The document discusses the California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations, which provide guidance on the development of infants and toddlers across four domains: social-emotional, language, cognitive, and perceptual/motor. The foundations recognize that development occurs through relationships with caregivers and is influenced by family, culture and language. Key competencies are described for each developmental domain from birth through 3 years of age.

1. Infant/Toddler Learning & Development Foundations Introduction to EDUU 326: Infant/Toddler Care and Education

2. California Infant/Toddler Websites California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations Website - http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itfoundations.asp California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations Website Introduction - http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itf09intro.asp California Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Foundations pdf - http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/documents/itfoundations2009.pdf Summary - http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/re/itf09appendix.asp

3. Foundations: Guiding Principles Family, culture, and language play a central role in early learning and development Infancy Unique stage of life Important in its own right Three distinctive age periods Birth to 8 months 8 months to 18 months 18 months to 36 months

4. More Guiding Principles Competent yet vulnerable at every stage of development Emotions drive early learning Learn holistically and not by one developmental domain at a time Add competencies to similar competencies Combine new knowledge and abilities with existing knowledge and abilities

5. Overview of the Foundations Social-Emotional Development Domain Language Development Domain Cognitive Development Domain Perceptual and Motor Development Domain

6. Social-Emotional Development Interactions with Adults Relationships with Adults Interactions with Peers Relationship with Peers Identity of Self in Relation to Others Recognition of Ability Expression of Emotion Empathy Emotion Regulation Impulse Control Social Understanding

7. Social Emotional Competencies I Interactions with Adults: The child’s developing ability to respond to social cues from adults and engage in back-and-forth social exchanges with adults Relationships with Adults: The child’s development of close relationships with adults who provide consistent nurturance Interactions with Peers: The child’s developing ability to respond to social overtures from peers, engage in back-and-forth interaction with other children, and, ultimately, to engage in cooperative play with other children Relationships with Peers: The child’s development of relationships with certain peers through interactions over time

8. Social Emotional Competencies II Identity of Self in Relation to Others: The child’s developing concept of self as an individual who operates within social relationships Recognition of Ability: The child’s developing understanding of the ability to take action to influence the immediate social and physical environments Expression of Emotion: The child’s developing ability to communicate various emotions through facial expressions, movements, gestures, sounds, or words Empathy: The child’s developing ability to share in the emotional experiences of others

9. Social Emotional Competencies III Emotion Regulation: The child’s developing ability to manage or regulate emotional responses with and without assistance from adults Impulse Control: The child’s developing capacity to wait for needs to be met, to inhibit behavior, and to act according to social expectations, including safety rules Social Understanding: The child’s developing understanding of the responses, communication, emotional expressions, and actions of other people

10. Infant Social Emotional Development Need what they need when they need it Studies show that when infants needs are met quickly, the infant cries less often At 6-8 months, infants begin to have more control over their actions Between 10-12 months, infants begin to realize that caregivers don’t approve of some of the things they do A caregiver’s tone of voice or firm “no” can help infants learn the limits. From CDA Module

11. Language Development Domains Receptive Language: The child’s developing ability to understand words and increasingly complex utterances Expressive Language: The child’s developing ability to produce the sounds of language, and speak with an increasingly expansive vocabulary and use increasingly complex utterances Communication Skills and Knowledge: The child’s developing ability to communicate nonverbally and verbally Interest in Print: The child’s developing interest in engaging with print in books and in the environment

12. Infant Communication Natural drive to communicate begins at birth Newborn cries are a reflex. Crying lets someone know of their needs. Communicate with smiles and cooing when they see a familiar face. Learn about the give and take in conversation when caregivers respond to them. Begin to make sounds when they point to objects or when they want to be picked up. From CDA Module

13. Cognitive Development Cause and Effect Spatial Relationships Problem Solving Imitation Memory Number Sense Classification Symbolic Play Attention Maintenance Understanding of Personal Care Routines

14. Cognitive Competencies I Cause-and-Effect: The child’s developing understanding that one event or action brings about another Spatial Relationships: The child’s developing understanding of how things move and fit in space Problem Solving: The child’s developing ability to engage in a purposeful effort to reach a goal or to determine how something works Imitation: The child’s developing capacity to mirror, repeat, and practice the actions of others, either immediately or at a later time

15. Cognitive Competencies II Memory: The child’s developing ability to store and later retrieve information Number Sense: The child’s developing understanding of number or quantity Classification: The child’s developing ability to group, sort, categorize, and form expectations based on the attributes of objects and people Symbolic Play: The child’s developing ability to use actions, objects, or ideas to represent other actions, objects, or ideas

16. Cognitive Competencies III Attention Maintenance: The child’s developing ability to attend to people and things while interacting with others or exploring the environment and play materials Understanding of Personal Care Routines: The child’s developing ability to understand personal care routines and participate in them

17. Infant Learning Learn through everyday experiences Think through daily routines Explore through mouthing, dropping, banging, squeezing, etc. Learn “object permanence” – Object exists even when it’s out of sight Begin to understand cause and effect Learn how to use one object to get another From CDA Module

18. Perceptual and Motor Development Perceptual Development: The child’s developing ability to become aware of the immediate social and physical environments through the senses Gross Motor: The child’s developing ability to move and coordinate large muscles Fine Motor: The child’s developing ability to move and coordinate small muscles

19. Physical Development for Young Infants Do not have control over how they move Some kicking, squirming, wiggling is random, without purpose Reflexive movements – automatic Begin to gain control over how they move Develop at different rates Gross motor skills come before fine motor skills From CDA Module

20. Physical Development Follow head to toe general pattern Lift Head Sit Crawl Walk Lift Head Sit Walk Crawl From CDA Module

21. The Early Months Begin to engage the world and the people in it Motivated to explore and communicate Active participants in their own development Move their bodies Focus their attention Send and receive signals Seek relationships Build knowledge

22. The Newborn Connect internal sensory experiences to movements of their bodies – “explore” Make discoveries about their bodies – using their head, eyes, mouth, arms, and legs Use their senses to learn about people and things Primarily use vision – eye to eye connection with adults From CDA Module

23. Three to Four Months Pathways of hearing and sight shaping the brain Increasingly sensitive to sounds of language Begin to use a variety of ways to understand and relate to the world around them Create basic categories – things that move, things that don’t, hard/soft Show differentiated social-emotional behavior More skilled at reading others and altering their responses

24. Four Month Old Infant Will send clear messages Will be become quiet in anticipation as someone comes to care for them Seeks adults’ attention with smiles and laughter Participates in extended back and forth interactions with others Engages in simple social imitation

25. Needs of Infants Young Infant Birth to 8 months Needs Security Mobile Infant 6-8 months Needs Opportunity for Exploration Needs Security Older Infant 16-36 months Forming his/her own Identity Needs Exploration Needs Security From PITC

26. Universal Design for Learning Make the environment, play materials, activities, and experiences accessible to all children Provides multiple approaches to learning to meet the needs of diverse learners Multiple means of representation Multiple means of engagement Multiple means of expression

27. Multiple Approaches Multiple means of representation Provide information in a variety of ways so the learning needs of all children are met. Multiple means of engagement Provide children with choices within the setting that facilitate learning by building on children’s interests. Multiple means of expression Allow children to use alternative ways to communicate or demonstrate what they know or what they are feeling.