ECE 261: Infant/Toddler Care: Methods and Techniques

Course Description

This course will focus on the theoretical knowledge and practical skills necessary to create an inclusive, developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate environment and curriculum. This course highlights the importance of parent-teacher partnerships and how families’ expertise and input can be used to inform assessment and programming. This course highlights how respectful, responsive and reciprocal relationships with early childhood educators lay the foundation for learning in infants and toddlers. This course will review how everyday caregiving and classroom routines, along with playful interactions of infants/toddlers with their surroundings provide the learning opportunities and curriculum of early childhood. The course will review curriculum design and planning, and provide opportunities to design activities that promote sensory experiences, early literacy skills, and learning across all developmental domains for infants and toddlers. Six (6) field experience hours. (3 credits)

Prerequisites

  • ECE 101: Introduction to Early Childhood Education
  • ECE 217: The Exceptional Learner
  • ECE 247: Child Develoment: Birth to Eight

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

  1. Understands infant and toddler development (NAEYC 1a), that development happens uniquely for each child (NAEYC 1b), and the multicontextual dimension of development (NAEYC 1c), and uses all of the above to make evidence-based decisions that support the child (NAEYC 1d)
  2. Understand the importance in early childhood education of building partnerships with the families and community they serve (NAEYC 2a), establish means to invite parent input and use parent expertise to inform curriculum and planning (NAEYC 2b), and connect families to community supports as well as facilitate partnerships between community supports, families, and early childhood settings (NAEYC 2c)
  3. Knows the purpose of early childhood assessment (NAEYC 3a), knows a wide ranges of types of assessment and their purpose (NAEYC 3b) and uses screening and assessments tools that are ethically grounded and developmentally, culturally, ability and linguistically appropriate to track progress and promote positive outcomes for each child (NAEYC 3c)
  4. Understands the importance of and foster nurturing, responsive relationships for infants/toddlers (NAEYC 4a) and differentiate teaching strategies and responses based on the needs of each child (NAEYC 4b) and utilize a broad repertoire of developmentally appropriate, linguistically and culturally, anti-bias, and evidence based teaching strategies (NAEYC 4c)
  5. Understand content knowledge and resources for the academic disciplines in an early childhood curriculum (NAEYC 5a) Understand how young children learn and use knowledge and practices to support young children’s learning in each content area to create curriculum that is meaningful, challenging and stimulating (NAEYC 5b) Modify teaching practices by applying, expanding, integrating, and updating their content knowledge in the disciplines, their knowledge of curriculum content resources, and their pedagogical content knowledge (NAEYC 5c)
  6. Identify and involve themselves with the early childhood field and serve as informed advocates for young children, families, and the profession (NAEYC 6a), understand the responsibility to adhere to the ethical guidelines of their profession (NAEYC 6b) Conduct themselves in a professional manner in all communications with children, staff and families (NAEYC 6c), engage in continuous collaborative learning to inform their practice (NAEYC 6d), and recognize the role of and seek out reflective practice as an early childhood educator (NAEYC 6e)

Learning Objectives

  1. Students will describe characteristics of and evaluate whether a classroom environment is inclusive, developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate.
  2. Students will develop strategies to involve both family and community in curriculum planning and activities.
  3. Students will identify indoor and outdoor multisensory experiences and develop ways to increase sensory experiences for infants and toddlers.
  4. Students will identify materials and activities to promote early literacy for infants and toddlers and how parents can support these skills at home.
  5. Students will design and evaluate curriculum for infants and toddlers, identifying how everyday classroom and caregiving routines provide meaningful opportunities for learning, and demonstrate an understanding of the role child interest and play have in child engagement and learning.
  6. Students will reflect on how they foster respectful, responsive and reciprocal relationships as early childhood educators, on their values, knowledge and beliefs, and identify areas of future professional development and learning.

