~Table of Contents~
Topic
Section One
Page #
3
Program Background
Program Overview
Sponsoring Organization
Objectives
Description
10
Delivery Format
10
Outreach Methods
11
11
11
Program Rationale
Section Two
12
17
Program Plan
Overview of Infant Development
17
18
Feeding
20
Sleep
22
Communication
24
Health
26
It Takes A Village
28
Balancing We and Me
30
33
Rationale
Section Three
35
42
43
48
53
References
55
Section One
This section of the document outlines the program development background and provides overview and rationale for the
design of the Baby and Me program for parents and their infants. The background section describes the methods and findings from a
needs assessment study conducted prior to developing the program structure and curriculum, as well as demographic information for
the targeted service areathe city of Minneapolis. The overview outlines the focus and logistics for program implementation. Lastly,
the rationale describes the relevance of the Baby and Me program to the needs assessment results and demographic information and
ties in to the professional research base on issues of importance to the programs target demographic.
Program Background
This program originated with the designers interest in supporting infants, toddlers, and their parents in establishing a strong
developmental foundation from which to build throughout the rest of their lives. The program designer has professional interest in
this demographic from early childhood, early intervention, and parent education graduate studies. Since she is not a parent, it was
important to her to add understanding of parents personal experiences with parenting to her existing knowledge base of early
childhood and adult development research and theory. Going into this process, the program designer had limited experience designing
programs and curricula at the middle school and high school level and an assumption that new parents would be doing their best with
what they had to raise their infants in a manner consistent with their personal and cultural values and experiences.
Needs assessment results. The program designer interviewed and solicited anonymous surveys from parents of young
children to determine what their greatest joys and challenges have been when parenting infants and toddlers. Ultimately, the
most respondents (18 vs. 10) contributed experiences relating to parenting infants so when narrowing down the target audience
for this program the designer selected the infant period as an area of significant interest to parents. The respondents included
fifteen mothers and three fathers, falling in the age ranges of 16-20 years through 45-49 years at the birth of their first child.
Parents who identified their ethnic backgrounds considered themselves to be Caucasian, Native American, or African
American. Half of the parents (9) reported that they had attended at least one parent education class in the past, seven parents
reported that they had not attended any parent education classes in the past, and two parents did not provide a response to this
question.
The respondents reported many joys that came with raising infants, such as: seeing their first smile; snuggle time and
physical bonding; napping with infants; watching infants learn about the world, reach motor milestones, and become
increasingly social; and feeling pride and awe that you had helped to create this little being. In general, these parents reported
parenting their infants as an amazing experience as they watched them develop, saw all their firsts, and begin to develop
increasing independence. These same kinds of joyful experiences were reported by both parents who reported being with a
partner and those who reported being a single mother or father during this parenting period.
These joys came with some unexpected challenges, however, such as: dealing with sleeplessness and setting a sleeping
schedule; breastfeeding (something several mothers and one father noted that they had thought would come naturally, but did
not); colic; physical reactions in the infant to introduction of solid foods; communicating with the infant; cradle cap; how to
tell when the infant is sick; what to do when the infant is sick; learning about the infants personalities (this one came up
especially for parents who had more than one child); knowing how to properly discipline an infant; balancing the demands of
work and parenting an infant; a feeling of loss of personal identity; dealing with hormonal changes as a new mother;
distrusting their own instincts and dealing with guilt over whether they are making the right parenting decisions; and pressures
and judgments from relatives and other parents for how to parent their infant. Another noted challenge of many parents was a
feeling of isolation and wishing that they had a support group with parents who were going through the same types of things.
These areas of challenge, when complimented by sharing of joys, define some areas of focus for the program curriculum.
Although not all seven respondents who had not attended a parent education class provided an explanation of why they
had not done so, those who did gave the following reasons: did not think that they would be effective or they were needed;
none that caught parents interest; scheduling concernsnot wanting to take a class during work hours, dinner time, or childs
naps, etc.; would need to be geographically close to home and/or work; would need to provide childcare for older child(ren);
and would need to be in a child-friendly environment. When planning for program logistics and promotion it would be
beneficial to keep these factors in mind and possibly speak to them throughout the recruitment process to address similar
reservations that other parents may feel but not voice.
Service area demographics. According to the 2010 census, the city of Minneapolis has seen a slight increase in the
percentage (from 6.6% to 6.9%, or from 25,187 to 26,453 individuals) of population under five-years-old since 2000 (City of
Minneapolis 2000 and 2010 demographic profile, 2011), with an estimated 33,131 families in the city having children under
the age of six-years-old (2010 American Community Survey 1-year estimates, 2010). During the same period, the number of
children served by Minneapolis Public Schools Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education programs has
increased from 656 children to 849 students (Planning for changing enrollment, 2010). This increase in population has
coincided with a small decrease in the percentage of population identifying as white (from 65.1% to 63.8%) and a moderate
increases in the Hispanic or Latino population (from 7.6% to 10.5%). This demographic picture is complicated by the fact that
racial populations are not evenly distributed throughout the city, resulting in many neighborhood pockets that are primarily
white (e.g., Bryn-Mawr with 89.4% white, Fulton with 90.56% white, and Kenwood with 90.81% white) and primarily nonwhite (e.g. Central with 78.95% non-white and most heavily Hispanic/Latino and African American, East Phillips with 83.4%
non-white and most heavily Hispanic/Latino and African American and Native American, and Near-North with 86.43% nonwhite and most heavily African American and Asian and Hispanic/Latino) (Census 2010 redistricting file summary data,
2011). Additionally, according to the 2010 American Community Survey one-year estimates (2010), the fertility rates of these
racial demographics in the city vary greatly, with African American (90 per 1000 live births) and Hispanic/Latino (95 per 1000
live births) birth rates significantly higher than the birth rates of the white population (47 per 1000 live births). Home language
spoken for the populations in this community is also important to attend to as 45.6% of the population whose home language is
not English are estimated to speak English less than very well (Language spoken at home, 2010). This information is
significant because it indicates that the program is likely to need tailored to meet the unique cultural and linguistic needs of the
specific parent populations in the neighborhoods that it is implemented innot simply presented lock-step as presented in this
program design template.
According to the 2010 American Community Survey one-year estimates (2010), 10.8% of the population over 25 years
of age has less than a high school diploma, 18.4% of the population has a high school diploma or equivalency as their highest
level of education, 19.3% of the population has had some college but no degree, 7% of the population has an associates degree,
28.1% has a bachelors degree, and 16.5% has a graduate or professional degree. Women in the city outpace men in both the
percentage of those with a high school diploma or higher (89.8% vs. 88.8%) and the percentage of those with a bachelors
degree or higher (45.1% vs. 44.1%). The poverty rate for those age 25 and over is correlated with the level of education
achieved: 47% those with less than a high school diploma live in poverty, with the greatest impact being on women (59.5% vs.
35.9%); 26.4% of those with a high school diploma are living in poverty, again with a greater share of those in poverty being
women (27.3% vs. 25.6%); 16.9% of those with some college or an associates degree live in poverty, once again repeating the
higher percentage of women in the poverty category (19.5% vs. 14.3%); lastly, of those with a bachelors degree or higher, 6%
are living in poverty, though in this case men have the higher poverty rate (6.5% vs. 5.5%) though still vastly lower than those
with less formal education.
This information on the correlation of educational levels and poverty rates is important when considering the
correlations between the racial breakdowns of neighborhood outlined above and the poverty levels of those same
neighborhoods historically. For example: in Bryn Mawr, whose population is 89.4% white, the poverty level was 2%
(Poverty: Bryn Mawr/Minneapolis, 1999); in Fulton, whose population is 90.56% white, the poverty level was 2% (Poverty:
Fulton/Minneapolis, 1999); in Kenwood, whose population was 90.81% white, the poverty level was 3% (Poverty:
Kenwood/Minneapolis, 1999); in Central, whose population was 78.95% non-white, the poverty level was 29% (Poverty:
Central/Minneapolis, 1999); in Phillips, whose combined population was 79.06% non-white (the neighborhood was split into
East Phillips and Phillips West between the time the poverty rates and the 2000 census occurred), the poverty level was 34%
(Poverty: Phillips/Minneapolis, 1999); and, in Near-North, whose population was 86.43% non-white, the poverty level was
38% (Poverty: Near North/Minneapolis, 1999). These differences in poverty levels may indicate that in addition to taking into
account cultural differences when implementing the program in different neighborhoods across the city, additional attention
may be warranted on the physical resources that parents may benefit from assistance obtaining as well as the educational
backgrounds that they may be bringing with them to parent education classes.
