INFANT AND TODDLER LESSON PLANS
Approaches to Learning
Lesson Plans
Approaches to learning refers to how
children go about acquiring knowledge and skills. Infants and toddlers approach
learning in different ways, and each child
brings a unique set of attitudes, habits,
and preferences to his or her explorations.
Social and Emotional Development
Lesson Plans
Social-emotional development begins at
birth and continues into adulthood. By
observing how they orient themselves to see or hear, we know that babies are interested in one another from as early as two months of age.
Physical Development and Health
Lesson Plans
For sensory-motor infants and toddlers,
physical movement plays a major role in
all learning. Physical development and health are considered dimensions of school readiness because of the strong associations found between maternal and child health and subsequent school performance.
Communication, Language, and Literacy
Lesson Plans
Infants communicate with movement and
sound from birth. Parents, family members,
caregivers, and teachers cuddle, coo, and
play with infants and also talk, sing, and
read to them.
Cognitive Development
Lesson Plans
Early cognitive development encompasses many areas of learning. Young children explore objects to discover their basic physical properties and investigate concepts that will later form the foundations of mathematical thinking in quantity, space, and time.
Creative Arts
Lesson Plans
From their ongoing sensory-motor explo-
rations, infants and toddlers accumulate a critical body of direct experience. They
begin to understand, for example, what a
blanket is, how it feels, and how to wrap
it around themselves for warmth and comfort, and they discover that it continues to exist even when they cannot see it.