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Introduction
childr their experiences in the infant/tod
the Califor T
he California Infant/Toddler en’s experiences at home with Learning and Development Foundations represents part of dler program. These partnerships with
nia Department of Educa families are the cornerstone of cultur tion’s (CDE’s) comprehensive effort to ally sensitive care. Connections with strengthen young children’s learning children’s early cultural and linguistic and development through high-quality experiences are critically important early care and education. The founda for their social-emotional well-being, tions describe competencies infants the development of their identity, and and toddlers typically attain during the learning. In addition, children may birth-to-three-year period. In order to have a special need that requires par make developmental progress, young ticular accommodations and adapta children need appropriate nurturing. tions. To serve all children, infant/tod Both supportive home environments dler programs must work to provide and high-quality early care and educa appropriate conditions for each child tion programs can facilitate children’s and individually assist each child’s attainment of the competencies speci movement along a pathway of healthy fied in the foundations by providing learning and development. safe environments and an emotionally Over 20 states have either developed secure base for active, playful explora infant/toddler standards documents or tion and experimentation. are in the process of doing so. Many of
During the infant/toddler years, all them have sought to align infant/tod children depend on responsive, secure dler standards with preschool learning relationships to develop and learn. standards. Because both infant/tod As stated in the CDE’s Infant/Toddler dler and preschool foundations in Cali Learning and Development Program fornia cover a broad range of learn Guidelines (2007), high-quality pro ing and development domains, the grams offer infants and toddlers pri term foundations is used rather than mary relationships in small groups. standards. This term was selected to Such programs provide personalized convey that learning across all devel care that reflects consideration for opmental domains builds young chil individual differences among children. dren’s readiness for school. In essence, Programs also develop partnerships the foundations pertain to young chil with children’s families to connect dren’s current and long-term develop
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mental progress. This focus is conso nant with the position of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and the National Association of Early Childhood Special ists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE) on early learning stan dards. As the position statement sets forth, “Early childhood is a distinct period of life that has value in itself as well as creating the foundations for later years” (NAEYC and NAECS/SDE position statement 2002, 3).
In California, priority has been placed on aligning the infant/toddler learning and development foundations with the preschool learning founda tions in four major domains:
• Social-emotional development
• Language development
• Cognitive development
• Perceptual and motor develop ment
The domains represent crucial areas of early learning and development that contribute to young children’s readi ness for school (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine 2000; NAEYC and NAESC/SDE 2002). The foundations present key concepts in each domain and provide an over view of development in that domain. Young children can be considered from the perspective of one domain, such as social-emotional development or lan guage development. Yet, when taking an in-depth look at a single domain, one needs to keep in mind that learn ing, for young children, is usually an integrated experience. For example, an infant may make a cognitive discovery about cause-and-effect while making the connection that a cry leads to a comforting response from an adult.
The foundations developed for each of these domains are based on research and evidence from practice. Suggestions of expert practitioners and examples illustrate the foundations. The purpose is to promote understand ing of early learning and development and guide efforts to support the devel opment and well-being of infants and toddlers.
Overview of the Foundations The foundations for each of the four
domains are listed in this section.
Social-Emotional Development Domain. The social-emotional devel opment domain covers the following foundations:
• 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 rela tionships 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 chil dren.
• Relationships with Peers: The child’s development of relation ships with certain peers through interactions over time
• Identity of Self in Relation to Oth ers: The child’s developing con cept of self as an individual who
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operates within social relation ships
• Recognition of Ability: The child’s developing understanding of the ability to take action to influence the immediate social and physi cal environments
• Expression of Emotion: The child’s developing ability to communi cate various emotions through facial expressions, movements, gestures, sounds, or words
• Empathy: The child’s developing ability to share in the emotional experiences of others
• Emotion Regulation: The child’s developing ability to manage or regulate emotional responses with and without assistance from adults
• Impulse Control: The child’s devel oping 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, emo tional expressions, and actions of other people
The many competencies covered by the social-emotional development foundations underscore the promi nence of this domain during the first three years of life. The emotional secu rity that infants seek to develop with others and their ability to interact effectively with both adults and other children support their learning and development in all domains.
Language Development Domain. The language development foundations cover the following competencies:
• 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 Knowl edge: The child’s developing abil ity to communicate nonverbally and verbally
• Interest in Print: The child’s devel oping interest in engaging with print in books and in the environ ment
Many early childhood experts con sider language development to be one of the greatest accomplishments in the first three years of life. There are many specific milestones and dimen sions of language development, such as phonology and syntax. As to prac tice, the four foundations provide a level of detail that is accessible to fami lies and infant care teachers seeking to enhance children’s early language development and communication.
