Endless Opportunities for Infant and Toddler Curriculum ─ A Relationship-Based Approach

Learning for infants and toddlers occurs in spontaneous moments and brief interactions, argue Peterson and Wittmer (U. of Colorado, Denver). They help infant and toddler care teachers and child development and early childhood education students plan a responsive and relationship-based curriculum and bring relationship-based practices to larger program issues, such as engaging families; responsive, safe, and healthy caregiving routines; creating environments; helping infants and toddlers learn to be members of their culture and participate in and realign relationships; and using observation and documentation for responsive planning and ongoing assessment. They offer curricular suggestions for attachment and emotional development; social development; learning; language, literacy, and music; creativity, symbolic play, and sensory development; fine motor development; movement development; and learning about the outdoors. This edition adds learning outcomes in each chapter; includes children with disabilities in vignettes; adds a chart of developmental possibilities in each development chapter, as well as sections on theories and current research; and adds subheads, reflection questions, applications, and additional resources in each chapter, and new photos. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)