Infant/Toddler Care: Resources

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Innovations: Infant/Toddler Child Development
Albrecht, Kay, and Miller, Linda G.(2001)

A teacher’s guide to the ages, stages, theories, and best practices of childhood. Comprehensive and very well organized—in short, an extremely valuable resource.

Caring for Infants and Toddlers in Groups: Developmentally Appropriate Practice
Lally,R., Griffin, A., Fenichel, E., Segal,M.,Szanton & Weissbourd (2003)

Divided into three sections; I. Development in the First Three Years of Life, II. Components of Quality Infant/toddler Child Care, III. Infant/toddler Group Care in Context. This easy to read book from Zero to Three covers all the bases on how to create the best quality group care for our smallest children.

Educating and Caring for Very Young Children: The Infant/Toddler Curriculum
Bergen, D., Reid, R., Torrelli, L. (2001)

A clearly written curriculum full of ideas about caring for infants and toddlers at each stage of development. Gives examples of infants with varying birth situations, culture groups, temperaments, and learning styles. Brings to life the importance of a keen understanding of early development. Includes guidelines on how to individualize programs and sensitive ideas to help “educarers” truly work in partnership with parents. A free downloadable study guide is available at the website.

Prime Times: A Handbook for Excellence in Infant and Toddler Programs
Greenman, J., Stonehouse, A. (1996)

Two respected experts in infant/toddler care share practical advice on how to establish a high-quality program for infants and toddlers. "Comprehensive in scope, rich in detail, and studded with gems of wisdom. Reading this book is like being there in the ‘real world’ with a wise observer at your elbow helping to clarify what you're seeing."

The Irreducible Needs of Children: What Every Child Must Have to Grow, Learn, and Flourish
Brazelton, Berry T., M.D., Greenspan, Stanley I., M.D. (2000)

What do babies and young children really need? This impassioned dialogue by two famed advocates for children cuts through all the theories, platitudes, and controversies that surround parenting advice to define what every child must have in the first years of life. Although directed to parents, it will be of great value to anyone who works with children.

Creative Curriculum for Infants & Toddlers, Revised Edition
Domboro, Amy Laura, Trister Dodge, Diane, & Colker, Laura.(2002)

The Creative Curriculum for Infants & Toddlers is based on accepted theories of child development and the latest brain research, which emphasizes the importance of the first 3 years of life.  Well written and organized this book will help educators create and implement an infant/parent/teacher friendly atmosphere that fosters active learning and responsive relationships and is developmentally appropriate.

Coaching for Quality In Infant-Toddler Care: A Field Guide for Directors, Consultants, and Trainers
Leinfelder, Jesse, Segal, Marilyn. (2005)

This is a manual for trainers—not just a textbook. The authors offer materials created by experts to enrich the knowledge and skills of directors, consultants, trainers, and caregivers in infant and toddler care settings. It provides a framework for using three other essential resources: Videos & training materials from the Program for Infant/Toddler Caregivers (PITC); Prime Times: A Handbook for Excellence in Infant & Toddler Programs; and The Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scales (ITERS-R).

Articles On Line

Seven Ways for Young Children to be Smart

NAEYC makes the point that adults need to let children express themselves.  "...each of us is smart in all 7 ways. Here's how to recognize these multiple intelligences."

Brain Development Research—what it means for young children and families

What things really make a difference in children’s development and how can we apply this knowledge to improve the care of our youngest children?

Brain Wonders: Helping Babies and Toddler to Grow and Develop

Although this is not really an online article, we’ve put it here in the Brain Research area for obvious reasons. It’s a real find. Basically, it’s a website designed to provide parents, caregivers and clinicians with meaningful information about early brain development and the relationships between babies and their parents and caregivers that support intellectual and social-emotional development.

From Neurons to Neighborhoods: Report on the Science of Early Childhood Development

No list of Infant Toddler resources would be complete without referencing this groundbreaking book by the National Research Council. (2000). Zero to Three.org provides an excellent summary of the findings. The entire book is available online here.

Development of the ITERS-R

The Infant Toddler Rating Scale-Revised is a comprehensive, reliable and valid tool to assess program quality and quantify what is happening in a classroom. Using this rating scale can play an important role in improving the quality of infant/toddler care.

Videos

The Next Step: Including the Infant in the Curriculum

This video is an attempt to point out that all of us who are serious about assisting children to develop will do so by starting with the definition of an infant that the most recent research has given us: a curious motivated pre-programmed learner who is desperately in need of trusting and secure relationships as the base for both independent and interactive learning. I am hoping the video can help people point out that the school readiness arguments of the next few years should bypass the empty topic of rigor and focus on whether initiatives are making accurate assessments of how children think and feel, and how their development can best be facilitated.” J. Ronald Lally, Ed.D. 22 minute video created by the Program for Infant/Toddler Caregivers (Developed collaboratively with the California Department of Education and WestEd).

The High/Scope® Approach for Under Threes, U.S. Edition

An informative video illustrating caregivers interacting with infants and toddlers to support and extend their active learning explorations and discoveries. While filmed in the UK, the video illustrates the adaptability of the High/Scope® approach to any setting in which caregivers wish to support very young children at their level of development.

Children Come First - CD-ROM

Anita Olds and other childcare professionals share the importance of creating environments that meet children’s needs. A must-see for anyone in the field of early childhood education. 13 minute CD-ROM. For your Free copy, call 800-777-4244

Websites

Zero to Three: The Nation’s Leading Resource on the First Years of Life

You'll want to bookmark this one. Created just for infant/toddler professionals, it's a resource rich website where you'll find quality information.

The Program for Infant and Toddler Caregivers

Another site to bookmark. Learn about the highly-regarded PITC approach which equates good care with trained caregivers who have prepared themselves and their environment so that infants can learn.

Talaris Research Institute

These folks are dedicated to advancing knowledge of early learning and the importance of parenting in the first years of life. They’ve built a great website that contains lots of informative online videos, developmental timelines and other information that will be of value to caregivers and parents. A good place to go when you have a bit of time.

Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE)

Professionals involved in the day-to-day care and education of infants and young children, will be interested to learn of the concept of Educarer coined by Magda Gerber.  RIE's approach is that "from the day they are born, all infants are cared for with respect and are seen as unique individuals with surprising capacity to participate in relationships."

Brazelton TOUCHPOINTS Center. Early Childcare and Education Training

Based on Dr. T. Berry Brazelton’s extensive clinical practice and research, the Touchpoints approach emphasizes the building of supportive alliances between parents and providers around key points in the development of young children.