LVCC Infant, Young Toddler and Older Toddler programs implement The Creative Curriculum® for Infants, Toddlers & Twos:

The core belief of the Creative Curriculum® is that all children can learn and benefit from developmentally appropriate practice. That is, providing experiences and opportunities that nurture a child’s physical, social emotional, cognitive and language/literacy development.
 
What does that look like in a classroom?  

Physical Development

Infancy is a time of rapid growth and physical development.  Physical development occurs at different times for all children depending on several factors, such as the child’s unique individuality and the families’ culture.

To promote healthy infant growth and physical development, teachers:

• Ensure your baby and toddler has lots of manipulative toys to provide auditory stimulation, hand-eye coordination and practice their fine motor skills.
• Encourage and support developmentally appropriate physical activity and movement throughout each day. Support infants’ attempts at new skills and exploratory efforts with verbal encouragement and applause.
   

Social/Emotional

From the moment a child is born, it is necessary for them to feel safe, secure, and loved, so they can form a strong social and emotional foundation.

Here are a few example activities teacher use to establish strong social-emotional skills:

• Provide warm, responsive, and consistent care.
• Identify infants’ emotions using phrases such as, “I see you laughing. Laughing means you’re happy."
   

Cognitive Development

From the moment your child is born they absorb information and start developing their cognitive ability.  Nurturing a child's cognitive development provides the basis for future educational success. 

Some activities used to promote cognitive development are:

• Narrating your child’s actions “Oh you have the blue block!”
• Engaging in meaningful conversation, being sure to maintain eye contact.
• The simple turn-taking game of peek-a-boo offers complex benefits such as modeling appropriate back and forth conversations and object permanence. 
   

Language and Literacy Development 

Early language and literacy skill development concentrates on positive early interactions with books and stories, which are the building block to further reading, writing and literacy skills. 

To promote language and literary development teachers:

• Talk! Teachers narrate your child’s day as it evolves, giving word to actions,  emotions and their daily activities. 
• Read! Reading to babies leads to stronger vocabularies and enhanced early literacy skills.
• Sing.  Singing promotes expressive language development.