The ScienceStart! curriculum rests on the insights of Piaget, Vygotsky and modern learning theory.

Piaget emphasized the child's innate drive to actively explore and organize her world. ScienceStart!'s hands-on science activities respond to this drive by providing many opportunities for the young child to expand her knowledge of the physical world, and then to categorize, compare and represent her experiences.

The pedagogy of the science cycle draws on Vygotsky's insight that conversations support the development of thinking. As teachers use the science cycle to introduce new activities, they invite the child into systematic inquiry and provide language to help the child remember and internalize her experience.

Modern learning theory emphasizes the way a child's individual goals drive the acquisition of skills and knowledge. ScienceStart!'s rich base of developmentally appropriate activities that integrate social, physical and cognitive experiences permit teachers to accommodate children's diverse goals, and to easily involve children in learning.