Cognitive Development Domain. The following foundations make up the cognitive development domain:
• 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
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• Problem Solving: The child’s devel oping ability to engage in a pur poseful 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
• Memory: The child’s developing ability to store and later retrieve information.
• Number Sense: The child’s devel oping understanding of number or quantity
• Classification: The child’s devel oping ability to group, sort, cat egorize, and form expectations based on the attributes of objects and people
• Symbolic Play: The child’s devel oping ability to use actions, objects, or ideas to represent other actions, objects, or ideas
• Attention Maintenance: The child’s developing ability to attend to people and things while interacting with others or explor ing the environment and play materials
• Understanding of Personal Care Routines: The child’s developing ability to understand personal care routines and participate in them
As the above list suggests, the foun dations for the cognitive development domain cover a broad range of knowl edge and skills. For infants and tod dlers, these various competencies are interwoven and develop together. As children move out of the birth-to-three period, some of the cognitive compe
tencies become differentiated and can be aligned with traditional preschool content domains such as mathematics and science. In effect, infants’ and tod dlers’ playful exploration and experi mentation in the cognitive domain represent an early manifestation of mathematical and scientific reasoning and problem solving.
Perceptual and Motor Develop ment Domain. Infants’ and toddlers’ perceptual and motor competencies are receiving increasing attention in research and practice. The perceptual and motor development foundations are defined as follows:
• 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 develop ing ability to move and coordinate large muscles
• Fine Motor: The child’s developing ability to move and coordinate small muscles
Infant/toddler programs can foster children’s perceptual and motor learn ing and development through environ ments that offer safe and appropriate physical challenges.
Organization of the Foundations
The publication begins with a chapter that focuses on the first four months of life. Separate foundations in each domain were not written for the first four months because every aspect of early development relates to all domains simultaneously. Although development during the first four months is undifferentiated, it has a
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profound influence on subsequent development in every domain. The chapter on the early months highlights the inborn behaviors that enable chil dren to orient toward adults and begin to communicate needs. At the same time, the chapter describes how, right from the beginning of life, children are “active participants in their own devel opment, reflecting the intrinsic human drive to explore and master one’s envi ronment” (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine 2000, 1).
For each of the 28 foundations, a description is specified at three points of development: at around eight months of age, at around 18 months of age, and at around 36 months of age. In addition, behaviors are listed that lead to the level of competency described for each of those three age levels. The behaviors leading up to an age level reflect the ongoing change that occurs during each age period. At around eight months of age, 18 months of age, and 36 months of age, children move to a different way of functioning and have different devel opmental needs. For most founda tions, the change from one age level (from eight months to 18 months or from 18 months old to 36 months) is quite pronounced. The foundations are designed to give a general sense of development at these three points along the developmental continuum. The subtleties of individual children’s developmental progress at any given time are presented in the CDE’s Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) (2005). This teacher observa tion tool for infants and toddlers shows five or six developmental levels span ning the birth-to-three age range for outcomes that will be aligned to the foundations. When alignment of the
DRDP to the infant/toddler founda tions is complete, the DRDP will pro vide additional detail about the devel opmental progression of a foundation.
For each foundation at each of the three age levels, broad information on infant development summarizes children’s competencies. Together, the three descriptions define the devel opmental progression of a founda tion. Underneath each description are examples of possible ways that chil dren may demonstrate a foundation in a particular age range. The diver sity of examples gives a sense of the variation among infants and toddlers. A foundation for a particular child should be considered on the basis of how the child functions in different contexts—at home, in child care, and in the community. An individual child may not function like any of the exam ples listed under a foundation, yet she may already be able to demonstrate the level of competency described by that foundation. The examples suggest the varieties of contexts in which chil dren may show competencies reflected in the foundations. Infant care teach ers often think of alternative examples when they reflect on how a particular foundation applies to the young chil dren in their care.
Guiding Principles Several guiding principles influenced
the creation of the infant/toddler learning and development foundations. These principles stem from both devel opmental theory and research and from best practice in the infant/toddler care field.
1. The family and its culture and language play a central role in early learning and development.
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2. Infancy is a unique stage of life that is important in its own right. Development in infancy can be described by three age periods— birth to eight months, eight months to 18 months, and 18 months to 36 months. Each age period is distinct, although there is often overlap from one to the next.
3. Infants and toddlers are compe tent yet vulnerable at every stage of development. Nurturing rela tionships provide the foundation for emotional security and opti mal learning and development.