Program Overview
What follows is a broad overview of the hypothetical program logistics if the Baby and Me program were to be implemented
with parents and infants residing in Minneapolis.
Sponsoring organization. The Baby and Me program is a part of the Minneapolis Public Schools Early Childhood Family
Education (ECFE) program. Classes are offered at neighborhood schools and early childhood cluster sites throughout the city.
Objectives. The Baby and Me program holds at its core the following five program objectives:
!
Parents will be supported in the identification and development of community-based support structures to celebrate
parenting successes and address family needs.
Parents will develop a working knowledge of the sequence and typical range of development for infants milestones
in the physical, cognitive, motor, communication, and social-emotional domains.
Parents will learn about and be able to apply strategies to address common parenting challenges related to feeding,
sleep, communication, and health status.
Parents will be able to identify key elements of their infants personalities and learn ways to interpret and respond
to their infants signals in sensitive and responsive ways that promote secure parent-infant attachments.
Parents will reflect upon their own personalities, development, and shifting roles as caregivers of infants.
Description. The Baby and Me program is a parent education program for direct caregivers (birth-parents, foster parents,
adoptive parents, and custodial relatives) of infants, birth through seventeen-months of age. It features both a range of classes
in convenient neighborhood locations on bus routes and with on-site parking available as well as an optional home-visiting
component. Classes feature a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment for parents of both typically-developing infants and
infants with special needs. At select locations throughout the city, there are classes offered that focus more directly on the
unique needs related to parenting an infant with specific kinds of needs, such as sensory impairments or medically fragile
status. All program activities are offered on a sliding-fee scaleno one is turned away for an inability to pay.
Delivery format. The Baby and Me program features a mixed-delivery format with both two-hour long weekly nonseparating group classes and individual home visits by parent educators and cooperating professionals, which take place both
during the daytime and evening hours. Classroom experiences combine both whole group and differentiated small group
instruction and discussion, depending on the topic of focus and age-range mix of a specific class. For example, for a topic
such as feeding the parent-child and parent education times may be staggered after an initial introduction and parents selfselect which instructional periods are of most interest to thembreast- and bottle-feeding, introducing solid foods, and/or
keeping a balanced diet of solid foods. Class enrollment caps at fifteen parents and onsite-childcare will be available for older
siblings. Depending on the needs of the families being served, collaboration and joint home visits may take place between
Baby and Me program staff, Early Intervention staff, Early Head Start staff, public health nurses, and/or other Hennepin county
10
social service and support staff. In instances in which the parent educators and parents being served speak different languages,
interpreter and translation services will be provided to assist in successful interpersonal and educational communication in
home and classroom settings.
Outreach methods. Awareness will be built about the program through public awareness campaigns, hospital outreach and
referrals, and collaboration with the districts Early Intervention (EI) program. The public awareness campaign includes taking
out advertisements in the local neighborhood and ethnic papers and placing program flyers and/or brochures in local libraries
and park buildings. The hospital outreach includes educating medical staff about the program and providing local maternity
wards and pediatric and family practice offices with informational materials to provide to parents of infants as well as postagepaid referral cards that can be filled out in the office for a Baby and Me staff to directly contact the family. Collaboration with
the districts EI staff includes educating them about what the program has to offer to the families they work with, helping to
coordinate needed services that meet both infant and parents needs, and contributing to a shared resource library.
Funding & resources. Funding and material resources for the Baby and Me program will principally come through the
Minneapolis school district. Additional resources and supports are secured on an as-need basis for parents and infants through
inter-agency collaborations.
Role of parent educator. The role of the parent educator in the Baby and Me program is a balanced one of educator and
discussion facilitator. On the education end, the parent educator teaches parents about infant development and explains and
11
models strategies for supporting infant development and addressing common challenges of parenting infants. In the facilitator
role, the parent educator ensures regular time during classes for parents to share their joys and discoveries in their parenting
role, supports sensitive and responsive parent-infant interactions, and facilitates discussions among parents about how they can
apply developmental concepts and strategies to their parenting roles at home.
Program Rationale
The Baby and Me program has been designed keeping local resources, demographics, and stated needs into consideration. In
Minneapolis, the ECFE program has been in operation since the mid-1970s (An external review of early childhood and family
education programs: Abridged report, 1977) and currently holds classes in eight locations across south, north, and northeast parts of
the city (ECFE locations, 2011). This provides an immediate and often fairly well established connection to these communities where
safe spaces are put aside for the specific purpose of holding parenting education classes, while providing for an established system of
staffing and financial accounting. While the majority of funding for the program will come directly through ECFE, because of the
economically, culturally, and linguistically diverse nature of the programs service demographic, as well as ECFEs goal to not
duplicate existing community services (The concept and history of early childhood family education, 2003), it is important that the
parent educators in the Baby and Me program have the freedom to actively engage in inter-agency collaborations to help parents and
families address their basic physiological and safety needs so that they may be able to dedicate more attention and energy to the
12
relational, esteem, and cognitive domains (Huit, 2007) that make sensitive, responsive, and knowledgeable care-giving most likely to
occur.
Program activities are offered both during daytime and evening hours with onsite sibling care at each site, allowing increased
access to busy parents. Scheduling concerns were brought up in the needs assessment as a reason for not participating in parent
education classes, as well as making practical sense when parents may work a variety of shifts, older siblings may or may not be
present in a home at any given time, and infants biological clocks may vary. This author has chosen to offer both home visiting and
group classroom components because each method offers unique benefits to participants. Home visits seek to reach parents who
otherwise might not attend a groupfor example, because they have a premature infant and avoid outside germsbringing a caring
person to talk with, developmental information, parenting strategies to address immediate challenges, and connections to other
potentially useful resources. Home visiting also has the potential to help the parent educator begin to understand some of the
ecological contexts that a parent is functioning within while helping a parent to understand development and parenting strategies at an
individualized pacefor example, if a parent has a parenting challenge that he or she is uncomfortable bringing up in a group setting
or if a parent has a learning or cognitive disability and would benefit from some pre-teaching to keep up with instruction and
conversations in the group setting. Group classroom settings facilitate parents connections with other parents who are currently going
through or have recently gone through similar developmental periods, allows parents to showcase their strengths and help scaffold
each others learning, and provides for more multi-faceted discussions of applications for developmental information.
13
The program objectives have been written to directly address the challenges cited by parents of infants who participated in the
needs assessment while being open enough to include ascribed needs defined by parent educators from their background knowledge as
well as when planning for specific groups of parents. Allowing this room for parent educators to insert ascribed informational needs is
particularly important considering that parents have been found to not be fully aware of young childrens developmental abilitiesfor
example, not realizing that young infants can experience different moods themselves and be affected by their parents moods, not
recognizing the power of language exposure on young infants, and overestimating young childrens ability to control their own
emotions (Hart Research Associates, 2009). A couple of the program objectives speak most directly to things that are occurring
within and directly around parents of infants. For example, the objective parents will be supported in the identification and
development of community-based support structures to celebrate parenting successes and address family needs addresses parents
expressed feelings of isolation and desire for a support network of other parents while also allowing room for a parent educator to help
connect parents with other programs and agencies as additional needs arise on any of the levels of ecological context outlined by
Bronfenbrenner (Berns, 2007) which have been found to impact parenting. And, the objective parents will reflect upon their own
personalities, development, and shifting roles as caregivers of infants speaks to the concerns some parents expressed relating to
hormonal changes, a feeling of loss of personal identity, uncertainty and guilt in their parenting decisions, and pressures felt from
families and other parents in the community while allowing a space for the parent educator to introduce information such as the stages
of parental development, the bidirectional nature of the infant-parent relationship, and the realities of post-partum depression.
