Infant Toddler Learning & Development Foundations

The California Infant/Toddler
Learning and Development
Foundations represents part of
the California Department of Education’s
(CDE’s) comprehensive effort to
strengthen young children’s learning
and development through high-quality
early care and education. The foundations
describe competencies infants
and toddlers typically attain during the
birth-to-three-year period. In order to
make developmental progress, young
children need appropriate nurturing.
Both supportive home environments
and high-quality early care and education
programs can facilitate children’s
attainment of the competencies specified
in the foundations by providing
safe environments and an emotionally
secure base for active, playful exploration
and experimentation.
During the infant/toddler years, all
children depend on responsive, secure
relationships to develop and learn.
As stated in the CDE’s Infant/Toddler
Learning and Development Program
Guidelines (2007), high-quality programs
offer infants and toddlers primary
relationships in small groups.
Such programs provide personalized
care that reflects consideration for
individual differences among children.
Programs also develop partnerships
with children’s families to connect
Introduction
children’s experiences at home with
their experiences in the infant/toddler
program. These partnerships with
families are the cornerstone of culturally
sensitive care. Connections with
children’s early cultural and linguistic
experiences are critically important
for their social-emotional well-being,
the development of their identity, and
learning. In addition, children may
have a special need that requires particular
accommodations and adaptations.
To serve all children, infant/toddler
programs must work to provide
appropriate conditions for each child
and individually assist each child’s
movement along a pathway of healthy
learning and development.
Over 20 states have either developed
infant/toddler standards documents or
are in the process of doing so. Many of
them have sought to align infant/toddler
standards with preschool learning
standards. Because both infant/toddler
and preschool foundations in California
cover a broad range of learning
and development domains, the
term foundations is used rather than
standards. This term was selected to
convey that learning across all developmental
domains builds young children’s
readiness for school. In essence,
the foundations pertain to young children’s
current and long-term develop-
ix