4. Emotions drive early learning. Infants and toddlers are active, curious learners who are inter nally driven to interact with social and physical environ ments. Infants and toddlers learn in a holistic way rather than one domain at a time.
5. Early development includes both quantitative and qualitative change. With quantitative shifts, the infant extends or adds com petencies to similar existing com petencies. With qualitative shifts, the infant combines new knowl edge and abilities with existing knowledge and abilities to func tion in a different and more com plex way.
6. Early development reflects an interplay of differentiation and integration. For example, young infants typically use their mouths to explore all objects to learn about them (less differentiated behavior), whereas older children mainly use their mouth to taste or explore different kinds of food
(more differentiated behavior). An example of integration is that older children may be able to engage in several behaviors such as talking, walking, and carrying an object simultaneously (more integrated behavior), whereas younger children may need to focus all of their energies on doing one behavior at a time (less integrated behavior).
Those principles apply to the foun dations, curriculum planning, and assessment practices aligned to the foundations.
Universal Design for Learning These foundations support infant/
toddler programs in the effort to foster the learning and development of all young children in California, including children with disabilities or other spe cial needs. In some cases, infants and toddlers with disabilities or other spe cial needs will reveal their developmen tal progress in alternative ways. It is important to provide opportunities for children to follow different pathways to learning. Therefore, the infant/toddler learning and development foundations incorporate a concept known as uni versal design for learning.
Developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), universal design for learning is based on the realization that children learn in dif ferent ways. In today’s diverse infant/ toddler programs, making the environ ment, play materials, activities, and experiences accessible to all children is critical to successful learning. Univer sal design is not a single approach that will accommodate everyone; rather, it refers to providing multiple approaches to learning in order to meet the needs
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of diverse learners. Universal design provides for multiple means of repre sentation, multiple means of engage ment, and multiple means of expres sion (CAST 2007). “Multiple means of representation” refers to providing information in a variety of ways so the learning needs of all children are met. “Multiple means of expression” refers to allowing children to use alternative ways to communicate or demonstrate what they know or what they are feel ing. “Multiple means of engagement” refers to providing choices within the setting or program that facilitate learn ing by building on children’s interests.
The examples in the infant/toddler learning and development foundations have been worded to portray multiple means of representation, expression, and engagement. A variety of examples are provided for each foundation, and inclusive words are used to describe children’s behavior. For example, rather than stating “The child looks at an object” or “The child listens to a person,” the more inclusive wording of “A child attends to an object” or “The child attends to a person” is used.
When reading each foundation, an infant care teacher needs to consider the means by which a child with a dis ability or other special need might best acquire information and act compe tently. To best meet a child’s needs, a parent and an early intervention spe cialist or related service provider are vitally important resources.
The Foundations and Infant/ Toddler Care and Education in California
The CDE’s learning and develop ment foundations are at the center of California’s infant/toddler learning
and development system. The founda tions describe how children develop and what they learn and are designed to illuminate the competencies that infants and toddlers need for later suc cess. Together the components of the infant/toddler learning and develop ment system provide information and resources to help early childhood pro fessionals support infants, toddlers, and their families.
• In the Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Program Guide lines there are recommendations for setting up environments, providing infants a secure base for learning and exploration, selecting appropriate materials, and planning and implementing learning opportunities.
• The Infant/Toddler Desired Results Developmental Profile (described earlier in this chapter) is an observational assessment instrument that allows teachers to document individual children’s developmental progress.
• The infant/toddler curriculum framework will provide general guidance on the kinds of environ ments and interactions that sup port learning and development.
• The Program for Infant/Tod dler Care is a comprehensive approach to professional develop ment that provides infant/toddler professionals with opportuni ties to become informed about the infant/toddler learning and development foundations and other components of California’s infant/toddler system.
As a unifying element of California’s infant/toddler learning and develop
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ment system, the foundations offer a common language for infant/toddler program directors, teachers, and fami lies to reflect on children’s develop mental progress and plan experiences that support children’s learning and development during the first three years of life.
Professional development is another key component in fostering infant/tod dler learning and development. Pro fessionals now have opportunities to become informed: through the infant/ toddler learning and development foundations, the CDE’s Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Program Guidelines, the CDE’s Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP), and the
Program for Infant/Toddler Care (the comprehensive approach to training collaboratively developed by the CDE and WestEd). The foundations can become a unifying element for both preservice and in-service professional development efforts. For infant/tod dler programs, directors and teachers can use the foundations as a basis to reflect on children’s developmental progress and to plan experiences that support children’s learning and devel opment from birth to three years. The foundations are designed to provide infant care teachers with knowledge of the competencies necessary during the first three years of a child’s life and later on in preschool and school.