14
Other objectives address more explicitly the infant and how parents can support their infants directly. For example, the
objective parents will develop a working knowledge of the sequence and typical range of development for infants milestones in the
physical, cognitive, motor, communication, and social-emotional domains speaks to parents expressed challenges such as knowing
how their infant may react to new experiences and what are appropriate discipline strategies for an infant while allowing the parent
educator to expand parents general knowledge-base of concepts that the parents may not be aware that they do not yet know. The
objective parents will learn about and be able to apply strategies to address common parenting challenges related to feeding, sleep,
communication, and health status directly reflects areas of challenge parents frequently identified in the needs assessment while
allowing the parent educator room to address these topics from a variety of theoretical bases. Lastly, the objective parents will be
able to identify key elements of their infants personalities and learn ways to interpret and respond to their infants signals in sensitive
and responsive ways that promote secure parent-infant attachments addresses the observation by parents of multiple children that
each infant had a different personality which made their experiences as a parent differ while providing a place for the parent educator
to discuss the importance of sensitive and responsive care-giving to infants of all predispositions to later growth and development.
This program has been intentionally designed with the intent of providing all parents of infants with a supportive environment
to interact with other parents as a parent, not solely on the basis of an identified area of risk-status or need their infant may have. This
decision has grounds in both practical and ideological domains. From a practical standpoint, the number of infants with identified
special needs near any of the eight ECFE sites may be small and may, therefore, if given their own classes require some parents to
15
travel a greater distance from their home or work setting to meet at a central locationwhich could present a barrier to participation
for some parents. Additionally, for the majority of developmental delays (excluding severe sensory impairments and autism) an
infants development will follow in the same sequence regardless of whether or not the timing of each stage lands within typical
bounds. By having an inclusive classroom setting of infants birth through seventeen months, a parent whose child has a delay in an
areasuch as crawling, eating solid foods, or saying their first wordsis likely to have at least one other parent-infant pair who are at
roughly the same developmental level and may therefore share similar parenting daily parenting challenges. From a philosophical
view, parents of children with disabilities have reported feelings of isolation due to others discomfort at being around a child with a
disability (Posten et al., 2003) and this author feels that beginning inclusive practices among parents of infants may help lesson this
social stigma over time. Studies have shown that well-designed inclusive classrooms containing preschool-age children with and
without disabilities helped foster positive peer interactions (Diamond & Tu, 2009; Brown, Odom, Li, & Zercher, 1999; Guralnick,
Gottman, & Hammond, 1996) and higher-quality peer interactions (Hauser-Cram, Bronson, & Upshur, 1993)such findings give this
author hope that similar social benefits may be attainable among parents if positive interactions are fostered when their children are
infants, so developmental differences are likely to be perceived as fairly minor, and are able to be supported and grow as children age.
16
Section Two
This section presents completed program matrix grids for the initial ten-week initial classroom sequence for the Baby and Me
program. It should be noted by the reader that because Minneapolis ECFE program offers three sessions of classes a year and parents
may enroll at any time throughout their childs early years, additional depth and breadth of discussion and activities may be necessary
for parents who would like to continue in the program by taking additional infant courses beyond this initial sequence. Also included
in this section of the document is a rationale for why these particular topics and methods were chosen for the initial ten-week course
sequence.
Program Plan
The following program planning matrices are for a ten-week sequence of weekly classes which proceeds as follows: weeks one
and two provide an overview of infant development; week three relates to feeding; week four addresses sleep; weeks five and six deal
with communication; week seven relates to health; week eight addresses seeking and receiving support at home and in the community;
week nine considers personality, temperament, and identity dynamics; and, lastly, week ten provides for celebration of infant
parenting joys and a preview of what is to come with infants journeys towards toddlerhood.
17
Minnesotas Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and
Indicators for Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) Programs and Other Parent Education Programs
2. *Domain(s)
**Component(s)
*** Category(ies)
3.
****Indicator(s)
Parents support
their childrens
development
when they:
**Cognitive
Development
***Scientific Thinking &
Problem Solving
4. Ideas for
Teaching
Methods,
References, &
Resources
5. Ideas for
Parent-Child
Interaction
Questions/
Activities
6. Ideas for
Child
Development
Link(s) (See Early
Class Methods:
Questions:
What are you noticing
about how your infant
relates to you? To
others in the room?
Official welcome to
course
****Understand that
child development is a
systematic process
****Have reasonable
expectations for their
childrens abilities and
behavior
****Respond to their
childrens emotional
and physical needs in
warm, caring, and
engaged ways.
****Provide materials
and experiences where
their childrens actions
result in a response
7. Weeks/
Sessions
Childhood Indicators of
Progress [ECIP] for 3-5
year olds or 0-3 Early
Childhood Guidelines)
One and
Two
18
****Provide
opportunities for their
children to learn
through observation
and imitation
****Encourage their
children to learn and
practice new gross
motor skills
***Trust
***Brain Development
****Understand how
sensitive, responsive
caregiving helps to
develop a secure base
of trust
****Understand that
early interactions and
experiences have a
decisive impact on the
architecture of the
brain
*Parent Development
**Changing Parent Role
***Stages of Parenting
*Parent-Child
Relationships
**Attachment/Autonomy
****Recognize that
they develop as
persons and parents as
they interact with their
children over time
Homework:
Begin journal noting
changes in babys
development, joys, and
questions for the group
Resources:
Hawaii Early Learning
Profile (HELP)
developmental charts for
B-3
Attachment Network:
Listening to Baby
YouTube video
19
1. Parent
Education
Content/
Discussion
Topics
Feeding Your
Infant: from
breast and/or
bottle to solid
foods
2. *Domain(s)
**Component(s)
*** Category(ies)
3.
****Indicator(s)
Parents support
their childrens
development
when they:
*Early Childhood
Development
**General Child
Development
***Developmental
Expectations
***Observation Skills
5. Ideas for
Parent-Child
Interaction
Questions/
Activities
6. Ideas for
Child
Development
Link(s) (See Early
Class Methods:
Questions:
What signals does your
infant give when
hungry? Are there
certain times that your
infant often gives these
signals?
****Have reasonable
expectations for their
childrens abilities and
behavior
****Provide adequate
nutrition for their
children.
****Understand and
provide for sufficient
and consistent sleep,
relaxation, and eating
routines.
Agenda overview
Developmental
overview of timeline for
moving from breast
and/or bottle to solid
foods
Introduce value of
routines and rituals
around feeding; PE
provide some examples
Group discussion(s) of
family traditions
surrounding feeding
Watch Infant Nutrition
video
Small group
lesson/discussion on
breast and bottle feeding
and strategies to address
common challenges
*Parent-Child
Relationships
**Relationships
Skills
4. Ideas for
Teaching
Methods,
References, &
Resources
****Understand and
respond to their
childrens interests and
signals by observing
and listening to their
Small group
lesson/discussion on
introducing solid foods
and strategies to address
common challenges
Making home-made
7. Weeks/
Sessions
Childhood Indicators of
Progress [ECIP] for 3-5
year olds or 0-3 Early
Childhood Guidelines)
Three
Language
Development &
Communication
Responds to verbal
communication of
others
Uses sounds,
gestures, or actions to
express needs and
wants
Uses consistent
sounds, gestures or
words to
communicate
Activities:
Boppy pillows
20
***Pace
**Nurturing
***Physical Care
children.
****Adjust the pace of
their interactions with
their children for
optimal learning and
stimulation.
baby food
Guest speakerpublic
health nurse (?) to speak
about infant nutrition
*Culture &
Community
**Societal & Global
Forces
***Wellness
*Family
Development
**Family Traditions
& Values
***Rituals &
Celebrations
Small group
lesson/discussion on
balanced diet with
primarily solid foods
and strategies to address
common challenges
Homework:
Continue journaling
****Establish and
maintain rituals within
their family.
Consciously attend to
feeding time, try to
introduce ritual
Resources:
Hawaii Early Learning
Profile (HELP)
developmental charts for
B-3
Infant Nutrition
YouTube video
21
1. Parent
Education
Content/
Discussion
Topics
Sleep:
establishing
routines that
your infant and
you can handle
2. *Domain(s)
**Component(s)
*** Category(ies)
3. ****Indicator(s)
Parents support
their childrens
development when
they:
*Early Childhood
Development
**General Child
Development
***Developmental
Expectations
****Have reasonable
expectations for their
childrens abilities and
behavior
****Understand and
provide for sufficient
and consistent sleep,
relaxation, and eating
routines.
