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More often than not, when someone uses the word �curriculum� people think of text books, lesson plans, and board of education meetings deciding what and when things are taught. Parents often expect a watered-down traditional form of curriculum in infant and toddler programs. It is sometimes shocking for them to discover that a day care program is centered on having meaningful care giving routines and self-guided play. Most parents believe learning comes from chalkboards, lectures and books, not fresh diapers, toothbrushes or one-on-one floor time.

At best, we can describe infant and toddler curriculum as a plan for learning. Being such, there is no formal curriculum for infants and toddlers. The concept of curriculum is an abstract. Everything is a possible learning experience, therefore everything is curriculum. It takes quality caregivers to identify and engage children in such possibilities. Infants and toddlers aren�t learning numbers, colors or letters; they are learning how to become well-adjusted individuals and decent human beings. Caregivers are responsible for developing a positive, nurturing relationship with the children in their program. It is through these positive experiences that learning is accomplished.

Children are born ready to learn, and they are born with certain features and reflexes that help ensure their survival. They are equipped with the senses of taste, touch, smell, vision and hearing. They are able to move and interact with their environment in that way. Infants have many inborn reflexes that we are familiar with (Murkoff, Eisenberg and Hathaway, pp 104-5). Newborns have rooting and sucking reflexes to help them locate and eat a meal. They have the Moro startle reflex that naturally extends the infant�s extremities and then pulls them back in toward the chest, which could help the infant or its caregiver catch them from a fall, or brace them for impact. There is the stepping reflex which helps infants learn the motion and rhythm of walking. The fencing reflex helps a baby lay balanced and not roll away. The plantar and palmar reflexes help infants learn how to hold and touch objects with their hands and feet.

Infants have four other types of inborn motivations (Butterfield, Martin & Prairie, pg 7). First, we are born motivated to connect with other humans emotionally. We have an ability to communicate and a desire for human interaction. It�s no coincidence that most adults will smile back at a baby, or that a baby will smile back at an adult. The smiling face of a caregiver is permanently imprinted in infant memory, and as adults this primitive reflex is expressed in the presence of infants. Secondly, naturally seek out emotional and physical equilibrium by finding comfort in routines and patterns (sleeping and eating schedules). Infants strive to balance emotions and stimuli. A third inborn motivation is our curiosity, we are born with an inherent fondness of novelty, exploration and task mastery. And lastly, we have a need to belong. Infants will adapt their behavior in order to fit in. They learn from modeling behavior of others. In fact, �babies will learn more by watching and copying than by what is formally taught.� (Butterfield, Martin & Prairie, pg 8). With all of these senses, reflexes and motivations in place, it�s easy to see how everything is curriculum.

We have learned of the kinds of �school supplies� that infants are naturally blessed with. Adults now need to use these supplies to help the child learn. By giving infants and toddlers what they need emotionally we are helping them to provide themselves with what they need cognitively. A child that is not self-confident will not engage in learning opportunities as much as a confident child. Children aren�t born confident or well-adjusted. They become so by having meaningful relationships with their care givers. Confident relationships aren�t born either, they grow from numbers of interactions. In order for a trusting relationship to form, the interactions need to be positive in nature, specifically they need to be respectful, responsive and reciprocal (Gonzalez-Mena & Widmeyer Eyer, pg 3).

Magda Gerber, an infant expert who immigrated to the US from Hungary in 1956, received training from the famed European pediatrician Emmi Pikler. Through this training and her own experiences with children, Gerber devised a set of principles that adults need to learn and adhere to when working with children. These principles are the foundation for what is now called RIE Philosophy. RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) is a Los Angeles-based developmental program co-founded by Gerber that trains and provides resources for educational caregivers (or �educarers�, a phrase coined by Gerber in 1979).