Course Activities and Grading

AssignmentsWeight

Responses to discussion topics (Week 1 - 7)
SLOs 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 2a, 2b, 2c, 4a, 4b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 5c, 6c, 6d, 6e

20%

Multisensory Experiences (Week 3)
SLO 1a, 5a, 5b, 5c

10%

Early Language and Literacy Assignment (Week 4)
SLO 1a, 5s, 5b, 5c, 2b

10%

Midterm Exam

SLO 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3c, 4a, 4b, 4c

10%

Observation paper (Week 6)

SLO 3a, 3b, 3c, 4b, 5b
15%

Key Assessment- Curriculum Plan of Learning Experiences for Infants and Toddlers (Week 7)
SLOs 1a, 1d, 2b, 3c, 4b, 5b, 5c, 6b, 6c

20%

Reflective Journal (Week 8)
SLO 6b, 6c, 6d, 6e

5%

Final Exam (Week 8)
SLOs 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 4a, 4b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 6e

10%

Total

100%

Observation

Students in this course will be required to complete an observation in an early childhood setting serving children birth to three years old.  The observation should be completed at a program of high quality; preferably NAEYC accredited. This may be your place of employment or another site you have access to.  Instructor can assist in finding an accredited program if needed.

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak's online bookstore

  • Gonzalez-Mena, J. and D.W. Eyer. Infants, Toddlers and Caregivers: A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive Care and Education, 12th ed. New York, NY: Mc-Graw-Hill Higher, 2021. ISBN-13: 978-1-260-83441-3

Course Schedule

Week

SLOs

Readings and Exercises

Assignments

1

1a, 1b, 1c, 4a, 4b, 4c

Topics: Introductions and Part 1 - Focus on the Caregiver

  • Readings: Chapter 2 Infant/Toddler Education
  • Introduce yourself on the discussion board
  • Read and print out the course syllabus and course assignment schedule
  • Read assigned chapter
  • Participate in the Discussion Thread
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Take Chapter 2 Practice Quiz (not graded)

2

1d, 3c,4a, 4b, 4c

Topic: Part 1 - Focus on the Caregiver

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 1 Principles, Practice and Curriculum
    • Connecticut Early Learning Guidelines for Infant and Toddler Care
    • Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers
    • Early Head Start Standards
  • Read assigned chapter and supplementary reading materials posted on Blackboard
  • Participate in the Discussion Thread
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Take Chapter 1 Practice Quiz (not graded)

3

1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 4a, 4b, 4c

Topic: Part 2 - Focus on the Child

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 5 Attachment
    • Chapter 10 Emotions
    • Chapter 6 Perception
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussion Thread
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Take Chapters 5, 10 and 6 Practice Quiz (not graded)
  • Submit ten multisensory experiences (five for indoors and five for outdoors) assignment
 4

1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 5b

Topic: Part 2 - Focus on the Child

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 7 Motor Skills
    • Chapter 8 Cognition
    • Chapter 9 Language
    • Supplemental reading materials on Early Language and Literacy
  • Read assigned chapters and supplemental reading materials
  • Participate in the Discussion Thread
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Take Chapters 7, 8 and 9 Practice Quiz (not graded)
  • Submit Early Language and Literacy assignment - Five songs, or finger plays and five titles and description of children's books appropriate for infants and toddlers
  • Take the Midterm Exam
Midterm Exam
Chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10

SLOs 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3c, 4a, 4b, 4c

5

1a, 1b, 1c, 3a, 3b, 3c

Topic: Part 2 - Focus on the Child

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 11 Social Skills

Topic: Part 3 - Focus on the Program

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 12 The Physical Environment
    • Chapter 13 The Social Environment
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussion Thread
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Take Chapters 11, 12 and 13 Practice Quiz (not graded)
  • Conduct observation

6

2a, 2b, 2c

Topic: Part 3 - Focus on the Program

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 14 Adult Relations in Infant and toddler Care and Education Programs

Topic: Part 1 - Focus on the Caregiver

  • Readings:
    • Chapter 3 Care giving as Curriculum
    • Chapter 4 Play as Curriculum
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussion Thread
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Take chapters 14, 3 and 4 Practice Quiz (not graded)
  • Submit observation assignment

7

4a, 4b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 5c

Topic: Developmentally Appropriate Experiences - Curriculum Implications of the Three Focuses: The Caregiver, the Child and the Program

  • Read supplementary reading materials posted on Blackboard
  • Participate in the Discussion Thread
  • Review the Lecture materials
  • Submit written assignment and Key Assessment- Curriculum Plan of Learning Experiences for Infants and Toddlers

8

1a, 1b, 1c, 1d, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3a, 3b, 3c, 4a, 4b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 6e

Topic: Final Exam

  • Submit Reflective Journal
  • Complete Final Exam (Exam covers chapters 11, 12, 13, 14, 3 & 4)
  • Complete Course Evaluation

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.