Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations
Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations
Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations
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social-emotional behavior. By three<br />
months, babies have already learned to<br />
alter their responses to adults according<br />
to how the adults respond to them.<br />
For example, when adults acknowledge<br />
babies’ vocalizations with a smile, a<br />
vocal response, or light touch, children<br />
increase their vocalizations. The interest<br />
of others stimulates the interest of<br />
the baby (Crick 1984).<br />
The power children have in relationships,<br />
by four months of age, is clearly<br />
evident, as is the power that relationships<br />
have over them. They are becoming<br />
more skilled at reading others’<br />
behavior and adapting their own<br />
behavior. They are also gaining skills<br />
to make themselves increasingly<br />
engaging and effective socially. Fourmonth-olds<br />
will:<br />
• Send clear messages.<br />
• Become quiet in anticipation as<br />
someone comes near to care for<br />
them.<br />
• Seek adults’ attention with smiles<br />
and laughter.<br />
• Participate in extended back and<br />
forth interaction with others.<br />
• Engage in simple social imitation.<br />
Emotionally, infants grow just as<br />
rapidly as they grow socially. Compared<br />
with younger babies, babies at<br />
around four months send clearer emotional<br />
messages through varying cries,<br />
movements, and facial expressions.<br />
They also show pleasure when mastering<br />
simple motor tasks such as when<br />
they successfully position their bodies<br />
for exploration. Positive emotional<br />
experiences motivate infants to keep<br />
practicing new skills, exploring new<br />
possibilities, and learning.<br />
Interpreting and Responding<br />
to Early <strong>Development</strong><br />
In the first few months, amazing<br />
advances occur in infants’ development.<br />
Starting with basic responses,<br />
newborns reach out to the world.<br />
Within weeks they come to expect and<br />
depend on appropriate responses from<br />
those who care for them.<br />
Noticing and responding to key<br />
aspects of growth during this rapid<br />
developmental period can be challenging.<br />
Early behaviors in one developmental<br />
domain are often coupled<br />
with behaviors in other domains. In<br />
addition, many early behaviors may<br />
mean several things at the same time.<br />
For example, a young baby’s cry may<br />
simultaneously represent the beginning<br />
of communication (language<br />
development), a tool for getting needs<br />
met (intellectual development), and<br />
a way of relating to others (socialemotional<br />
development). Or behaviors<br />
that look almost identical may have a<br />
different meaning at different times.<br />
For example, at one time prolonged<br />
focus on a person may be an emerging<br />
strategy to deepen emotional connections.<br />
At another time, this same<br />
behavior may be a way to increase<br />
understanding of how people move<br />
in space. To be in tune with young<br />
babies, adults need to know both when<br />
a baby wants a social response and<br />
when a baby is making a discovery<br />
through individual exploration and<br />
observation.<br />
Because major changes that occur<br />
during the first few months of life are<br />
sometimes difficult to identify, one can<br />
easily miss them. Yet the advances of<br />
the early months are just as important<br />
to a young child’s healthy development<br />
as are the more obvious advances of<br />
3<br />
THE EARLY MONTHS