Helps care-givers, program directors, coordinators, administrators, trainers, licensors, families, and leaders in the field of early care and education to recognize the special knowledge and skills needed to offer a nurturing group care environment to very young children.

This volume extends the knowledge base supporting research-informed child care for infants and toddlers, while simultaneously highlighting areas of study ripe for future research. The authors demonstrate from a systems perspective, that the experiences and outcomes of very young children in child care are influenced by characteristics of and interactions between the children, adults, and settings. Varying methodological approaches as well as the utilization of newer data collection instruments inform the field’s understanding of current practices and procedures while offering guidance for future programming and policy. In turn, the chapters highlight a plethora of open questions and a need for a new generation of research to support the field of infant/toddler care. Future challenges are evident in the recognition of the inadequate nature of our current measures of child outcomes and classroom processes, the field’s unmet promise to incorporate interdisciplinary perspectives, and the need for newer methodological designs that blend the strengths of quantitative and qualitative approaches. These issues are important given the growing demand for infant/toddler care and the increasing recognition of the unique role of this age period in serving as the foundation for all later development. This book was originally published as a special issue of Early Education and Development.

Underpinned by substantive research on meeting the developmental and attachment needs of infants, this book offers constructive advice on how to encourage curiosity, confidence and emotional security in young children. Based on a philosophy of respect and sensitive observation of infants, it is appropriate for use in Sure Start programmes. The contributors offer a model that supports children's development and well being without relying on expensive material resources, and enables a coherent care strategy to be applied across different services. They explain the main elements of the RIE approach clearly and concisely and fully explore the practicalities of its implementation in a range of settings, including state-run and independent day care and residential centres, private households and family-based day care. The fresh and effective approach to caring for infants and toddlers outlined in this book will be welcomed by parents and day care professionals, as well as those who manage and evaluate child care provision.

"Respect for infant-toddler development, and mindful caregiving practices for this age group, serve as the cornerstones for this textbook. In 1980 when this textbook was first published, infants and toddlers were scarcely mentioned in early childhood education. The existing curriculum focused on preschool children-3-, 4-, and 5-year olds. Society, however, was changing, and more children were entering out-of-home care at a younger age, and preschool teachers were experiencing new challenges. Traditional preschool curriculum, with circle time and group activities, did not fit the needs of 2-year-olds (and younger!). The authors of this book recognized that more specific curriculum was needed, and worked together to address these new and challenging issues in early care and education. The major theme of this textbook-the idea of respectful, responsive, and reciprocal adult-infant-toddler interactions-has been the same with each edition. The philosophy of Magda Gerber and the theory of Emmi Pikler provide the textbook with a unique approach while outlining well-established practices designed to promote infant and toddler well-being. Magda Gerber, a Los Angeles infant expert, came from Hungary. Her friend and colleague, Dr. Emmi Pikler, a theorist and researcher, also from Hungary, had established group care for infants and toddlers after World War II"--

High/Scope has a long history of curriculum development, training, and research in the area of infant and toddler development. This book explores how the approach can be implemented with infants and toddlers in group care settings. Following an introduction outlining the history of and principles guiding the High/Scope Infant and Toddler Approach, Chapter 1, "Active Learning and Key Experiences for Infants and Toddlers," describes how infants and toddlers learn through action and social relationships, and introduces the key experiences as a way of seeing, understanding, supporting, and building on the broad range of things they learn about. Chapter 2, "Supportive Adult-Child Interactions," discusses the role of the primary caregiver, continuity of care, and specific adult-child interaction strategies. Chapter 3, "Arranging and Equipping an Environment for Infants and Toddlers," provides general guidelines for organizing active learning environments and specific strategies for selecting materials and arranging spaces. Chapter 4, "Establishing Schedules and Routines for Infants and Toddlers," defines child-centered schedules and caregiving routines and discusses specific caregiver roles during each part of the day. Chapter 5, "The Caregiver Team and Their Partnership with Parents," focuses on the elements of effective caregiver teams and caregiver-parent partnerships, and describes strategies for working together to support infant and toddler growth and development. Each chapter contains references and lists of related reading and media. (LPP)