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References
California Department of Education (CDE). 2007. Infant/Toddler Learning and Development Program Guidelines. Sacra mento: CDE Press.
Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). 2007. Universal Design for Learning. http://www.cast.org/udl/ (accessed June 8, 2007).
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and Asso ciation of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE). 2002. Early Learning
Standards: Creating the Conditions for Success. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. 2000. From Neurons to Neigh borhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Develop ment. Edited by J. Shonkoff and D. Phil lips. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
The Early Months
With regard to very young infants, Magda Gerber commented: Everything they see, they hear, they feel, they touch is new. . . . They are adapting to all that newness, adapt ing to their inner physiological needs, which are plenty. . . . A very young baby is busy being a very young baby. (Respectfully Yours 1988, 5)
During the first four months of life, babies begin to engage the world and the people in it (Advances in Applied Developmental Psychology 1995). Infants’ motivation to explore and communicate drives them to move their bodies, focus their attention, and send and receive signals—the basis for development and learning in all domains. These early behaviors mark the start of a child’s developmental progress (Emde 1990).
Young babies seek relationships and build knowledge. They actively explore what they can do with their bodies, people close to them, and the envi ronment. They are not empty vessels waiting to be filled with information, but rather “active participants in their own development, reflecting the intrin sic human drive to explore and master one’s environment” (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine
2000, 1). Their active engagement with the social and physical world works hand in hand with the care they receive from adults, especially when the adults are responsive to them.
The Newborn From birth babies learn to connect
internal sensory experiences to move ments of their bodies. They repeatedly attend to sensory experiences and explore movements they can make. In doing so, they make discoveries about their bodies—how to use their head, eyes, mouth, arms, and legs. Young babies also use their senses to learn about people and things.
Much of the earliest learning of typi cally developing infants comes through their use of vision. Even very young babies watch their mothers’ and other adults’ faces intently, and what they see influences their behavior (Schore 1994). Babies also seek eye-to-eye connection with adults. They use their eyes to both send messages and to gain information. In the first months of life, babies are aroused by social engagement and quieted by mutual gazing experiences (Stern 1977). Both the arousal and the calming positively affect the development of the
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child’s brain and stimulate the onset of self-regulation (Emde 1988). Read ing and understanding babies’ gazes and showing interest and warmth by gazing in return benefit the children greatly.
Babies develop quickly by extending their abilities in all domains and by creating more complex ways of relat ing to people and things. They send messages to adults in various ways and come to expect responses from adults. For example, when looking into the faces of adults, infants may see enlarged dilated pupils—a common sign of interest and pleasure—and, in response, they smile more (Hess 1975). Spitz and Wolfe (1946) observed that newborns exhibit three distinct reac tions to internal and external stimuli:
• Quiescence (a calm state)
• Undifferentiated excitement (a general response to pleasurable stimuli)
• “Unpleasure”
By the end of the first month the “unpleasure” differentiates or branches out into signs of displeasure and signs of distress.1 One-month-olds show signs of displeasure when they dislike an experience and signs of distress when they experience discomfort or pain. By the second or third month, undifferentiated excitement also dif ferentiates or branches out into two types of distinct responses: (1) clear
1 When a reference is made to a specific age, the following qualifying statements always apply: The ref erence is to developmental age, rather than chrono logical age. The phrase “at around” always either explicitly or implicitly precedes the stated age, to recognize variation in individual development.
A behavior stated for an age is not strictly based on maturation, but also stems from experience and practice.
signs of pleasure and (2) positive social responses to people, including the above-mentioned smiling, increased vocalizations, and bodily activity.
The Three- to Four-Month- Old Infant
By three months of age, pathways of hearing and sight are actively shap ing in the brain. The developing brain adapts to the messages it receives from the eyes and the ears by either prun ing (weakening) or making robust synaptic connections for future func tioning.
Pruning of some synaptic connec tions and strengthening of others can be seen in early language development. Newborns are responsive to the sounds of all human languages. By the age of three to four months, babies are increasingly sensitive and alert to the sounds of the language(s) spoken by adults who care for them and become less attuned to the sounds of other languages.
