Research Report on Infant/Toddler Centers: Key Factors for Parents

I. Introduction (5 points)

It is important to always start a report with an introduction. It sets the tone for your report and is typically a brief overview of the report. Your introduction should include what parents need to know about infant/toddler centers in order to make an informed decision to choose a quality infant/toddler program.

Include information that would be important for a parent looking to for an Infant/Toddler location: *Accreditation (if so, by who)

•Number of children

•Number of teachers/staff ratio

•Age ranges of Infant rooms vs. Age ranges of Toddler Rooms

•Importance of daily experiences to promote brain development (Module 1)

NAEYC Standard 5. Using Content Knowledge to Build Meaningful Curriculum Brief synopsis of the infant and toddler philosophy’s and why this would be important for parents to understand (you can research different Child Care Centers and see that many have separate philosophy’s for their Infant/Toddler programs).

•How is a center philosophy connected to curriculum?

•What theories can be applied to and infant/toddler philosophy?

NAEYC Standard 5. Using Content Knowledge to Build Meaningful Curriculum Discuss the Planning Curriculum for Infants/Toddlers (Modules 2-5)

•Why are schedules, routines, and transitions important? How can a teacher implement these? *How can teachers plan for infants? How can teachers plan for toddlers?

•What space and materials do teachers need to support infant/toddler developmental growth? *What are the developmental domains? How do teachers plan to support Infant and toddlers developmental domains?

NAEYC Standard 1. Promoting Child Development and Learning and Standard 4: DAP Discuss the importance of the Health, Safety, Nutrition for Infants/Toddlers (Module 7)

•Describe the indoor and outdoor play areas that would be ideal for infant/toddlers. Why are indoor and outdoor spaces usually separated for infants/toddlers from older children?

•Food Safety: What should teachers know about food preparation?

•Eating area: Why do teachers need to know about food preparation?

•Napping and sleeping area: What are the different needs for Infants and Toddlers for sleeping? What should teachers know about infants and sleeping (SIDS)? How much space do children need for sleeping?

•Discuss considerations given to hygiene, diapering, and bathroom routines (remember infants/toddlers are still in diapers).

NAEYC Standard 2. Building Family and Community Relationships: Discuss the importance of Parent/Family Engagement 

•How do staff show respect and understanding for parents/family

•Involvement in daily routines

•Breast feeding supported

•Parental meetings, conferences, and communication *Drop off and pick up interactions between parents and staff

NAEYC Standard 3. Observing, Documenting, and Assessing to Support Young Children and Families: Discuss the importance of Observing and Assessing Infants and Toddler (Module 2-5) *Discuss the importance of observing infants and toddlers to plan appropriate learning activities for the children?

•What developmental or assessment tools are available for teachers of infants and toddlers? *How should programs assessment data and child progress with parents and/or families?

•Do written lesson plans indicate that assessment is used to individualize activities for the children in the program?

•How would you define quality infant and toddler care?

•Describe three influences of the children’s development and learning based on what you learned. Be sure to reflect on the brain development and importance of daily experiences for young children).

•Provide two recommendations that will you would provide to a parent to enhance and/or support infants/toddlers developmental domains and growth using research to support your answer.