An experience expectable environment in child
care classrooms is one in which teachers consistently
provide positive and nurturing interactions within daily
routines and activities to enhance children’s learning.
Growing numbers of children are being enrolled in child
care at earlier ages and staying for longer periods of time
each day which is heightening the need to attend to the
context of child care for very young children. Several large
scale studies in social policy, biology, and human devel￾opment have confirmed the links between children’s early
experiences and later outcomes, and recent brain research
and research in child care classrooms has highlighted the
importance of these consistent, responsive, and respectful
patterns of interaction, especially for very young children’s
development. Yet, examination of the quality of child care
has indicated interactions in these classrooms that may not
support optimal development and/or that could be consid￾ered harmful. Given toddlers’ need for consistent and
nurturing care, coupled with the current substandard
quality of care for very young children, discussing the
context of child care in terms of an experience expectable
environment provides a perspective to understand the
context of toddler child care. This perspective underscores
the connections of routines and interactions to children’s
development of neural pathways, thus setting the founda￾tion for optimizing learning and development.

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• The Context of Child Care for Toddlers: The ‘‘Experience Expectable Environment’’

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