Chapter 10 The Child from Birth to Four Months of Age ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Materials Infants benefit more from sensitive, responsive interactions than from materials Materials for infants must be challenging and safe Materials should catch attention and be movable Materials may be homemade or commercially made ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Caregiver Strategies to Enhance Development The ongoing process of observing, planning, implementing, observing, is vital to being a professional educator Formally and informally observe children on a daily basis and make frequent adjustments in curriculum according to their progress in development, while honoring the uniqueness of each child ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Physical Development Young infants have a very rapid rate of physical development, which varies widely from infant to infant Physical development includes: – Muscular control – Movements – Stability – Sleep-wake cycle ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum-- Physical Development Frequently change the infant’s position Provide space for movement Interact with infants when they make eye contact Provide materials within vision and reach Physical development curriculum includes strategies for encouraging infant’s seeing, sleeping, and eating ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Cognitive and Language Development Cognitive Development – During the first months of life, every response to sights, sounds, feelings, smells, and tastes makes more connections in the brain – Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stages of Cognitive Development in the first 4 months: In Stage 1, the newborn’s behavior is reflexive During Stage 2, infants begin to coordinate their senses ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum- Cognitive Development Provide positional changes for infant, carry the infant, hold the infant, place the infant on the floor Turn on musical toys for infant Place objects within reach of infant Sit face to face with infant, show pictures of human faces Allow infant to focus on objects, slowly move ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Cognitive and Language Development Language Development – Infants use noises, cries, gestures as their earliest forms of productive communication – Adults are able to read the cries of infants – When infants hear someone talk to them, it stimulates them to make sounds – Effective dialogue stimulates the infant to engage in more positive vocalizing ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum-- Cognitive and Language Development Talk: Say words, sentences, and nursery rhymes; read stories aloud and show the baby pictures of different faces and designs Sing: Hum; sing words set to your own music, nursery rhymes, lullabies, and songs; play African drums or recorded bagpipe music Listen and respond: Infants will make sounds by themselves for a few months Initiate conversation: Describe your actions during routines ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Emotional Development During the first months of life infants develop their basic feelings of security Feelings of security and trust develop out of relations with others Temperament, or the infant’s basic style of behavior, gradually emerges in the first four months Differing levels of sensory threshold and energy are apparent in young infants ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum-- Emotional Development Use the 3 As during routines such as diapering and feeding – Use your relationship with the child. – Focus your attention on the child’s needs – Make meaningful physical contact – Try to sense how the child is feeling—is the child excited, happy, frustrated? – Try to get in rhythm with the child. Let her lead you vocally – When leaving the infant, tell her where you’ll be in the room ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Social Development Infants can and must develop attachment to their primary caregivers in child care settings to ensure healthy social and emotional development Infants from birth to four months are egocentric; they have only their point of view The most important plaything for infants is a responsive caregiver ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Suggestions for Implementing Curriculum-- Social Development Respond quickly to the infant’s needs Initiate interactions by looking, holding, stroking, talking, playing, carrying, and rocking the infant While interacting, use positive communication skills such as active listening and mirroring ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Spotlight on Research Breastfeeding and Later Development – Recent research has examined whether or not this practice has benefits beyond physical development to other areas, such as cognitive and social-emotional development – Mothers who breast-feed may be more attuned to their infants’ emotional needs (Bai et al., 2009) – The difficulty in drawing conclusions from this line of research is that many women who breastfeed, especially in the United States, tend to be more economically well-off, have higher levels of education – Practitioners need to evaluate their practices and policies so that they provide another source of support for families who want to breastfeed ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Checkpoint Discussion Questions When do very young children become more interested in interacting with toys or materials? Why? List three more toys or materials (not explicitly given as examples in the text) that can be used with infants from birth to four months of age. List the area(s) of development that each can enhance? ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Checkpoint Discussion Questions State two reasons why it is helpful to an infant’s cognitive and language development to have a caregiver talk to him or her. Select one emotional and one social skill. Explain how a teacher would select caregiving strategies that demonstrate responsiveness and are appropriate for each skill. ©2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved.