33.5: Holistic Planning

Remembering the Whole Child

Infants continually use all their senses and competencies to relate new experiences to prior experiences and to understand and create meaning. Infants learn all the time in different and integrated ways. For example, during book reading, infants use their knowledge and cognitive abilities, understanding of language, physical skills, and experiences at home and in the community to make new connections and expand their knowledge of themselves and the world. Infants and toddlers are constantly moving, thinking, communicating, and feeling: their learning is integrated across domains and occurs almost every moment of the day.[1]

Involving Families in Curriculum

Families who entrust their infants to the care and guidance of caregivers also become active participants in the curriculum process. Everyone's shared participation in creating learning experiences allows a dynamic exchange of information and ideas—from infant to adult, from adult to infant, from adult to adult, and from infant to infant. The perspective of each (infant, family, caregiver) informs the other, and each learns from the other. Each relationship (infant with family, infant with caregiver, infant with infant, and family with the caregiver) is reciprocal. Each participant gives, receives and adds to the other's learning and understanding.[2]

Caregivers must explain to families their principles of curriculum planning based on observation, documentation, interpretation, reflection, planning, and implementation; they must also clarify the goals and features of the curriculum used in the learning environment. This step should not be overlooked or skipped in the curriculum process. Enlist the support of interpreters or translators as needed. Additional ways to include families in the curriculum process:

• Engage families in discussions about the role of observation, documentation, interpretation, and reflection in planning.
• Synthesize information gathered through the observation process (including input from families) in planning for individual infants and the group, considering diverse cultural and linguistic experiences.
• Solicit ideas from families to meet infant learning and developmental goals. These ideas should inform the planning of activities, experiences, interactions and selection of materials for indoor and outdoor spaces.
• Share learning materials with families and explain how their infants learn as they engage with those materials and experiences. Include families in curriculum planning and implementation.
• Share observations with families about their infants in an objective, timely, private, and confidential manner in the most comfortable language for them. Enlist the assistance of an interpreter or translator as needed. [3]

Plans also present opportunities to strengthen relationships between programs and families and foster families. Through the planning phase, caregivers can communicate and collaborate with parents. Plans are shared to provide information about changes and to strengthen relationships with families. Communication about planned curriculum experiences enhances parents' feelings of inclusion in the program and provides them with opportunities to communicate about their child. Parents may also be interested in watching for changes in their infant's behavior due to the program's adaptations. Sharing plans can be a way for caregivers and families to come together, enhancing their sense of partnership in the experience of watching an infant grow and develop.[3]

Using Technology in Curriculum Planning

Programs enhance curriculum when they support caregivers in selecting, using, and integrating appropriate technology into everyday experiences. Technology in the infant/toddler environment can support learning in different ways. A program’s use of technology should be consistent with the overarching principles of the curriculum set by the program. Technology functions as an important tool for introducing or designing adaptations that address the infant’s individual needs, interests, and abilities, especially infants with disabilities or other delays. Additionally, it can be used by caregivers for documenting infants' and toddlers' learning and development. Use technology to document learning and support curriculum goals. Collaborate with early intervention specialists to become familiar with any assistive technology device used by an infant due to a disability or other delay. Utilize technology with older toddlers for joint engagement and interaction around photos and other documentation of their learning.[3]

Special Needs and curriculum planning

For infants with disabilities or other delays that need additional support, various accommodations can be made.

Caregivers, in collaboration with family members and specialized service providers, can

• Provide social supports (for example, peer-mediated intervention strategies or cooperative learning)
• Use visual, auditory, and kinesthetic methods (for example, use pictures and models when explaining)
• Employ a range of acknowledgments (for example, smiles, hugs, verbal acknowledgment, provision of desired toy/object, or continuing play)
• Adapt toys/materials to allow an infant to use a variety of movements in different positions
• Alter the physical, social, or temporal environment
• Change the schedule of activities and routine, adjust the amount and type of support provided, and divide an activity into smaller steps (DEC 2007).

[1] The California Infant/Toddler Curriculum Framework by the California Department of Education is used with permission

[2] Early Education and Support Division, California Department of Education. BEST PRACTICES FOR PLANNING CURRICULUM FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. The Integrated Nature of Learning . is used with permission.

[3] The California Infant/Toddler Curriculum Framework by the California Department of Education is used with permission