Gerber�s ten principles are all based on respect:
1. �Involve infants and toddlers in things that concern them.� Don�t try to distract children with toys or other stimuli, engage them in the activity. Gerber points out how parents and caregivers often times view diapering and feeding as chores. Instead, these are opportunities to spend quality, one-on-one time together (Gonzalez-Mena pg 6).
2. �Invest in quality time�� Educarers must work individually with infants and toddlers. There must be a close to even ratio of caregivers to children.
3. �Learn each child�s unique ways of communicating, and teach yours.� Just because infants can�t talk doesn�t mean they�re not trying to communicate. .
4. �Concentrate on the whole child.� Don�t just focus on cognitive learning; it is not separate from total development.
5. �Respect infants and toddlers as worthy people.� Baby girls aren�t dolls to be dressed up and carried around, remember they have feelings and needs.
6. �Be honest about your feeling�� Don�t hide anger behind a smile or mask your sadness, children need to learn emotional regulation and that it�s normal to feel angry or upset sometimes.
7. �Model the behavior you want to teach.�
8. �Recognize problems as learning opportunities�� Don�t rush to the aid of a child�s minor problem. For instance, let them try to pick themselves up first. They shouldn�t get used to or expect adults to constantly rescue them or solve problems for them.
9. �Build security by teaching trust.� Show children that you are consistent and dependable. Never try to trick them.
10. �Be concerned about the quality of development in each stage.� Don�t push children to the next developmental milestone, these don�t signify high intelligence or �better babies�, they are just a measurement of norms. Let a child fully explore all there is to learn within each stage.

Two important concepts are implied within these principles. Establishing primary care and continuous care is essential to forming positive relationships with children.

Infants and toddlers must feel attachment to their caregiver in order to promote and enrich learning activities. In a primary caregiver system, attachment is promoted by assigning only a few (numbers vary with ages) children to each caregiver. The caregiver would see themselves as being in charge of only those children, even though they may lend their efforts to another caregiver from time to time. By having a primary caregiver, infants and toddlers come to trust and depend on that individual. They receive specialized care. The caregiver learns how to communicate with their charges. When a child has a need, they have someone they can go to and someone looking out for them especially. �Each child in group care needs a special adult who will provide emotional availability in a relationship. The primary caregiver will be familiar with the child�s emotional signals and be able to be a base of trust for that child. This person will become the child�s model, the child�s guide, and his or her special emotional connection while the child is away from home� (Butterfield, Martin & Prairie, pg 41).

Having a primary caregiver away from home is necessary for the formation of empathy in young children. �The importance of developing empathy speaks to the need for establishing primary caregivers in child-care programs. A caregiver who will be a consistent guide for interpreting the child�s experiences and repairing negative feelings will maintain a continuity of trust between home and child care.� (Butterfield, Martin & Prairie, pg 58). This �continuity of trust� leads us to the second implied concept, having a continuous caregiver.

Not only is it important for an infant to have a primary caregiver in a day-care facility, that primary caregiver must continue on with their charges for a recommended three years. It is common practice in most day-care programs to group classrooms and caregivers by age. Children commonly switch classrooms and caregivers at age 1, 2 & 3. Also common is to group children developmentally, for example newborns, crawlers, and walkers. Instead of moving along with the children, most centers have children switch caregivers. This ruptures attachment at delicate stages of development. At age one, stranger anxiety and separation anxiety are kicking in, making it a horrible time to disrupt attachment to caregivers. �This continuity of relationship is invaluable, especially at a time when children are beginning to form their sense of identity. Each time a child has a new caregiver, the child has to focus emotional energy on seeking and forming another trusted relationship. This effort causes anxiety and disequilibrium for the child and interrupts learning. When caregivers change often, children may experience chronic anxiety�� (Butterfield, Martin & Prairie, pg 185). As one can easily see, primary care and continuous care are an integral part of an infant�s or toddler�s curriculum.

Works Cited and References

Gonzalez-Mena, Janet, Dianne Widmeyer Eyer, Infants, Toddlers and Caregivers A Curriculum of Respectful, Responsive Care and Education. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Gonzalez-Mena, Janet. The Caregiver's Companion Readings and Professional resources to Accompany "Infants Toddlers and Caregivers". 1st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Butterfield, Perry McArthur, Carole A. Martin, and Arleen Pratt Prairie. Emotional Connections How Relationships Guide Early Learning. 1st ed. Washington, D.C.: Zero To Three Press, 2004.

Murkoff, Heidi, Arlene Eisenberg, and Sandee Hathaway, B.S.N.. What To Expect The First Year. 2nd ed. New York: Workman Publishing, 2003.

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