The Museum is specifically designed to foster early learning by helping children acquire fundamental academic and social skills during their formative years. Engaging exhibits and quality educational programs offered at the Museum reflect developmental milestones recognized by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, as well as current state and national academic standards. Museum experiences also promote school readiness by focusing on early literacy, beginning math and science concepts, the development of planning and problem-solving skills, cooperation, self-esteem and self-discipline, and physical coordination.
Parents and other caregivers play a critical role as a child’s first teacher, and the Museum enables adults to share educational experiences with children and provides information about child development, learning styles and effective parenting to support a child’s healthy development.
Visit the links below to learn more about the impact of early education, childhood development and related resources.
American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics provides a timetable of when a child is expected to reach developmental milestones. Areas addressed include hand and body movement, language, social, and emotional milestones.
The Power of Play: A Pediatric Role in Enhancing Development in Young Children: Lean more about the science behind the importance of play for children in this clinical report released by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Center on the Developing Child
The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University views healthy child development as the foundation of economic prosperity, strong communities, and a just society. Their mission is to drive science-based innovation that achieves breakthrough outcomes for children facing adversity.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
As the nation’s health protection agency, the CDC saves lives, protects people from health threats, conducts critical science research and provides health information.
KidsHealth
KidsHealth provides families with perspective, advice, and comfort about a wide range of physical, emotional, and behavioral issues that affect children and teens. Complex medical information is shared in language that readers can understand and use.
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)
NAEYC is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children birth through age 8.
Reading Is Fundamental (RIF)
The largest children’s literacy nonprofit in the United States, RIF seeks to motivate young children to read by working with them, their parents and community members to make reading a fun and beneficial part of everyday life.
The Whole Child
The Whole Child website extends the information presented in a video series of the same name. The series shows caregivers and children working and playing together in ways that facilitate children’s learning and development.
U.S. Department of Education (ED)
The mission of ED is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.
Vroom
Vroom, an initiative of the Bezos Family Foundation, was developed based on the premise that every child is born with enormous potential and every parent has the ability to help them realize that potential. Vroom translates leading research on early brain development into meaningful and actionable activities for families. Vroom has 1000+ free bilingual tips that are easy, interactive things parents can do in the time they already share with their children that don’t require additional time or money.
Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA)
High-quality child care helps children do better in school and in life; they become adults with social and emotional skills that enable them to work, play, and relate well to others. WECA works to advance positive change for children by focusing on the professionals who provide child care for more than 70 percent of Wisconsin’s children.
Zero to Three
A national nonprofit organization that provides parents, professionals and policymakers the knowledge and the know-how to nurture early development.