***Intentionality
5. Ideas for
Parent-Child
Interaction
Questions/
Activities
6. Ideas for
Child
Development
Link(s) (See Early
Class Methods:
Questions:
What signals does your
infant give when tired?
Are there certain times
that your infant often
gives these signals?
Begins to manage
own behavior and
show self-regulation
*Parent-Child
Relationships
**Importance of
Parent-Child
Relationships
4. Ideas for
Teaching
Methods,
References, &
Resources
****Balance meeting
their childrens needs
with providing a
structure for their
children to function
successfully in the
family and other
contexts.
Activities:
Listening station for
pre-recorded lullabies
Share traditional
lullabies with others
Look through some
childrens books about
sleep/bedtime
Learn about & practice
some baby massage
Resource cart or table
with books/videos/
7. Weeks/
Sessions
Childhood Indicators of
Progress [ECIP] for 3-5
year olds or 0-3 Early
Childhood Guidelines)
Four
Language
Development &
Communication
Uses sound, gestures,
or actions to express
needs and wants
Uses consistent
sounds, gestures or
words to
communicate
Physical & Motor
Development
Responds when
physical needs are
met
Expresses physical
22
**Relationships
Skills
***Observation
Skills
***Sensitivity &
Responsiveness
****Understand and
respond to their
childrens interests and
signals by observing
and listening to their
children.
****Respond
appropriately to their
childrens behavior.
*Parent
Development
**Changing Parent
Role
***Balancing
Parent-Child Needs
****Balance personal
needs and interests with
those of their children
and other family
members.
other information
relating to sleep that
can be checked out by
parents
needs nonverbally
and verbally
Homework:
Continue journaling
Begin logging own
sleep habits
*Family
Development
**Family Traditions
& Values
***Rituals &
Celebrations
****Establish and
maintain rituals within
their family.
Bring in photos of
favorite people/objects
Resources:
Hawaii Early Learning
Profile (HELP)
developmental charts
for B-3
Safe Sleep for Babies
YouTube video
23
1. Parent
Education
Content/
Discussion
Topics
Communication:
building bridges
of
understanding
between yourself
and your infant
2. *Domain(s)
**Component(s)
*** Category(ies)
3.
****Indicator(s)
Parents support
their childrens
development when
they:
*Early Childhood
Development
**General Child
Development
***Developmental
Expectations
**Language &
Literacy
Development
***Listening &
Understanding
***Speaking
****Have reasonable
expectations for their
childrens abilities and
behavior
****Notice and
respond to what their
children say and do.
****Talk and sing with
their children using
language appropriate to
their level of
understanding.
****Respond to their
childrens attempts to
communicate verbally
and nonverbally.
****Use language in
everyday activities with
their children and talk
about their actions,
thoughts, and ideas.
4. Ideas for
Teaching
Methods,
References, &
Resources
5. Ideas for
Parent-Child
Interaction
Questions/
Activities
6. Ideas for
Child
Development
Link(s) (See Early
Class Methods:
Questions:
What types of signals
does your infant use
when s/he needs or
wants something?
How do you try to
figure out what s/he
needs or wants?
7. Weeks/
Sessions
Childhood Indicators of
Progress [ECIP] for 3-5
year olds or 0-3 Early
Childhood Guidelines)
Language
Development &
Communication
Listens with interest
to language of others
Responds to verbal
communications of
others
Responds to
nonverbal
communication of
others
Uses sounds,
gestures, or actions
to express needs and
wants
Uses consistent
sounds, gestures or
24
**Social &
Emotional
Development
***Social
Competence &
Relationships
**Approaches to
Learning
***Risk-Taking
***Persistence
communication
Read and discuss the
article Second-hand
TV harmful to babies
SLP guest speaker talk
about & show why
sounds emerge at
different times
****Respond
positively to their
childrens mistakes or
errors, encouraging
them to learn from their
mistakes or errors.
****Encourage their
childrens attention and
persistence at tasks.
****Understand and
provide for sufficient
and consistent sleep,
relaxation, and eating
routines.
Homework:
Continue journaling
Introduce 1-2 signs
Make a point of using
language around infant
*Family
Development
such as a teeter-totter or
ball rolling
words to
communicate
Imitates sounds,
gestures or words
Cognitive
Development
Pays attention to
people and objects
Shows ability to
acquire and process
new information
Observes and
imitates sounds,
gestures or behavior
Physical & Motor
Development
Develops small
muscle control and
coordination
Expresses physical
needs nonverbally or
verbally
Resources:
**Family
Relationships &
Dynamics
***Communication
****Demonstrate
respectful speaking and
listening skills within
family relationships.
25
1. Parent
Education
Content/
Discussion
Topics
Health:
promoting
strong physical
and mental
health for your
infant and
yourself
2. *Domain(s)
**Component(s)
*** Category(ies)
3. ****Indicator(s)
Parents support
their childrens
development when
they:
*Early Childhood
Development
**Physical & Motor
Development
***Physical Health
& Well Being
****Provide
appropriate health care
for their children.
****Provide safe home
and play environments
for their children.
*Parent
Development
**Changing Parent
Role
***Balancing
Parent-Child Needs
****Maintain overall
personal physical and
mental health and
manage stress in their
lives.
*Parent-Child
Relationships
**Relationships
Skills
***Sensitivity &
Responsiveness
****Reflect on how
their words and actions
influence their
childrens perceptions
and behaviors.
**Nurturing
4. Ideas for
Teaching
Methods,
References, &
Resources
5. Ideas for
Parent-Child
Interaction
Questions/
Activities
6. Ideas for
Child
Development
Link(s) (See Early
Class Methods:
Questions:
What signals does your
infant give when s/he is
not feeling well?
7. Weeks/
Sessions
Childhood Indicators of
Progress [ECIP] for 3-5
year olds or 0-3 Early
Childhood Guidelines)
Seven
26
***Physical Care
**Guidance
***Monitoring &
Management
nutrition, shelter,
clothing, health, and
safety needs of their
children.
****Understand and
utilize limit-setting
situations as teaching
opportunities.
*Family
Development
**Family
Relationships &
Dynamics
***Relationships
****Adjust to changes
within family
membership and/or
structure in a healthy
manner.
***Wellness
***Environment
*Culture &
Community
**Societal & Global
Forces
to baby?
Discuss ways to be
physically active with
your infant/as a
family
Homework:
Continue journaling
Conduct home safety
checklist
Resources:
Create your own
peace of mind
handout
27
1. Parent
Education
Content/
Discussion
Topics
It Takes A
Village:
identifying and
fortifying
parenting
supports at
home and in
the community
2. *Domain(s)
**Component(s)
*** Category(ies)
3. ****Indicator(s)
Parents support
their childrens
development when
they:
*Culture &
Community
**Family Supports
& Community
Involvement
***Support
Networks
**Community
Resources
***Resource
Identification,
Assessment, & Use
*Family
Development
**Family
Relationships &
Dynamics
***Relationships
****Cooperate with
their child-rearing
partners to make
decisions in the best
interests of the children
and family.
****Value and spend
4. Ideas for
Teaching
Methods,
References, &
Resources
5. Ideas for
Parent-Child
Interaction
Questions/
Activities
Class Methods:
Questions:
What parenting tasks
are easiest to do alone?
With someone else?
6. Ideas for
Child
Development
Link(s) (See Early
7. Weeks/
Sessions
Childhood Indicators of
Progress [ECIP] for 3-5
year olds or 0-3 Early
Childhood Guidelines)
Eight
Activities:
Have toys or activities
that require more than
one parent and/or infant
to complete, with cue
cards specifying what
role each individual
should play
Have parents contribute
to a resource quilt,
noting things that they
could help another
parent with and things
that they could use help
with
Have blank calendars
for parents to use for
setting up play dates
Resource cart or table
with books/videos/
other information
relating to community
28
time with extended
family members and
friends.
*Parent
Development
**Role of Parent
***Multiple
Parental Roles
**Changing Parent
Role
***Balancing
Parent-Child Needs
****Understand and
carry out their multiple
roles in their childrens
lives, including
caregiver, nurturer,
guide, educator, and
stimulator of
inventiveness and
creativity.
****Balance parentchild relationship needs
within the context of
relationships with other
family members
including child-rearing
partners.
***Nature and
Quality
resources, relationship
building, and asking for
help that can be
checked out by parents
Lesson/discussion of
community resources
available to parent
populations specific to
the grouplibrary
programs, early head
start, county programs,
play groups
Overview of what to
look for in a good infant
daycare & resources for
finding quality daycare
for infants with and
without special needs
Guest speaker from
childcare resource
center
Homework:
Continue journaling
*Parent-Child
Relationships
**Importance of
Parent-Child
Relationships
Lesson/discussion on
co-parenting with
partner, family member,
or others
interpersonal strategies
to help with effective
communication, resolve
disagreements, etc.
****Recognize the
parent-child
relationship exists
within the context of
other human and
environmental
influences.
Resources:
New moms: its okay to
ask for help
29
1. Parent
Education
Content/
Discussion
Topics
Balancing Me
and We:
reflections on
personality,
temperament,
and identity
2. *Domain(s)
**Component(s)
*** Category(ies)
3. ****Indicator(s)
Parents support
their childrens
development when
they:
* Parent
Development
**Role of Parent
***Transition to
Role
**Changing Parent
Role
***Balancing
Parent-Child Needs
****Accept and
successfully transition
to their role as first-time
parents.
****Accept and adapt
to their role as adoptive
parents, single parents,
stepparents, or
grandparents or others
raising children.
****Balance personal
needs and interests with
those of their children
and other family
members.
*Parent-Child
Relationships
**Attachment/
Autonomy
***Trust
4. Ideas for
Teaching
Methods,
References, &
Resources
5. Ideas for
Parent-Child
Interaction
Questions/
Activities
Class Methods:
Questions:
What are patterns in
your infants
behavior? Is s/he
easy going? Often
fussy? Shy or
hesitant to interact
with others? Etc.
Responds to
unfamiliar adults
cautiously
Lesson on infant
temperament
****Understand how
sensitive, responsive
caregiving helps to
develop a secure base
of trust, allowing
Activities:
Cooperative
activities for parents
and infants to do
togethere.g.,
teeter totter, rolling
ball back and forth,
reading to infant,
7. Weeks/
Sessions
Childhood Indicators of
Progress [ECIP] for 3-5
year olds or 0-3 Early
Childhood Guidelines)
Nine
30
**Relationship Skills
***Sensitivity &
Responsiveness
***Temperament
*Early Childhood
Development
**Social-Emotional
Development
***Self-Awareness &
Self Regulation
****Allow their
children to experiment
with their growing
competence and
independence.
*Family
Development
**Family Traditions
& Values
Complete Temperament
wheel for self and child
Review attachment theory,
from the first week of
classhow might the
pattern of similarities and
differences seen in the
temperament wheel impact
what you can do as a
parent to be sensitive and
responsive to your infant
in a way that s/he most
needs?
Watch and discuss
Emotional safety YouTube
video
Small group discussions
how can you make family
together time meet each
family members needs?
Pediatrician or child
psychologist guest speaker
to talk about
bidirectionality and/or
attachment
making handprints
with finger paints
Assortment of
sensory materials
Headphones with
different tempo and
types of music
Different movement
activitiesbouncer,
saucer, balancing on
big exercise ball,
swing, etc.
Homework:
Continue journaling
***Daily Family
Time
**Family
Relationships &
Dynamics
****Cooperate with
their childrearing
partners to make
decisions in the best
31
***Relationships
Resources:
Temperament YouTube
Video
Infant temperament
YouTube video
Temperament worksheet
Temperament wheel
Emotional safety YouTube
video
32
1. Parent
Education
Content/
Discussion
Topics
Looking
Forward,
Looking
Back:
celebrating
the joys of
infanthood
and catching
glimpses of
what is to
come
2. *Domain(s)
**Component(s)
*** Category(ies)
3. ****Indicator(s)
Parents support
their childrens
development when
they:
* Parent
Development
**Changing Parent
Role
***Stages of
Parenting
***Family-of-Origin
***Affirmation &
Affection
6. Ideas for
Child
Development
Link(s) (See Early
Class Methods:
Questions:
What changes have
you seen in your
infant this past
week? This past
month?
Agenda overview
Community feast
potluck
Share excerpts from
parent journalscreate
a growth and joys
timeline for the group to
acknowledge their
infants and own
development oven the
course of the class
Overview and
discussion of stages of
parent development &
shifting parent roles
how could this apply to
me as a 1st time parent
or parent of multiple
children?
Overview of key
changes in development
as infants move into the
toddler period
*Early Childhood
Development
**General Child
5. Ideas for
Parent-Child
Interaction
Questions/
Activities
*Parent-Child
Interactions
**Nurturing
4. Ideas for
Teaching
Methods,
References, &
Resources
****Understand that
Lesson/discussion/
7. Weeks/
Sessions
Childhood Indicators of
Progress [ECIP] for 3-5
year olds or 0-3 Early
Childhood Guidelines)
Ten
Shows emotional
connection and
attachment to others
Develops awareness of
self as separate from
others
Shows increasing
independence
Language
Development &
Communication
Begins to understand
gestures, words,
questions or routines
Imitates sounds,
gestures or words
Have finger-paints
available
33
Development
***Process of
Development
***Developmental
Expectations
**Approaches to
Learning
***Curiosity
***Risk-Taking
***Imagination &
Invention
**Language &
Literacy Development
child development is a
systematic process
****Have reasonable
expectations for their
childrens abilities and
behavior
****Read to their
children for information
and pleasure.
***Emergent Reading
**Cognitive
Development
***Scientific Thinking
& Problem Solving
****Recognize their
childrens attempts and
successes in problem
solving.
modeling of activities
that encourage
exploration, problem
solving & initiative
within safe boundaries
Differentiate between
process and productbased feedback
encourage infants and
toddlers efforts even if
their end results arent
what youd do yourself
Small group
discussionshow was I
raised? What do I want
to do the same and/or
different for my own
child(ren)?
Homework:
Continue journaling
Spend time with your
infant doing things you
both enjoy
Resources:
HELP developmental
charts for B-3
34
Rationale
The sessions described in the preceding matrices were designed to address both the felt needs of parents, as discovered through
the needs assessment process, and the more specific goals of the Baby and Me parent education program. The general flow of these
sessions is from a broad overview of development in the initial two sessions to more detailed focus on some areas of challenge noted
in the needs assessment back to a summative reflection week and look ahead to next steps in development. Each of the topics
discussed in the sessions between these two bookendsfeeding, sleep, communication, health, support, and personality and identity
were specifically identified as major areas of challenge by parents of participating in the needs assessment study.
The first two sessions in this lesson sequence provide a general overview of development, aligning directly with the program
objective that states parents will develop a working knowledge of the sequence and typical range of development for infants
milestones in the physical, cognitive, motor, communication, and social-emotional domains. These two sessions address Parent
Education Core Curriculum Framework (PECCF) benchmarks specific to child and parent development, and the places where these
two paths of development intersect in attachment relationships. The child development links relate to developmental tasks typically
occurring in infanthood. Classroom methods begin with opportunities for the parent educator and parents to formally introduce
themselves and their infants, provides an overview of the course and daily agenda, and offers a combination of large and small group
discussion, direct instruction, and viewing and discussing a brief video clipto provide parents with a roadmap for where the course
may go, offer a variety of relatively short activities that will keep things moving, and given parents ample opportunities to actively
35
participate and share their own knowledge. The parent-child questions and activities relate to observation and focusing in on infants
cues, skills that are necessary for parents to be able to engage in the types of sensitive and responsive care-giving discussed later in the
class session in relation to attachmentproviding recent practice in such behaviors for the parents as well as observation time for the
parent educator to begin to gauge what types of examples and suggestions may be most beneficial when discussing attachment. A key
strand of homework is started the first sessionthe journalwhich the parent educator can model a number of different forms of
(traditional journal, dated post-it notes kept in one place, small digital audio recorder, photo album with captions, etc.) for parents to
choose what works for them and/or photocopy blank journal pages for parents to assemble and take home from class.
