiences, talking to them, teaching them to converse and reflec-
bring a response, listen to them, coexist, allow them to explore and develop
rhythm, and at the same time participate in their own activities.
In the last thirty years, studies and research have come to light
theories that emphasize the importance of context and culture with greater strength
in the evolution of the faculties of babies and children, who reject the idea of
a passive child who only entertains himself by playing with the objects he finds,
rather speaks of a boy who actively participates in the social world, he is
capable of interpreting what it observes from others and intervenes in that context, the
which in turn influences his/her own life.
One of the approaches to cultural theories includes the concept of Super and Har-
kness38evolutionary niches, according to which, in the environments they inhabit
And where babies and children live, there are three elements that influence their development:
• The physical and social environments in which they live:that is the cli-
but the orography, the type of housing, as well as whether the family is large
of nuclear, the social structure and the form of organization of its
everyday life.
• The customs regulated by culture and the practices
foster care caseit refers to the social guidelines that the family has
and the community about care and education, their attitudes and ideas
regarding the game, discipline, training, among others.
• The convictions or ethnotheories of the parents:it refers to the
concepts, beliefs, and ideas of the mother and father in relation to
the objectives and priorities of child development and their opinions
about how to raise.

It should be considered that these evolutionary niches are not unique, but rather several
they coexist at the same time. For example, babies live in an evolutionary niche in their
house and some of them, in the mornings or in the afternoons, are taken care of by another
familiar in another house or in childcare centers, so they experience different contexts
cultural experiences at the same time; in each one, the children actively contribute.

38
Super, Charles M. and Sara Harkness, The Cultural Structuring of Child Development, Bos-
ton, 1997, p. 11.

53
 Currently, in some cultures, a baby or a child is considered
A child is not capable of having responsibilities until after the age of five.
years; however, authors like Rogoff assert that:

• Children are competent learners from birth;

• children are social beings and are ready to learn and co-
to communicate
• el aprendizaje es un proceso compartido;
• children learn best when given a responsibility
joke, which allows them to make decisions and choices;
• Children learn effectively when they are actively engaged.
involved and interested and have the support of an adult in-
trained and reliable;
• Childrenlearnbetterbydoingthanbybeingtoldwhattodoandhow.

The task of the educational agent or the child's caretaker (in this case the
mother, father, guardian or the key person in charge of their care) is essential;
how she speaks to him, how she looks at him, how she sings to him, how she establishes a bond with him,

the attention provided to him/her in daily activities (bathing, changing diapers, co-
mood, dream, play when showing them what exists in their environment are conditions that
influence their learning.
Context studies also highlight the value of all
cultural practices in children's learning, who, in interaction
with adults, sharing games, tasks, dialogues or reinforcing their abilities
of intellectual, emotional, physical, and social aspects. This leads to thinking about the importance of
the importance of valuing all cultural practices, a matrix of interrelations between
the people of each community. Early Childhood Education may expand the practices-
cas, to enrich them, but always bearing in mind that no community
arrives without upbringing stories, without ideals, without personal initiatives. Take advantage and
valuing the diverse cultures is the basis of both the rights approach and
the contributions of context studies.

Reflection questions
I recognize the importance of families as the place where
do the first bonds occur?
Do I promote the formation of care networks?
I take into account the child's culture and customs and their
family?
Do I allow children to make decisions and choices?
while they play and socialize?
I talk to the parents and caregivers of the children to establish
a true shared parenting?

54