Know

How Do Environments Affect You?

There are certain places you like to go: maybe a favorite restaurant, a sporting arena or a good friend’s home. What about those places makes you feel welcome or secure? What makes you want to go back? Thinking about these places, you might remember the people around you, the color of a room, if there is sunlight, the smells and sounds, furniture and accessories or temperature.

现在考虑你不喜欢去的地方：也许是牙医的办公室，机场或嘈杂的餐厅。是什么让这些环境对你不那么愉快？在某些设置中，我们感到轻松舒适。在其他地方，我们可能会感到紧张，不堪重负和困惑。环境对我们有了强大的影响。它影响了我们的感受，我们做什么以及我们回应的方式。我们有些人不喜欢我们觉得我们无法控制或预测我们的经历。在一些空间，我们可能觉得我们不属于或不受欢迎。

Just like adults, infants and toddlers are affected by their environments, even if they cannot yet tell us directly how they feel. It’s our job to ensure learning spaces make infants and toddlers feel welcome, secure and ready to learn.

Designing Your Space to Meet Infants’ and Toddlers’ Needs

Families are infants’ and toddlers’ first and primary teachers. However, many infants and toddlers spend time in care settings outside of their homes. Experiences during the first few months and years of life are critical because they set the stage for the child’s future development and learning (Shonkoff & Phillips, 2000). The quality of these early experiences is shaped by the individuals and environments with which infants and toddlers spend their time. Ronald Lally states that, “In high-quality infant-toddler programs, the interests of the child and the belief that each child has a curriculum are what drive practice” (Lally, 2000, p. 6). Thus, the infant-toddler learning environment must provide a flexible climate that supports child-directed practices, spontaneous exploration, curiosity, motivation for learning and the creation and maintenance of positive relationships between adults and children. As such, the learning environment is an essential component of curriculum for infants and toddlers.

创造一个支持性的学习环境狗万app怎么下载s time, reflection and planning. An emotionally supportive environment helps prepare infants and toddlers for learning (Bagdi & Vacca, 2005), and may be especially important for at-risk children who may not have high-quality relationships outside the learning space. Military children are a particular group that may experience a great deal of change in their daily lives; your supportive learning environment can be an important source of consistency for them. A supportive environment is:

• Well-organized: orderly, planned and safe.
• Dependable：需要它的儿童稳定的“家庭基地”。
• Flexible: able to adjust to meet the needs of different children.

这样的支持环境将儿童发送各种关于他们的学习的积极信息（Dodge等，2010），例如：狗万app怎么下载

• This is a good place to be.
• You belong here.
• You can trust this place.
• There are places where you can be yourself when you want to be.
• You can do many things on your own here.
• This is a safe place to explore and try out your ideas.

Watch the video to see examples of ways these messages appear in learning environments.

Messages our Environments Send

环境不仅影响我们的感受和发送关于如何行动的信息，它们都可以影响我们的学习。Reggio Emilia初期儿童教育的方法通过将其作为“第三名教师”（分别与父母和教师分别为儿童的第一和第二教师）来认识到环境的巨大影响。Reggio Emilia方法是由Loris Malaguzzi开发的，并在意大利的一个地区命名。这种方法国家的孩子是强大的学习者，他们的兴趣应该指导成人的围绕学习的决定，包括如何安排环境以及提供的材料。狗万app怎么下载The Reggio Emilia approach believes the learning environment plays a critical role, and that intentionality (thoughtful planning and action) on behalf of teachers in the design of spaces and the selection and arrangement of materials significantly influences children’s level of engagement and learning (Edwards, 2002). We will return to these ideas in future lessons in this course.

Special Considerations for Working with Infants and Toddlers

Relationships

The infant and toddler learning environment includes many different relationships:

• Caregiver–family.
• Caregiver–child.
• Caregiver–caregiver.
• Supervisor/trainer/coach–caregiver.
• Child-child.

All of these relationships affect infants and toddlers. Although adults often assume infants and toddlers are too young to understand what happens between adults in their environment, recent research shows that they can quickly recognize tension between adults (Du Rocher Schudlich, White, Fleischhauer, & Fitzgerald, 2011). Any such tension could mean some infants and toddlers spend eight or more hours in stressful environments. Positive, respectful relationships among all adults in a program affect the emotional climate for everyone—children, staff and families (McMullen & Dixon 2009).

Safety

安全和安全的环境与看护人（Howes，1983年）引出更积极和更少的限制性互动。护理人员可以奉献他们的时间来玩和发展关系，而不是让孩子远离危险。在一个安全的环境中，注意到的护理人员，意识到婴儿和蹒跚学步的需求，可以帮助他们自由地移动，探索和使用坚固的材料，保持良好的修复和安全尺寸。移动婴婴儿迅速发展，其越来越多的运动技能要求护理人员警惕并预测他们的行为和可能的新灾害，例如到达以前无法到达的事情。幼儿是令人难以置信的好奇，而不是完全意识到什么是危险的。护理人员必须通过细心的眼睛支持和平衡探索和好奇心，并使用简单的语言来解释安全和不安全的内容。护理人员还必须完成持续的安全检查，并提供家庭在家提供有关安全检查的信息。有关婴幼儿和幼儿的安全和适当材料的更多信息，请参阅本节的材料课程和安全课程。

了解什么是发展合适的

Caregivers can support the natural desire of infants and toddlers to actively explore their environment with their whole body by knowing about this age group’s development. Having this knowledge helps caregivers better understand and predict what interactions, materials and experiences will be safe, engaging and most supportive to best promote learning and development. The courses on cognitive, physical, social emotional, creative and self will help build and strengthen teachers understanding of infant and toddler development.

Knowing individual characteristics

Caregivers can be most responsive when they understand the strengths, interests and needs of each individual child in their care. Knowing the individual needs of infants and toddlers enables caregivers to offer adaptations essential for children with disabilities and other special needs.

Connecting with families

Caregivers should take time to connect with families to better understand their cultures, values, beliefs, expectations, hopes and dreams. This offers caregivers the opportunity to create learning environments, including interactions and experiences that are respectful, supportive and meaningful for infants, toddlers and their families. Children’s experiences at home and in their community influence their reactions to care and learning environments. An environment could seem familiar to a toddler, or it may be unfamiliar and even frightening. Understanding the infant’s or toddler’s home culture and language can help caregivers create a more familiar and comfortable care and learning environment.

Caregivers’ needs

Although the focus of supportive learning environments for infants and toddlers is on the children, supportive environments also consider and accommodate the needs of caregivers. Caring for infants and toddlers is rewarding but can be tiring. The environment should be set up to make the caregiver’s job as easy as possible. For example, adult-sized rocking chairs allow caregivers to provide responsive care while feeding infants or rocking them to sleep. Storage space for adult personal items (e.g., purse, coat) may help reduce anxiety about children’s safety. If possible, caregivers should have a quiet space (e.g., lounge) in which they can spend breaks from their work and recuperate their physical and emotional energy. Such space can also be used for private conversations between caregivers and parents. Talk to your trainer, coach, or supervisor if you feel the learning environment is contributing to feelings of stress or burnout.

Caregivers, along with their trainer, coach, or supervisor, can consider methods and processes for reflecting on and further examining infant and toddler environments. For example, many programs use environmental rating tools. Environmental rating tools are surveys completed by observers that examine and help provide an overall picture of the environment that has been created for the infants, toddlers and adults who share an early childhood setting. These tools, such as the Infant-Toddler Environmental Rating Scale (ITERS; Harms, Cryer, & Clifford, 2003), can be used by staff to gather information about an environment to support caregivers, improvements, and approaches to infant and toddler development and learning. You can ask your trainer, coach or supervisor for more information on the kinds of tools your program uses to assess or provide feedback on classroom and outdoor environments.

Creating Developmentally Appropriate Spaces for Infants and Toddlers

Infants and toddlers grow and develop both quickly and at their own pace. Environments must be created to meet their current developmental and emerging skills while keeping in mind the appropriateness and safety of the space and furniture.

Young infants react to the new world around them and need to feel secure in order to engage in exploration and learning. Caregivers can provide spaces and experiences that encourage trust and strengthen bonds, such as cozy spaces for caregivers to hold and care for infants. For example, looking at board books together is an activity that promotes literacy and language learning and the development of attachment between infants and their caregivers.

Mobile infants have a strong desire to move and explore. Caregivers should provide spaces that are safe, clean, and stimulating. Soft, thick floor coverings, such as vinyl mats, will help mobile infants feel comfortable moving on the floor. Adding features such as tunnels to the environment will encourage further development of motor skills and exploration. Offering safe furniture upon which infants or toddlers can pull themselves up and cruise or creep along is also helpful.

幼儿正在学习将注意力集中在狗万app怎么下载所需经验上。护理人员可以提供各种材料和传感体验，以支持幼儿（例如，沙子和水位，声音区域）。狗万app怎么下载应组织学习领域以支持挪威的发展独立性。材料应放在低，开架上，并用图片和单词标记。幼儿将避免令人沮丧的时候，他们可以找到他们需要和想要的东西。

For rooms with only young infants, setting up specific learning areas may not be appropriate, as the entire room forms the “learning area” for infants. However, caregivers should offer a variety of experiences and materials for infants and toddlers, and should be prepared to rotate materials and experience, or rearrange spaces when children’s developmental needs change. Keep in mind, though, that offering too many materials at one time may overstimulate children. It is important to explore the environment from the perspective of infants and toddlers, e.g., crawl around on your hands and knees or lay on the floor, to understand how well it functions for very young children.

Creating Learning Areas for Infants and Toddlers

Using the environment to support development for infants and toddlers helps caregivers concentrate on specific experiences. A learning area is an area within an infant-toddler room that allows caregivers to offer children nurturing and learning experiences; each learning area is typically planned to support particular developmental domains (e.g., a climbing or grasping area to assist with gross or fine motor development) or exploration of certain ideas (e.g., a block area to explore cause-and-effect and balance). Although learning areas may be designed to support particular aspects of development or interests, they should not be used exclusively for one purpose. Rather, learning areas should include many engaging possibilities, with each area serving multiple functions. Sensory exploration by infants and toddlers, for example, will happen in all care and learning areas, and need not be contained to a learning area with that label. In addition, a cozy book area, not only provides young children with early literacy experiences, but also provides a quiet, calm space to relax alone or with a caregiver.

The learning environment should connect to all that infants and toddlers do rather than using categories appropriate for older children, such as art and science. Learning areas must also be accessible and adaptable for children with disabilities and other special needs. Young infants will need caregivers to bring them materials. Mobile infants and toddlers will likely take materials (e.g., stuffed toys, foam blocks) with them across the entire room and that is appropriate.

Possible learning areas to consider when creating infant or toddler rooms:

• Cozy spaces to safely take a break from the group.
• Reaching, grasping and kicking area (various hanging materials).
• Climbing area (stairs, platforms, risers, low cubes).
• 镜子区域。
• 街区和建筑，建筑面积。
• Soft toy area.
• 书籍和语言领域。
• 戏剧性的游乐区（播放厨房，梳妆材料）。
• Messy area (art and expressive materials, sand and water table).
• 声音区域（钟声，仪器，音乐，CD和播放器）。
• Sensory area (scented items, natural materials).
• 动物区域（鱼，鸟）。

Carefully consider how learning areas are arranged next to one another. For example, it can helpful to think about placing quieter learning areas next to one another, or near the napping space, or anticipating how infants and toddler may want to use materials across learning areas. Freedom to move materials from one learning area to another provides infants and toddlers an opportunity to take charge of their learning and make their ideas come to life. For example, moving a dinosaur from the block area to the dramatic play area to be “washed” in the play sink offers a toddler a way to express their budding imaginative play.

See

When creating supportive indoor learning environments for infants and toddlers, there are many factors to consider. Watch this video for examples of different learning areas to consider for young infants through older toddlers. What do you notice?

Supportive Learning Environments for Infants and Toddlers

Do

When designing and arranging learning environments to benefit infants, toddlers and yourself, you should:

• Ensure safety and health by making sure physical spaces and materials are appropriate for infants and toddlers.
• Observe the children in your care closely so you become familiar with their likes, dislikes, needs and interests. Getting down on the floor and viewing the learning area from the perspective of infants and toddlers can help inform your design with respect to safety and stimulation.
• Provide a variety of materials and experiences for infants and toddlers. Periodically rotate materials and/or rearrange the room as children’s developmental needs change. Take care not to overstimulate children.
• Arrange the environment to support caregivers’ well-being, which will ultimately also benefit the children in your care.
• Design learning areas that promote making choices and allow for freedom of movement between areas.

Completing this Course

For more information on what to expect in this course, the Learning EnvironmentsCompetency Reflection以及在整个课程中提供的随附的学习，探索和应用资源和活动的列表，访问婴儿和幼儿学习环境狗万app怎么下载Course Guide.

Please note the References & Resources section at the end of each lesson outlines reference sources and resources to find additional information on the topics covered. As you complete lessons, you are not expected to review all the online references available. However, you are welcome to explore the resources further if you have interest, or at the request of your trainer, coach, or administrator.