This document outlines the required and optional resources for a course on promoting social-emotional development in infants and toddlers. It provides instructions for students to observe and reflect on interactions between a young child and caregiver. Students are asked to observe behaviors related to developmental goals, note how the caregiver responds, and suggest how they could support the child's development through their own interactions.

1. Learning Resources
Required Resources
Course Text:
Building Strong Foundations: Practical Guidance for Promoting
the Social-Emotional Development of Infants and Toddlers
Pages 5–10 ("What's So Important About Good Relationships?")
Course Text:
Concepts for Care: 20 Essays on Infant/Toddler Development
and Learning
"Being Held in Another's Mind" by Jeree Pawl (pp. 1–4)
"Nurturing Developing Brains, Minds, and Hearts" by Ross A.
Thompson (pp. 47–52)
Optional Resources
Website:
Zero to Three: Brain Development
http://www.zerotothree.org/child-development/brain-
development/
Web Article:
Zero to Three Policy Center. (2004).
Infant and early childhood mental health: Promoting healthy
social and emotional development
[fact sheet]. Retrieved from
http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/Promoting_Social_an
d_Emotional_Development.pdf?docID=2081&AddInterest=1144
Web Article:
Perry, B. D. (2001).
Bonding and attachment in maltreated children: Consequences
of emotional neglect in childhood.
Retrieved from
http://www.childtrauma.org/images/stories/Articles/attcar4_03_
v2_r.pdf
Web Article:

2. Perry, B. D. (2005).
Maltreatment and the developing child: How early childhood
experience shapes child and culture.
Retrieved from
http://www.lfcc.on.ca/mccain/perry.pdf
Web Article:
National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children. (2004).
Infant and toddler grief.
Retrieved from
http://www.tlcinst.org/PTRCinfantto
Application:
Observing Infant or Toddler Interactions
[A]ll development—and especially social-emotional
development—emerges over time and through interactions with
others.
—Rebecca
Parlakian and Nancy Seibel,
Building Strong Foundations
(p. 5)
Pediatrician and noted child psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan
writes about six essential developmental stages (Parlakian &
Seibel, 2002, p. 6). Each stage, also termed
developmental goal
, describes the growth of intelligence and social-emotional
competency in the context of infants' and toddlers' relationships
with important adults. The goal of this assignment is to give
you the opportunity to observe interactions between an infant or
toddler and a significant adult in order to better understand how
adults can foster social-emotional development, including the
vital process of development that Greenspan describes.
Plan
your observation:
Arrange to observe an infant or toddler interacting in a natural

3. environment (preferably in the child's home or childcare
setting) with an adult who is significant in his or her life.
Explain to the adult the purpose of the observation and how the
information you gather will be used.
Set a time and date for the observation, explaining that you will
need to be with them for about 45 minutes.
Review information from this week's readings, including Table
1: Greenspan's Six Essential Developmental Stages (found on
page 6 of
Building Strong Foundations: Practical Guidance for Promoting
the Social-Emotional Development of Infants and Toddlers
). Use the information to help you focus on interactions
reflective of Greenspan's six stages.
Download, print out, and review the
Infant or Toddler Interactions Observation Guide
. Use this to guide and record your observations.
Arrive on time and take time to greet the child and the adult.
Ask the adult about how the child's day is going before you
begin. (Factors such as a child feeling tired, hungry, or upset
can influence the child's mood and behavior.)
Observe:
Sit in an unobtrusive place where you can watch and listen for
about 20 minutes. You may need to move out of the infant's or
toddler's visual range in order to avoid distracting the child
and/or influencing his or her interactions with the adult. As you
observe:
Use the Observation Guide to record notes on what you see and
hear.
Note any ways that you observe the adult fostering social-
emotional development and note any questions you have for the
adult.
Keep your attention focused on the child and adult.
Remember to stay as objective as possible. You may observe a
lot of activity from the child or very little.
Remember that despite similarities shared by children of
various ages, each child is different and goes through the stages

4. of social and emotional development in his or her own way.
Keep this uniqueness in mind as you observe the child.
Enjoy the experience. Use what you've learned this week to try
to imagine the world through the eyes of an infant or toddler.
Be respectful of the child's and adult's time. Stick to the time
span you agreed to for the observation. Be sure to thank the
adult and child for their cooperation.
Remember that this observation experience is intended as a
chance for you to learn. Do not criticize or attempt to instruct
the adult on ways to foster social and emotional development.
Reflect
on your observation. Review your notes as many times as
necessary. Then, describe the interactions you observed between
the adults and children as follows:
What infant social-emotional behaviors did you see?
How did the adult respond to the child's social-emotional
behaviors?
What information do these interactions give you about the
child's developmental goal or goals?
Imagine yourself as the adult during the slice of time you
observed. What suggestions would you find valuable for
fostering the child's social-emotional development?
Based on what you have learned, how do you hope to support
the developmental goals of very young children during your
interactions with them?
Note:
Do not use the real names of the adult and child. Use only first
names, initials, or fictitious names for the child and adult in
order to protect their privacy. Remember that you are observing
one moment in time, and that the interactions observed may not
represent the scope of the interactions between the adult-child
dyad.
Submit
your reflection. (You are not required to submit your
Observation Guide.)
Assignment length:

5. 2–3 pages
Directions: