Including the Infant in the Curriculum

“All children are born wired for feelings and ready to learn.” -National Academy of Sciences, “From Neurons to Neighborhoods”

Physical Development 101 Children strive to learn and move –They are driven to experiment with large and small muscle skills –They practice constantly Making the environment safe –What is “appropriate risk?” –How do we make environment easy to move in?

Social Relations 101 “Quality of care ultimately boils down to the quality of the relationship between the child care provider or teacher and the child.” Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A.(2000).

PITC Essential Policies Primary Care Continuity of Care Small Groups Individualized Care Continuity of Family Culture Inclusion of Children with Special Needs

Social Relations 101 Children are searching for trusting and secure relations with caregivers Children need a secure base for learning Children need to imitate and interact with caregivers Infants are attuned to both positive and negative responses

Language Development 101 Infants practice speech, strings of words, sentences, with caregivers and by themselves. Language mastery enables increasingly complex social and intellectual challenges.

Language Development 101 Language & communication develop in trusting relationships Infants are fascinated with the human voice, facial expressions, & gestures. Infants repeatedly imitate their caregiver’s vocalizations

Intellectual Development 101 Infants learn by: –Observing and imitating, –Continually inventing new and better ways of doing things, –Practicing and through play.

Discoveries of Infancy Learning Schemes Cause and Effect Use of Tools Object Permanence How Objects Fill Space Imitation

Caregiver’s Role Adapt –Environments and interactions to respond to the child’s changing interests and needs Support Practice and Repetition –Let child continue practice to communicate acceptance and encouragement Expand Learning –Add information –Build on familiarity

Caregiver’s Role Effective caregiver’s take lead from child. Effective caregiving take infants to the next step through respect of infants competence.

“Neither loving children nor teaching them is, in and of itself, sufficient for optimal development: thinking and feeling work in tandem.” -Eager to Learn