The third session in this lesson sequence address the joys and challenges of feeding infants, aligning directly with the program
objective that states parents will learn about and be able to apply strategies to address common parenting challenges related to
feeding, sleep, communication, and health status. In the beginning, it also touches on the program objective stating that parents will
develop a working knowledge of the sequence and typical range of development for infants milestones in the physical, cognitive,
motor, communication, and social-emotional domains. This session begins with a whole group discussion of the sequence of typical
development relating to feedingproviding all participants with an overview of the big picture for how their infants will typically get
from where they currently are to a dietary status closer to other family members. It then goes into an introduction to the functional
purpose of routines and traditions, giving participants a space to reflect on and discuss their current practicesacknowledging that
they already bring valuable information and experience on which to build. From there, the session breaks into a differentiated
36
sequence of mini-lessons and discussions focused on specific feeding patterns, which allows parents to self-select the one(s) that she
or he feels is of most relevance to their parenting experiencewhile some parents may be overwhelmed with their current stage and
only want to participate in the session immediately reflecting their current challenges, other parents may be more future-oriented
and/or have older children and may really value looking ahead to what is to come or reviewing topics that they feel a bit rusty on. The
session closes with a whole-group discussion of commonly eaten foods in the house, nutritional value, and impact of parents food
choices on their infants at various stages of developmentbringing back an acknowledgement of what parents are bringing to the
table in background knowledge. Other learning activities that are options for this third session involve guest speakers, watching a
brief video clip, making fresh baby food, making baby food recipe books, collecting favorite feeding memories, etc. which allow the
parent educator to pick and choose which one she or he feels would be most practical and appropriate for the group depending on what
has been learned about them in the previous two sessions.
The fourth session in this lesson sequence addresses the topic of sleep and sleep patterns and how to work with them, aligning
directly with the program objective that states parents will learn about and be able to apply strategies to address common parenting
challenges related to feeding, sleep, communication, and health status. In the beginning, it also touches on the program objective
stating that parents will develop a working knowledge of the sequence and typical range of development for infants milestones in the
physical, cognitive, motor, communication, and social-emotional domains. This session begins with a developmental overview of
infant sleep patterns so that parents can see the fairly wide range of what typically occur with newborns as well as the general patterns
37
that occur as infants get older, as well as the importance of back to sleep and tummy to playthis whole group starting point creates
a context for parents to take as they begin to reflect on ways they may have learned to put infants to sleep (again, acknowledging
parents background knowledge) and the important role that routines play in building consistency and a sense of safety into their
infants lives. Instruction and discussion relating to specific sleep arrangements is differentiated for parents to self-select which they
have decided to do with their infant, while also leaving it open for those who are undecided to attend both lessons to gain more
information when deciding on this issue in a long-term context. Rather than focusing exclusively on infants, the ending of this session
addresses the importance of parents having enough sleep to be functional and problem-solving ways to help parents get the sleep they
needthis is an important component since people are only able to take care of others in the long-term if they are also taking care of
themselves, which for parenthood is a pattern that should be started early to minimize risks of burn-out or abuse later on. Other
activities that parent educators can choose from for this session include watching a short video clip (sometimes such things break up
the monotony of lecture and discussion), creating lavender balls or other natural sleep aids, listening to and sharing different lullabies,
looking at childrens literature relating to bedtime, and learning and practicing infant massageall things that could be incorporated
into sleep routines.
The fifth and sixth sessions in this lesson sequence address communication between infants and parents and strategies to help
make this process smoother, aligning directly with the program objective that states parents will learn about and be able to apply
strategies to address common parenting challenges related to feeding, sleep, communication, and health status. In the beginning, it
38
also touches on the program objective stating that parents will develop a working knowledge of the sequence and typical range of
development for infants milestones in the physical, cognitive, motor, communication, and social-emotional domains. This topic was
allotted two sessions in the lesson sequence because it was the top challenge reported in the needs assessment and appeared to be
conducive to a breakdown of one session focused on overall developmental patterns and observation to recognize and interpret infant
communication signals and a second session focused more on strategies to teach communication and pre-linguistic skills. Unlike the
previous two sessions, this topic is not currently differentiated for small group lessonsthough a parent educator certainly could do
this if she or he had a specific group that was obviously split between two language groups that require separate interpretersbecause
the universal pattern of language development and strategies to facilitate acquisition appear to this program designer to be fairly
universal. This topic utilizes many similar methods as the previous sessions and for similar reasons, though it does introduce addition
of a current news article to be readthis is something that, depending on the group, could be handed out and read individually or be
read out loud by the parent educator with copies available for parents to take notes on and take home if they would like. The second
session of this topic also has the introduction of baby signs, something that this program designer has not used before but has heard
from parents to be very beneficial before the baby is able to speak.
The seventh session in this lesson sequence addresses health status and promoting health in both infant and parent, aligning
directly with the program objective that states parents will learn about and be able to apply strategies to address common parenting
challenges related to feeding, sleep, communication, and health status. This session breaks from the preceding pattern of
39
developmental overview first to really focus more on an American medical perspective of public health and preventative medicine. Of
all the sessions in this lesson sequence, this one is probably the least accommodating of other cultural views on the topic but this
program designer felt important because regardless of national background, these parents will still need to be able to function
effectively and safely with their children in the American physical context and be held accountable to the American model of health
and safety in relation to any social service or medical provision here. Echoing the message given at the end of the session on sleep,
this one also addresses the importance of personal wellness to the wellness of your infant. In this plan there are lots of hands-on
opportunities to explore safety concepts and devices, which can be beneficial to parents who may not be familiar with them though
may bore more experienced American-born parents of multiple childrendepending on the mix of parents in a specific group, some
of this may be differentiated into small group instruction and practice.
The eighth session in this lesson sequence addresses identification and creation of support networks, aligning directly with the
program objective that states parents will be supported in the identification and development of community-based support structures
to celebrate parenting successes and address family needs. It also touches on the program objective that states parents will reflect
upon their own personalities, development, and shifting roles as caregivers of infants through reflection and discussion of their new
role and the needs associated with it. This lesson has some very interactive core activities related to analyzing the parenting role and
related tasks, creating a resource quilt, personally reflecting on current supports, and creating an action plan for filling in needs that
this designer can see as important for all parents. Some aspects of this session, such as discussion of interpersonal communication
40
skills and relevant examples to provide when discussing ecological theory are areas where a parent educator may need to research
and/or consult with cultural liasons if the demographics of the group differ from his or her own background and experience. While
there is a sample guest speaker and place for discussion of community resources, the parent educator would be well-advised to tailor
these elements to the likely needs and geographic location of the parents in their class.
The ninth session in this lesson sequence addresses personality and temperament dynamics for both parents and infants as well
as identity development for parents, aligning directly with the program objectives that state parents will reflect upon their own
personalities, development, and shifting roles as caregivers of infants and parents will be able to identify key elements of their
infants personalities and learn ways to interpret and respond to their infants signals in sensitive and responsive ways that promote
secure parent-infant attachments. This session returns to a basis in development, with focus most heavily on the social-emotional
and communication domains as they relate to bidirectional parent-infant interactions. Personality and temperament are explored
through completion of printed instruments and reflection, though this could be adapted if there is access to a computer lab with
internet where parents could take the instruments online with the computer reading inventory tools to them. There are three video clip
possibilities listed which a parent educator may select from based on their groupone makes an active effort to include diverse
parents and children and use fairly straight forward language, one relates to specific research but does so in a fairly straight forward
manner, and one is aimed at parents while conveying very much an expert perspective and tone. The parent-child activities for this
session are designed to encourage interaction and exploration and observation of different preferences.
