(c) McGraw-Hill 2011

1. Chapter 2:
Infant-Toddler Education
McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2011 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

2. What Infant-Toddler Education is Not
N
• Infant-toddler education is not infant stimulation.
• Infant-toddler education is not babysitting.
• Infant-toddler education is not a “watered-down”
version of a preschool model.
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3. Infant-Toddler Education is Not Stimulation
• In this text, education does not mean “stimulation.”
• Stimulation is something that people do to babies;
allowing them to have sensory experiences is different
because then they have choices about what to take in.
• Stimulation in the form of sensory experiences should
come from interactions with the environment and people.
• In group settings, overstimulation may be a larger
problem than lack of stimulation.
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4. Infant-Toddler Education is Not Babysitting
• Trained infant-toddler caregivers understand how care
and education go together.
• While instinctually good caregiving is important,
caregivers benefit from knowing how to manage:
– Difficult behaviors
– Babies whose needs are hard to determine
– Babies who lack the behaviors that attract adults
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5. Infant-Toddler Education is Not a “Watered-
Down” Version of the Preschool Model
• Infants and toddlers need to use their exploratory
urges.
• Most preschool activities are developmentally
inappropriate for infants.
• Toddlers do not use materials in the same
manner as preschool children.
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6. What is Infant-Toddler Education?
• Infant-toddler education is built on a curriculum.
• Curriculum is assessed by observing and
recording.
• Education facilitates problem solving.
• The Adult has a role in facilitating problem
solving.
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7. Curriculum as the Foundation of Infant-Toddler
Education
• What is an infant-toddler curriculum?
– A plan for learning and development
– A plan centered on connections and relationships
– A plan that links education and care
– A framework for decision-making based on a
philosophy that guides action
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8. Curriculum as the Foundation of Infant-Toddler
Education
• The curriculum depends on caregivers
determining what children need.
• The curriculum depends on children’s interests.
• There is no way to separate intellectual needs
from other needs and interests.
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9. Curriculum as the Foundation of Infant-Toddler
Education
• The curriculum must have goals or outcomes.
• Outcomes generally address these domains:
– Cognitive
– Physical
– Social-emotional
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10. Curriculum as the Foundation of Infant-Toddler
Education
• An infant-toddler curriculum depends on
caregivers who have skills in:
– Understanding typical and atypical development
– Understanding diversity
– Observation
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11. Assessing the Effectiveness of the Curriculum:
Observing and Recording
• Observation is a skill that should be developed
and practiced every day.
• Some useful observation methods include:
– Anecdotal and running records
– Daily logs and two-way journals
– Documentation
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12. Assessing the Effectiveness of the Curriculum:
Observing and Recording
• Ongoing assessment tells caregivers:
– How a child is doing
– A child’s needs and interests
– What a child might need next
– How to design an individualized program
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13. Education as Facilitating Problem-Solving
• Infants and toddlers face daily problems
including:
– Physical problems (hunger or discomfort)
– Manipulative problems (grasping objects or balancing
blocks)
– Social and emotional problems (separation)
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14. Education as Facilitating Problem-Solving
• Caregivers facilitate learning by:
– Allowing children to solve their own problems
– Recognizing problems as learning opportunities
– Not protecting children from all problems
– Being actively and receptively present while children
are solving problems
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15. The Four Skills Adults Need to Facilitate
Problem-Solving
• Determining optimum stress levels
– Caregivers observe children to learn how much stress
is too little, too much, or just right.
– Optimum stress is just the right amount of stress.
• Providing attention
– Meeting children’s needs for attention without
manipulative motives.
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16. The Four Skills Adults Need to Facilitate
Problem-Solving
• Providing feedback
– Caregivers should provide clear feedback so infants
and toddlers know the consequences of their actions.
– Caregivers can verbalize the reaction they see in a
child.
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17. The Four Skills Adults Need to Facilitate
Problem-Solving
• Modeling
– Adults need to perform behaviors, actions, and
interactive styles that the children can learn and imitate.
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18. Toddler Education and School Readiness
– Infant-toddler education can give children the
foundation they need for success later in school.
– There are programs to help low-income families catch
their children up for school readiness
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19. Online Learning Center
• See Chapter 2 of the text’s Online Learning
Center for chapter quizzes, Theory Into Action
activities, Video Observations, and more.
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