What Your Child Is Learning in Infant and Toddler Programs

More learning and growth take place during the first three years of a child's life than at any other period. Every interaction and experience at home and in child care is "wiring" your child's brain for learning and loving. For this reason, you need to work together with your child's caregivers to help your child gain answers to questions such as these.

• Am I loved?
• Can I depend on other people when I need them?
• Am I important to others?
• Am I competent?
• How should I behave?
• Do people enjoy being with me?
• Is it safe for me to show how I feel?
• What things interest me?

Though it may be hard to believe, in less than 36 months, you will see your child change from being totally dependent on others to being able to choose which shirt to wear; from listening to stories to repeating ones you have read together. Your child will grow in all areas of development: emotionally, socially, physically, and cognitively. Here are some of the important things that you can expect to see.

Learning about Self

Very young children are building a picture of who they are, what they can do, and what they think and feel. How adults respond to children will shape this picture.

To help infants learn to trust and to feel valued and important, caregivers should respond promptly, consistently, and lovingly--just as parents do--to meet every need. Toddlers are struggling with wanting to be "big" and independent and, at the same time, wanting to stay little, have their needs met, and be cuddled. It is important to appreciate the power of being able to say "No" and recognize how this helps toddlers to develop a sense of self.

Learning about Feelings

Young children need adults who understand and share their feelings--at home and in child care. This is called "attunement"--kind of like singing the same tune. When your baby smiles or makes a sound and you do the same, this back and forth action reinforces the pathways for emotions in the brain. For example, when your child notices something and gets excited, respond with the same excitement. When your child is sad, talk about these feelings and reassure your child. These experiences help your child learn about feelings and begin to empathize with others--an essential skill in the development of "emotional intelligence."

Learning about Other People

Your child's social development began at birth. Remember the first time your child looked you in the eye and smiled directly at you? And the first time your baby kicked or cooed to show delight at seeing you? Every interaction you and other family members have with your child teaches important lessons about other people.

Babies learn how to treat others from the way they are treated. Child care should continue to build on the positive experiences your child has at home to help your child learn to trust other adults. As your child grows, other children will become more and more important in his or her life. Because the people in your child's program know that the ability to make friends and care for others is essential to children's happiness in life, they should use every opportunity to help your child learn how to play and get along with other children.

Learning about Communicating

At one time people thought, "Why talk to babies? They don't understand anything." We now know that language development begins at birth. In fact, the part of the brain that is used for language is most receptive in the first few years of life. The more you listen and talk, sing, repeat rhymes and chants, and read books, the more language your child will understand.

A quality child care program should help your child learn about communicating, just as you do at home. If English is not your home language, it is important for your child to continue to hear the language you speak at home, as well as to learn English.

Learning to Move and Do

In these first three years, your child will go from being held and carried to running and jumping; from holding a rattle to turning the pages of a book. With increasing motor skills comes the ability to actively explore the world.

Every day, child care provides opportunities for your child to try out and refine new motor skills. To develop large muscles, the program provides an environment where your child can reach out, crawl over, climb in, pull up, and jump. To develop small muscles, it encourages your child to pick up finger food, fill containers and dump them out, stack blocks, and thread beads. To promote eye-hand coordination, it creates opportunities for your child to grab a rattle, place blocks in a bucket, and put a simple puzzle together. Child care programs can also help your child learn self-help skills such as holding a bottle, pouring juice, and putting on a jacket.

Learning about Thinking

Babies are constructing an understanding of the world as they watch, listen, taste, touch, and smell everything around them.

You have probably noticed that your child loves games like "peek-a-boo." This all-time favorite teaches the important lesson that things exist even when they are out of sight. Dropping objects on the floor so you will pick them up, over and over again, provides an example of cause and effect. Over time, your child will learn to use language and to keep images in his mind. Every day, by exploring and playing, your child collects new information to add to what he or she already knows. Bit by bit, your child comes to understand the world a little better.