A relationship with a key person at home and in the setting is essential to young children's well-being. Babies and young children are social beings, they are competent learners from birth. Learning is a shared process and children learn most effectively when, with the support of a knowledgeable and trusted adult, they are actively involved and interested. Caring adults count more than resources and equipment. Schedules and routines must flow with the child's needs. Children learn when they are given appropriate responsibility, allowed to make errors, decisions and choices, and respected as autonomous and competent learners. Children learn by doing rather than by being told. Young children are vulnerable. They learn to be independent by having someone they can depend on.