41
The tenth session in this lesson sequence focuses on reflection on growth from the past nine weeks as well as looking ahead to
future milestones in the developmental sequence. This initial activities in this closing session relate to the program objective that
states parents will reflect upon their own personalities, development, and shifting roles as caregivers of infants, while the concluding
discussion of what is to come relates to the objective stating parents will develop a working knowledge of the sequence and typical
range of development for infants milestones in the physical, cognitive, motor, communication, and social-emotional domains. This
closing session has activities designed to bring the parents together in a community sensesharing food and creating a shared
timeline of joys and developmentas well providing information and time for them to continue individual reflection when looking at
parent roles and development. Other whole-group learning experiences center around developmental changes that occur as infants
move from the infant to toddler period and strategies parents can use to continue to support their childrens developmentif a class
includes many very young infants, it may be that the developmental information and related strategies are better off differentiated into
small groups focused on next steps for a couple of different age groups.
Section Three
This section contains lesson plans for the first two of ten parent education sessions outlined in the previous section, along with
developmental handouts for these sessions. It is important to note that these are generic lessons that may be tailored to best meet the
needs of a specific group of parentsfor example, if all of the infants are extremely young, it may be wise to limit the developmental
overview to eight or nine months instead of the full seventeen presented in the handouts and accommodated for in the activities.
42
Lesson Plan 1
Minnesotas Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework and Indicators
for Early Childhood Family Education (ECFE) Programs and Other Parent Education Programs
Developmental Expectations
Encourage their children to learn and practice new gross motor skills
o Cognitive Development
! Scientific Thinking & Problem Solving
Provide materials and experiences where their childrens actions result in a response
Provide opportunities for their children to learn through observation and imitation
43
2. Lesson Objectives to Achieve the Indicator(s) (3 maximum):
1. Parents will recognize that development is divided into interrelated domains, with skills in each domain that unfold in a
predictable order
2. Parents will be able to identify where in the sequence of physical development their infant currently is and what may be a next
step in their infants motor development
3. Parents will be able to identify where in the sequence of cognitive development their infant currently is and what may be a next
step in their infants cognitive development
3. Materials/References/Resources/Technology Needed to Support the Lesson:
Questions
o How does your infant move? Does movement seem controlled, accidental, or somewhere in between?
o How does your infant interact with the toys in the room? Does s/he look at them? grab them? shake them? bang them?
throw them? stack them? etc.
Activities
o Play mat with assortment of foam shapes that can be climbed on
o Infant toys ~ rattles, blocks, stacking cups, shape sorters, cause-effect toys, etc.
o Washcloths, bandanas, or scarves
44
5. Child Development link(s):
Cognitive Development
o Uses senses to explore people, objects and the environment
o Shows interest and curiosity in new people and objects
o Observes & imitates sounds, gestures or behaviors
6. Lesson Procedures:
Guided check in and review:
Welcome to the Baby and Me class! Were glad you are able to be here with us! Over the next ten weeks you will learn about and
discuss development and strategies you can use at home to encourage your infants development as well as your own. Each week
of the class will have a special topicas youll see on the course overview handoutthat we will focus on and you are always
encouraged to bring your own observations, questions, and joys to the group as well. Does anyone have any questions about the
class at this point? If not, well get started with this weeks topic which provides an overview of how professionals look at child
development and will look specifically at the physical and cognitive, or thinking, development of infants.
Introduction:
This week we will begin talking about infant development. We will start out by talking about some general characteristics of
development before diving into a deeper look at how infants develop over their first seventeen months. First, though, lets go
around the room and have everyone introduce themselves and their infants Ill start out and then well go around the circle
clockwise.
45
Content and Teaching Methods (during parent time*):
Have parents break into small groups with others who have similarly aged infants to discuss the parent-child questionswhat did
you notice when you watched your infant interacting with the materials and environment? Are these things you normally see or did
anything surprise you? Why? (PE circulates between groups)
Provide overview of the different domains of development most relevant to the infant periodcognitive, physical/motor,
communication, and social/emotionaldescribing each and giving examples of things that fall in these domains and some areas of
overlap between domains such as an infant needing to be able to crawl or scoot to really explore their environment
Describe how development unfolds in a certain sequence, with some skills needing to develop first to that the foundations will be
able to be there such as an infant will need to be able to make sounds of a language before s/he can form words, or will need to
be able to balance in a stand before s/he can walk introduce the HELP charts, pointing out the sequence as well as describing
how the bar shows the typical range of developmentthat it is normal for not all infants to develop skills at exactly the same time
Introduce the cognitive and physical/motor domains, providing highlights of skills and abilities throughout an infants first
seventeen monthspoint them out on the relevant HELP chart while noting the typical range of development. Describe and/or
model any items in these domains that may be unknownsuch as the different types of reflexes. Model how you can look back to
earlier skills and see which ones your infant may have done firstthough not all infants do everything on the chart and thats OK.
Model how you can look ahead to skills that may begin developing soon and note that these soon-to-develop skills would be the
ones that as a parent you might encourage through different kinds of play.
Have parents get back into the same small groups from the beginning and work with each other to figure out what skills each of
their infants have in these domains as well as what new skills may be coming up. (PE circulates among groups, answering
questions as they arise)
As a class, discuss what people noticed with these two developmental domains anything surprise you? clarify something for
you? raise a new question?
46
Summary/Closure:
Overview the development handout, noting that there are different suggestions/strategies to try to support development of certain
skills.
Review key points about the nature of development, developmental domains, range of typical development, etc.
Home Application and Online Connections:
Introduce journaling to track development of new skills, joys, and questions. Model different forms that journaling can take
written in a notebook, on dated post-it notes you collect in a certain space, on dated index cards, as a photo album with captions, as
an audio recorder you speak into, etc. Ask that parents begin to keep some form of journal and let them know that at the beginning
of the next class there will be time to share joys and ask questions from the past week.
Evaluation and educator reflection.
47
Lesson Plan 2
Teachers Name ________________________________________________________________ Date _______________________
Class Series _Baby and Me_________________________________________ Session/Week Number ___Two________________
Class Topic ___Where your infant is in the social/emotional and communication domains and how your interactions influence
______________each others development________________________________________________________________________
Who might attend this class?
The target audience for this class is parents of infants ages birth through seventeen months, who reside in the city of Minneapolis.
1. Indicator(s): Parents support their childrens development when they:
Developmental Expectations
Respond to their childrens emotional and physical needs in warm, caring, and engaged ways
Parent-Child Relationships
o Attachment/Autonomy
! Trust
!
Understand how sensitive, responsive caregiving helps to develop a secure base of trust
Brain Development
Understand that early interactions and experiences have a decisive impact on the architecture of the brain
48
Parent Development
o Changing Parent Role
! Stages of Parenting
Recognize that they develop as persons and parents as they interact with their children over time
Questions
o What are you noticing about how your infant relates to you? To others in the room?
o When playing with your infant, are their any clues you notice that help you to know how your infant is feeling about
the activity?
49
Activities
o Large and small plastic mirrors
o Play mat with assortment of foam shapes that can be climbed on
o Infant toys ~ rattles, blocks, stacking cups, shape sorters, cause-effect toys, etc.
o Washcloths, bandanas, or scarves
6. Lesson Procedures:
Guided check in and review:
Last week we discussed some basic characteristics of development and specifics relating to the physical/motor and cognitive
developmental domains. I encouraged you to begin keeping a journalif you werent doing so alreadyto track joys, new things
youre noticing about your infant(s), as well as any questions that popped up relating to infant development or parenting does
anyone have anything that theyd like to share from the past week or questions to ask? Was there anything that you looked at
differently after last weeks class?
50
Introduction:
This week we will be talking about two domains of development which are very much interrelatedthe communication and the
social/emotional domains. These domains are very special since they are at the heart of forming relationships, something that
infants are able to begin doing from an extremely young age. Importantly, relationships are bi-directionalthat is, the actions of an
individual impact the person s/he is relating to, which impacts the response that that person will have which impacts, etc. in a
circular cycle (may be beneficial to hold up a picture illustrating this concept).
Content and Teaching Methods (during parent time*):
Introduce the communication and social/emotional domains, providing highlights of skills and abilities throughout an infants first
seventeen monthspoint them out on the relevant HELP chart while noting the typical range of development. Also point out
areas where the domains overlap, or where skill in one domain works as a sort of prerequisite for a skill in the other domain.