As infants approach four months, they become increasingly skilled at using a variety of ways to understand and relate to the world around them. They create basic categories, such as things that move and things that do not (Mandler 2004), and start to treat things differently according to attributes such as “hard,” “soft,” or “sticky.” For example, they may change how they hold and grasp things based on the attributes of the objects held. Young infants also try to prolong inter esting experiences; then, after doing the same activity for a while and mas tering it, they experiment in search of novelty.
Children in the three- to four-month range also show highly differentiated
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social-emotional behavior. By three months, babies have already learned to alter their responses to adults accord ing to how the adults respond to them. For example, when adults acknowledge babies’ vocalizations with a smile, a vocal response, or light touch, children increase their vocalizations. The inter est of others stimulates the interest of the baby (Crick 1984).
The power children have in relation ships, by four months of age, is clearly evident, as is the power that relation ships have over them. They are becom ing more skilled at reading others’ behavior and adapting their own behavior. They are also gaining skills to make themselves increasingly engaging and effective socially. Four month-olds will:
• Send clear messages.
• Become quiet in anticipation as someone comes near to care for them.
• Seek adults’ attention with smiles and laughter.
• Participate in extended back and forth interaction with others.
• Engage in simple social imitation.
Emotionally, infants grow just as rapidly as they grow socially. Com pared with younger babies, babies at around four months send clearer emo tional messages through varying cries, movements, and facial expressions. They also show pleasure when master ing simple motor tasks such as when they successfully position their bod ies for exploration. Positive emotional experiences motivate infants to keep practicing new skills, exploring new possibilities, and learning.
Interpreting and Responding to Early Development
In the first few months, amazing advances occur in infants’ develop ment. Starting with basic responses, newborns reach out to the world. Within weeks they come to expect and depend on appropriate responses from those who care for them.
Noticing and responding to key aspects of growth during this rapid developmental period can be chal lenging. Early behaviors in one devel opmental domain are often coupled with behaviors in other domains. In addition, many early behaviors may mean several things at the same time. For example, a young baby’s cry may simultaneously represent the begin ning of communication (language development), a tool for getting needs met (intellectual development), and a way of relating to others (social emotional development). Or behaviors that look almost identical may have a different meaning at different times. For example, at one time prolonged focus on a person may be an emerg ing strategy to deepen emotional con nections. At another time, this same behavior may be a way to increase understanding of how people move in space. To be in tune with young babies, adults need to know both when a baby wants a social response and when a baby is making a discovery through individual exploration and observation.
Because major changes that occur during the first few months of life are sometimes difficult to identify, one can easily miss them. Yet the advances of the early months are just as important to a young child’s healthy development as are the more obvious advances of
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the eight-month-old and older infant. When adults understand the sucking, clinging, body position, smiling, cry ing, and gazes of the young baby, they are better able to respond to the baby’s needs.
By recognizing and giving appropri ate responses to a baby’s early devel opmental achievements, adults offer
an incredible gift. Adults communicate that the path the baby is progressively moving along is understood and sup ported. This communication lays the foundation for the young baby’s emerg ing emotional security and attachment relationships, which are essential for all learning and development through out the early years.
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References
Advances in Applied Developmental Psy chology: Mastery Motivation: Origins, Conceptualizations, and Applications (Vol. 12). 1995. Edited by R. H. Mac- Turk and G. A. Morgan. Norwood, NJ: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Crick, F. 1984. “Function of the Thalamic Reticular Complex: The Searchlight Hypothesis,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 81, 4586–90.
Emde, R. N. 1988. “Development Termi nable and Interminable. I. Innate and Motivational Factors from Infancy,” International Journal of Psychoanalysis, Vol. 69, 23–42.
Hess, E. H. 1975. “The Role of Pupil Size in Communication,” Scientific American, Vol. 233,110–19.
Mandler, J. M. 2004. The Foundations of the Mind: Origins of Conceptual Thought. New York: Oxford University Press.
National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. 2000. From Neurons to Neigh borhoods: The Science of Early Child
hood Development. Committee on Inte grating the Science of Early Childhood. Edited by J. Shonkoff and D. Phillips. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
Respectfully Yours: Magda Gerber’s Approach to Professional Infant/Toddler Care (Video magazine). 1988. Sacra mento: California Department of Edu cation in collaboration with WestEd Center for Child and Family Studies.
Schore, A. N. 1994. The Neurobiolgy of Emotional Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Spitz, R. A., and K. M. Wolfe. 1946. “The Smiling Response: A Contribution to the Ontogenesis of Social Relation,” Genetic Psychology Monographs, Vol. 34, 57–125.
Stern, D. N. 1977. The First Relationship: Infant and Mother. Cambridge, UK: Har vard University Press.
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