Welcome to Young Children Are Researchers (YCAR): a new approach to thinking about how young children learn.
Find out more ABOUT YCAR, a sample of YCAR ACTIVITIES or how to JOIN YCAR by clicking on the tabs above.
You can also find a tab above to learn more about YCAR RESEARCH.
Young Children Are Researchers (YCAR) is…
- A free tool for parents and teachers with practical activities to help young children learn
- A new way of understanding how young children learn by behaving as researchers
- A way to support children to want to learn and keep learning
- Help for parents and teachers to spot young children building knowledge through exploration, problem solving, making decisions and more
- A research-informed programme to support children as independent learners
- An opportunity to sign up to become a YCAR member, giving you access to our growing YCAR community and many more YCAR benefits – membership is free
- Professional development opportunities (practice and research) for primary teachers and early childhood educators
- A community for parents and carers to share stories of their own young children learning by exploring, finding solutions, making decisions, and more as researchers
Who is YCAR for?
YCAR is for primary school teachers and early childhood educators working with children up to 8 years who want to…
- Recognise ways children learn through exploration, problem solving, creativity and making decisions
- Identify new opportunities that extend children’s higher order thinking through active learning
- Record, track and report children’s progress in learning
YCAR is for parents and carers with one or more children up to 8 years who want to…
- Understand how exploration, problem solving, creativity and making decisions can help children to learn
- Support children to engage actively with learning
- Build a record of children’s progress in learning
YCAR is for everyone with responsibility for young children’s learning up to 8 years if they aspire for children to…
- Love learning
- Feel empowered by learning
- Engage in higher order thinking
- Gain deep-level understanding about the world around them
- Pursue their interests
- Become independent learners for life
Join YCAR!
Join our growing YCAR community of parents, teachers and others who want to understand more about how young children learn effectively through their natural research behaviours.