Describe and/or model any terms in these domains that may be unknownsuch as frolic play, reflexive vocals, etc. Model
how you can look back to earlier skills and see which ones your infant may have done firstthough not all infants do everything
on the chart and thats OK. Model how you can look ahead to skills that may begin developing soon and note that these soon-todevelop skills would be the ones that as a parent you might encourage through different kinds of play.
Have parents get into small groups with parents of similarly-aged infants (could be the same groups from last week) and work with
each other to figure out what skills each of their infants have in these domains as well as what new skills may be coming up. (PE
circulates among groups, answering questions as they arise)
As a class, discuss what people noticed with these two developmental domains anything surprise you? clarify something for
you? raise a new question?
Watch video clip from Attachment Network: Listening to Baby. Present overview of attachments role in brain development.
Discuss video and mini-lecture on attachmentanything surprise you? clarify something for you? raise a new question?
Expand on bi-directional nature of parent-child relationship alluded to in the introduction provide examples of how it may work
with an infant such as the infant cries because s/he is hungry, the caregiver guesses correctly and feeds the infant, the infant
learns that crying might get the need for food met so cries again next time s/he is hungry, the parent responds by providing food
over time the infant learns to trust that the parent will provide food when needed and the parent gains confidence in her/his ability
CI 5944 Curriculum Project ~ Mina Blyly-Strauss ~ Fall 2011
51
to meet the infants needs and make the crying stop. Explain that in this way, as the infant grows and develops the parent is also
growing and developing.
Summary/Closure:
Overview the development handout, noting that there are different suggestions/strategies to try to support development of certain
skills.
Review key points about the interrelatedness of the communication and social/emotional domains, bi-directionality, and impact of
attachment on later development.
Home Application and Online Connections:
People are continually developing, though sometimes the changes are so small that theyre hard to notice. Continue to use your
journal to track any changes, joys, or questions you may have over the coming week and you will have time at the beginning of
class next week to share any that youd like. Also, take a look at the development handouts from last week and this week and try
out one or more of the suggestions for working with your infant on an upcoming skill in the developmental sequence
Evaluation and educator reflection.
52
Handout
Physical Development
Milestones (typical age when skill emerges)
Birth-6 Months
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
6-12 Months
o
o
o
o
o
o
6-12 Months
o Dress your infant in clothes that are easy to move in, such
as a onesie without long pants
o Place a favorite toy nearby on the floor, encouraging your
infant to get it
o When sitting, give your infant a lightweight toy for each
hand to hold
53
o
o
o
o
o
12-18 Months
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
12-18 Months
Note: always supervise your infant when he or she is trying out new movements such as climbing, rolling, or walking.
54
References
2010 American Community Survey 1-year estimates (2010). Retrieved from
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?fpt=table.
An external review of early childhood and family education programs: Abridged report (1977). Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED182041.pdf.
Attachment Network of Manitoba. (2010). Listening to Baby [YouTube Preview]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7gQcDDAQRw.
Berns, R. B. (2007). Ecology of the child. In Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (pp. 1-39). Belmont, CA:
Thompson Wadsworth.
Brown, W. H., Odom, S. L., Li, S. & Zercher, C. (1999). Ecobehavioral assessment in early childhood programs: A portrait of
preschool inclusion. The Journal of Special Education, 33(3), 138-153. Retrieved from Science Direct database (10.1016/S08852006(99)80003-9).
Census 2010 redistricting file summary data: Minneapolis neighborhoods (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.minneapolismn.gov/census/docs/2010_Population_by_Census_block_by_Neighborhood.xls.
City of Minneapolis 2000 and 2010 demographic profile: General population and housing characteristics (2011). Retrieved from
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cped/docs/2000_2010_Minneapolis_Demographic_Characteristic_Profile.xls.
55
Diamond, K., & Tu, H. (2009). Relations between classroom context, physical disability and preschool childrens inclusion
decisions. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30, 75-81. Retrieved from Science Direct database (10.1016).
ECFE locations (2011). Retrieved from http://ecfe.mpls.k12.mn.us/uploads/location_map_2011-2012.pdf.
Fertility: 2010 American community survey 1-year estimates (2010). Retrieved from
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?fpt=table.
Guralnick, M. J., Gottman, J. M., & Hammond, M. A. (1996). Effects of social setting on the friendship formation of young children
differing in developmental status. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 17, 625-651. Retrieved from
(http://search.ebscohost.com.floyd.lib.umn.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6927621&site=ehost-live).
Hart Research Associates. (2009). Parenting infants and toddlers today: Research findings.
Hauser-Cram, P., Bronson, M. B., & Upshur, C. C. (1993). The effects of the classroom environment on the social and mastery
behavior of preschool children with disabilities. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 8, 479-497. Retrieved February 27, 2010,
from Science Direct database (10.1016/S0885-2006(05)80081-X).
Huitt, W. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University.
Retrieved from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/conation/maslow.html.
Infant nutrition (2010). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMzW2X7JWWA.
Infant temperament (2009). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGjO1KwltOw.
56
Kids Care Canada Society (2011). Emotional Safety. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_c6toJtHqA.
Language spoken at home: 2010 American community survey 1-year estimates (2010). Retrieved from
http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?fpt=table.
Liedtke, H. L. (N.D.). New moms: Its okay to ask for help. Retrieved from
http://www.piedmontparent.com/articlemain.php?New-Moms-It-s-Okay-to-Ask-for-Help-1190.
Minnesota Association for Family and Early Education. (2011). Parent Education Core Curriculum Framework.
Minnesota Department of Human Services, Children and Family Services. (2007). Early Childhood Indicators of Progress:
Minnesotas Early Learning Guidelines for Birth to 3.
Murray, C. G. (2007). Simple signing with young children: A guide for infant, toddler, and preschool teachers. Beltsville, MD:
Gryphon House.
Olson, J. (2011). Second-hand TV harmful to babies. Star Tribune. Retrieved from
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/wellness/132115238.html.
Parents 2 Parents (2010). Temperament worksheet. Retrieved from
http://parents2parents.ca/files/pages/Temperament_Worksheet_P2P.pdf.
Parents 2 Parents (2010). The temperament wheel. Retrieved from
http://parents2parents.ca/files/pages/Temperament_Wheel_P2P.pdf.
57
Planning for changing enrollment: 2010 US census data (2010). Retrieved from
http://www.mpls.k12.mn.us/uploads/pce_final_board_present_8-23-11.pdf.
Poston, D., Turnbull, A., Park, J., Mannan, H., Marquis, J., & Wang, M. (2003). Family quality of life: A qualitative inquiry. Mental
Retardation, 41(5), 313-328.
Poverty: Bryn Mawr/Minneapolis (1999). Retrieved from
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/neighborhoods/brynmawr_poverty.asp#TopOfPage.
Poverty: Central/Minneapolis (1999). Retrieved from
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/neighborhoods/central_poverty.asp#TopOfPage.
Poverty: Fulton/Minneapolis (1999). Retrieved from
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/neighborhoods/fulton_poverty.asp#TopOfPage.
Poverty: Kenwood/Minneapolis (1999). Retrieved from
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/neighborhoods/kenwood_poverty.asp#TopOfPage.
Poverty: Near North/Minneapolis (1999). Retrieved from
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/neighborhoods/near_north_poverty.asp#TopOfPage.
Poverty: Phillips/Minneapolis (1999). Retrieved from
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/neighborhoods/phillips_poverty.asp#TopOfPage.
58
Safe sleep for babies: Learn how (2010). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGFvlRQFY30.
Smith, K. A. (N. D.). Create your own peace of mind. Retrieved from http://www.totsafe.com/TotSafeBabyproofingChecklist.pdf
Temperament (2011). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp3LmoAcfPA.
The concept and history of early childhood family education (2003). Retrieved from
http://education.state.mn.us/mdeprod/groups/EarlyLearning/documents/Manual/006376.pdf.
VORT Corporation. (1994). HELP strands.
Warshaw, S. P. (2006). HELP at home (2nd ed). Palo Alto, CA: VORT Corporation.
Warshaw, S. P. (2007). HELP strands: Curriculum based assessment (birth to three). Palo Alto, CA: VORT Corporation.
59